The two brothers behind Big Room Studios (www.bigroomstudios.com) established their company in 2001 to “provide elegant web solutions, fresh print design and cutting-edge technology solutions,” and between the two of them, they have the expertise to do just that.
Both brothers began working with computers before they hit high school, which gives them nearly four decades of combined experience despite the fact that neither of them has yet reached age 40. While Sam believes that a long history with technology is par for the course in this business (“Nerds will be nerds,” he says self-deprecatingly) the Mateosians’ early involvement in information technology still seems remarkable.
Tim began working with HyperCard — which preceded the World Wide Web — while he was still in high school, and Sam began developing websites for hire during his teen years. In college Tim, 38, was an art major with a minor in computer science, while Sam, 29, took the opposite route, majoring in computer science and pursuing a minor in art.
After college, Tim continued to work in technology, at one point serving as the IT director for National Mentor, a Boston-based healthcare company with offices nationwide. Sam, too, held technology positions at places like the Colby College Office of New Media, Techknowledge and XWave New England, and both brothers did a fair amount of freelancing until a day in 2001 when, according to Tim, “Sam quit his job and told me we were starting a company together.”
Sam tells it a little differently, but agrees that when he told his brother that he’d left his job, Tim replied, “Well then, I guess we need to get serious.”
The first thing their new business needed, of course, was a name. So, being tech-savvy, Tim created a “random domain name generator program” which produced a list of more than 1,000 possible names by first combining two random words from a dictionary with one pre-selected word, such as “studios,” and then checking to see which domain names were available. Once the list was finished, Tim sent it to Sam who, along with his wife, Bethany, combed through all of the possibilities and made the final selection. And so, with a name, a website and a business plan, the two brothers started Big Room Studios and have been expanding and improving the company ever since.
From customized web development and media design to IT support and consulting, they do it all — logos, business cards, websites, networks, branding, marketing, etc. — and they do it with finesse. Thanks to both brothers’ proficiency in art as well as technology, along with their complementary skill sets (Tim is in charge of the business processes and IT infrastructure, while Sam is the lead developer and designer), Big Room demonstrates both creative and technical prowess. Not to mention the fact that they have a lot of fun. One look at the BRS website proves that point.
From the unique job titles (Sam, in addition to being a co-founder is the Chief Mustache Evangelist, while employee Jonathan Pfaff is a developer as well as the Lead CSS Ninja) to the numerous ‘80s pop culture references, the folks at Big Room display a sharp sense of humor that belies a sincere love of their work. And while they are a small shop at present, their tag line, “Think Big,” expresses both their desire to continue to grow their business, as well as their fondness for continually pushing beyond the limits.
“Our business plan is an evolutionary model,” Sam says, and Tim, who is currently in London but joined us via video-conference, nods in agreement.
“One of our ongoing goals,” Tim adds, “is to create positions for creative and technical people.”
Especially those who can appreciate both the A-Team and a good mustache.