Colleges Woo Tech Millionaires-in-Waiting
Schools cultivate ties with startups before they’re big successes
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Jason Kapalka didn’t give his alma mater much thought after he finished his studies in 1994. The University of Alberta graduate, who has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in English, moved to San Francisco and didn’t join the alumni association, donate money, or return for reunions. “If I’d stayed in Edmonton, I probably would have,” he says. The university didn’t forget him, though.
Kapalka went on to co-found PopCap Games, where he helped create such addictive games as Bejeweled, Bookworm, and Plants vs. Zombies that collectively have been downloaded more than 1.5 billion times. Electronic Arts bought the company last year for $750 million. Now the newly rich Kapalka is in talks with his old school about setting up a $100,000 endowment.