ASU computer science alum turns entrepreneurship into activism
Tim Cope, an alumnus from the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University, stands in the lobby of Origami Risk, the software firm he co-founded. The company recently celebrated hiring its 900th employee. Photo courtesy of Origami Risk
Tim Cope encourages students to take risks.
That may sound like an odd posture for a co-founder of a software firm that helps companies avoid costly business risks — but he has his reasons.
“Taking risks sometimes involves failure, and I find that failure is super important to good experience as an engineer,” Cope says. “Failure helps you become both a more resilient person and worker. You understand things a little differently, and you gain new perspectives.”
Cope is a highly successful graduate of what ultimately became the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University. He received his bachelor’s degree in computer systems engineering in 1994.
In 2009, following a career as a software developer and team manager, Cope and his business partners — Robert Petrie, Steve Fischer and Linus Concepcion — founded Origami Risk.
The vision was to create a single-version risk management information system, or RMIS, that operated in the cloud, designed to replace a patchwork of individualized pieces of software, each created for a different client and each deployed on servers in a variety of locations.
The Origami Risk single-version piece of software ensures that every client gets the full benefit of updates and new features. By making the RMIS available on the cloud, clients could give employees all over the world access to the tools.
But before Origami Risk took solid form, Cope weighed more secure job offers from existing companies. Was forging his own path as an entrepreneur worth the risk?
With encouragement and support from his wife, Cope decided yes.
“Every experience you have informs the next experience, and it’s all valuable,” he says. “Not every project I have worked on has been successful, but if you take risks with a thoughtful eye on the future, it will pay off in the end.”
From a small startup with a handful of employees, Origami Risk emerged as a leading provider of risk management software. Risk management is an important element of protecting businesses from unforeseen expenses, consumers from unnecessary costs and employees from preventable accidents.
Corporate clients turn to Origami Risk for help in making sure they don’t overpay for insurance, that they make good decisions about worker welfare and that assets like vehicle fleets are managed with safety in mind. The company’s software helps with everything from cybersecurity to reputational risks to avoiding the perils of natural disasters.
Today the company, headquartered in Chicago, has more than 900 employees, an annual revenue of $200 million and is growing at a rate of approximately 25% per year. The company is currently exploring the use of artificial intelligence in its development process, searching for novel ways to improve the products it offers to clients.
Looking back, Cope believes the risk paid off.
From taking risks to giving back
Today, Tim and his wife, Dr. Jennifer Cope, hope to leverage their success in a new project that seeks to help the families of children with autism get access to much-needed resources.
The nonprofit, Cope Center for Autism, currently being developed by the couple was initially inspired by Dr. Cope’s work as a pediatric neurologist.
“Jennifer sees a lot of autism patients,” Tim says. “One problem she identified is that it can take a very long time to receive an autism diagnosis — mainly because there is a lack of physicians who can do this work. In the past, she’s had to book patients eight months out due to her own case backlog.”
He explains that families are reliant on these diagnoses to get resources for support, to put plans for treatment in place and to request accommodations from their child’s school. Such long waits for diagnosis leave autism effectively unaddressed during vital childhood years and can create serious issues like learning delays, depression and social isolation.
Located near the Copes’ New Jersey home, the center will bring together nurse practitioners, doctors and other medical staff members who will work together to deliver access to timely diagnoses.
The new center will provide advocacy assistance to help families navigate the process of receiving available governmental and school resources. It will also offer after-school programs for middle schoolers with autism to help parents who are searching for engaging programs specifically tailored to neurodivergent preteens.
Ross Maciejewski, director of the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, says that Cope exemplifies the excellence the school hopes to cultivate in its graduates.
“Tim Cope has clearly been personally successful in applying the lessons of our computer engineering programs, using them as a foundation for a career in software development,” Maciejewski says. “But his emerging work as a philanthropist is a nod to one of our core values, the charge for us to build a foundation for all to be successful.”
Cope's big lesson for students is to encourage them to seek out projects they are passionate about.
“If you’re excited about what you’re doing, then it’s going to show and the results are going to be there,” he says. “Try to embark on something that you really care about.”
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