Inspirational Mom: Nancy MacIntyre of Fingerprint

Nancy MacIntyre, CEO and Founder of Fingerprint:

With so many of the tech businesses started and run by men, it is great to see a woman at the head of a major player in the tech industry. Nancy MacIntyre is the CEO and Founder of Fingerprint. Nancy has been involved in many successful start-ups and innovative products. She was the EVP of Product Innovation & Marketing at LeapFrog where she led the charge around connected learning with the launch of the Learning Path Online, Tag Reader and Leapster Gaming System. Obsessed with the possibilities presented by touch screen devices, she left in 2010 to seek her fortunes in Mobile. Before LeapFrog, Nancy was VP Global Sales and Marketing at LucasArts where she traveled the world marketing a lot of Star Wars games. Earlier, she was VP Marketing at Hasbro Interactive working on everything from Scrabble Online to the best-game-ever, Roller Coaster Tycoon. All told, Nancy has launched over 100 games, 11 #1 titles, and over $2 billion in revenue.

Fingerprint:

Fingerprint, Inc., is a San Francisco based mobile gaming startup that creates educational and engaging gaming apps for kids. Their apps are best suited for young children, ages 3-12 and we have featured and reviewed a couple of their apps on my author site www.melissanorthway.com. One of the things I like about Fingerprint apps is that they teach kids everything from reading readiness to math skills to character values. To date, Fingerprint’s young gamers have logged more than 60 million minutes of play time – while learning their colors, shapes, geography, math, money, science, reading, history and more. This year, Fingerprint released their new game-play platform with multiplayer and safe-social features, a half-dozen marquee learning apps, and several key strategic partnerships.

We had a chance to speak to Nancy about Fingerprint and the app business. She explained that last year they had over 250 submissions from authors and they work with independent developers as well as licensed properties such as Caillou and Veggie Tales. We talk about how the industry has changed over the last couple years and how we are seeing more and more apps and players in the business.

Tell us how you became involved in Fingerprint and creating apps.

I was running product development and marketing at LeapFrog and building successful learning toys for pre-schoolers. Working in the toy business, I always worried about kids growing up and moving on to Nintendo. When the iPhone came out, I realized that every mom with an iPhone in her purse could deliver a learning experience to her child wherever and whenever. I became obsessed with the idea of building games for the iPHone and touch screen. The concept for Fingerprint was born.

What changes have you seen in the industry over the past few years?

Without questions, one of the biggest industry changes has been the proliferation of mobile devices that are used in home as shared family devices. It used to be that children received their own mobile game system. It was almost a right of passage. These days, babies/toddlers/kids play on their parents’ tablets and smart phones – choosing a wide range of apps for learning and fun. At Fingerprint, we’re working very hard to create a dual-app experience that appeals to both parent and child.

What do you think sets your apps apart?

We’re really the first company to create a kid-safe mobile social gaming experience that lets children play games with their friends and their grown-ups. Our products offer a dual experience – fun game play for children and parent features that let them follow what their kids are playing and learning. My hope is that Fingerprint will become the premier mobile learning and play company – trusted by parents and loved by kids!

Any news you want to share with us?

You’re going to see the content explode on the Fingerprint platform. We currently have more than 25 play-and-learn apps and expect to add another 50 by the year’s end – and many that will star recognizable children’s characters from favorite franchises.

Thank you Nancy for your time and great work over there at Fingerprint!