Since first discovering he was a computer nerd at a time when most had barely discovered computers, Michael Craig has been using his online skills to make other people’s lives easier, and his own more fun. Michael met his first computer, a ZX Spectrum, at age eight, but it’s fair to say his digital career really took off in high school repairing computers for a teacher. Michael figured out how to automate the computers to fix themselves, at around the same time he found the cut and paste shortcut he needed to ace his typing tests… A light bulb went off in Michael’s head, and nearly two decades later he and Clue Design have truly grown up alongside the Internet.
From developing databases for the family business Michael progressed to building his first website for boating retailer Freedom Marine. The year was 1996, everything was code, web content management systems barely existed and Google was but a twinkle in AltaVista’s eye. Freedom Marine however, was getting huge traffic. Why? Because early Internet adopters were the same folks who could afford to buy boats, and because Michael added new content every week that kept them coming back. It didn’t take long for Michael’s intellectual property to become hot property, and suddenly Clue Design was a company in demand. A straight shooter who tells it like it is, Michael’s honest approach and straight talk went over well with businesses still learning about the digital world, and business kept flowing in.
Michael’s frustrations with the lack of flexible software on the market saw him design and build Mintox, proprietary software which has taken Clue’s game to the next level with its market leading capabilities.
Over the course of Clue Design’s 20-year existence Michael experienced every facet of the digital development realm, helping build hundreds of startups, thousands of web applications, a testament to his determination to not just stay on top of the game, but remain ahead of it. From working in digital currency for the London Gold Exchange, a major learning experience which demanded innovation in fending off DDoS and hackers, to developing event guide website Heatseeker, a regular fixture in Australia’s top ten most-visited sites, Michael has driven many successful projects and these days oversees Clue’s successful involvement with a multitude of brands.
Michael has always seen the computer as a tool for better living, and a newfound love of surfing sees Michael now based in Bali, living true to his ‘work smarter, not harder’ mantra. Still the brains behind Clue’s operations as well as the life of its parties, Michael Craig is forever striving to better his company’s offerings and improve your User Experience.
Clue Design:
https://www.cluedesign.com.au/
Dojo Bali:
http://www.dojobali.org/en