Andy Nulman

According to Andy Nulman, three critical “pirations” explain the success of Montreal-based Airborne Mobile, the company he co-founded with Garner Bornstein in 1999.

After ending his 15-year stint as CEO of Montreal’s Just For Laughs festival, which he transformed from a two-day event into a month-long, multimedia showcase of international comedians, Nulman drew inspiration from his desire to try new ventures, and from the fact that Asian mobile phone companies had demonstrated some success in charging for mobile content.

After establishing Airborne Mobile, Nulman and Bornstein entered a phase of desperation-the realization that they had to figure out how to deliver on the promise of creating content such as games and video for mobile screens.

From that point on, says Nulman, the key ingredient has been perspiration. “We busted our asses to make ourselves into a North American company,” he declares. “We made a bet on (the company) and we believed in it.”

That gamble has paid off. In 10 years, Airborne Mobile has created a business that generates more than $20 million by providing mobile content solutions for clients such as Disney, HBO, Taco Bell, NHL and Hershey’s and continually seeking out new ways to expand the possibilities of its chosen medium.

“A great expression… is that the only way to predict the future is to create it,” says Nulman. “That’s what we did. We basically said, ‘this’d be cool if we could do that,’ and we went out and did it.”

In doing so, Airborne Mobile has surprised naysayers who once believed that phones would always and only be used for phone calls. Meanwhile, Nulman has gained a solid reputation outside of his company as an evangelist for the very concept of surprise, touting what he calls “surprise marketing” in a book and a blog that share the name Pow! Right Between The Eyes.

“The consumer wants it all, and the only way to impress a consumer that expects it all is to give this consumer something they don’t expect,” says Nulman. “Surprise gets people talking, and that talk results in business.”

When he’s not sharing such advice with marketers and helping to manage Airborne’s existing business, Nulman is helping to usher in new products. Airborne recently launched a Homes On Mobile Phones, a tool that helps realtors and prospective homebuyers navigate the housing market, and will soon unveil TXT-TV, a mobile-based entertainment network.

Nulman knows these ideas, like any innovation, are always a gamble. But it would seem foolish to bet against him.