Robert Simmons, co-founder of Paper Crane

I build the machinery.

Robert co-founded Paper Crane with Tara McLaughlin in late 2019 and heads the online development arm. He has overseen or built the work for Hopewell Residential, Lake Louise, Kudos, Krown and Pancreatic Cancer North America, mostly on the same three problems: too many platforms, pages that load too slowly, and work that a person is still doing by hand. These days most of his time goes into AI systems, corporate AI strategy, and getting sites found by people and models alike.

What I doRead the story

Robert Simmons in a Paper Crane jacket, arms folded
Norway
A red cottage under sunset cloud in Nordland, Norway
Thailand
A longtail boat moored under limestone cliffs on a Thai beach
Code on a laptop screen, glasses on the desk beside it
Calgary
The Calgary skyline seen past a line of trees
I spent three years on other people’s wifi. It is why I cannot leave a slow site alone.
The office
Robert Simmons sitting in a coworking space with a golden retriever at his feet

Career

How he got here

  1. 2017–2019

    Founder and web developer

    Digidome · Beitostølen, Australia, Thailand

  2. 2017–2019

    Founder

    Where the Wifi’s Weak · A blog about working from the road

  3. 2018–2019

    Photographer

    Robert Simmons Photography · Australia

  4. 2019

    Co-founder and head of online developmentnow

    Paper Crane · Calgary

Most AI strategies I read are a slide deck with a chatbot taped to the side.

Robert Simmons

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