About Us
New Idea Machine builds custom software, AI enabled apps, and workflow automation for non-technical founders and scaling businesses.
The Status Quo
Currently, the software development industry is not built to support founders. It is expensive, slow, and risky. If this continues, founders will keep failing before they even launch.
We built New Idea Machine to support founders through every step of the entrepreneurial journey in a way that makes the greatest impact.
How We Support Founders
Because we’ve seen how the industry operates at every level, we choose to do things differently:
- 100% intellectual property ownership from day one.
- Payment for time and materials only (no inflated fixed bids).
- Freedom to leave anytime. We want you to stay because you love working with us, not because you have to.
- Designs that scale as your business grows.
- Expert guidance from business and tech specialists.
- Honest advice. If our services aren’t needed yet, we will say so.
- Connecting you with the right resources at the right time to avoid costly mistakes.
- Ongoing support beyond launch.
Our Story: Born on a Walk
We didn’t set out to open a software dev agency. That changed on a walk one afternoon.
Al, my co-founder, was sharing his frustration about businesses getting overcharged and misled by dev firms. He had seen it firsthand at Calgary Airport Authority, City of Calgary, and DC Bank. I gave him my usual no-nonsense response: “Why don’t you do something about it?”
To my surprise, he said, “Only if you do it with me.”
I had to step up to the challenge. I was happy at Shopify and had a solid portfolio, but I have a soft spot for entrepreneurs. That’s how New Idea Machine was started.
From day one, we built the kind of company I would recommend to family. A place where I know they will be strategically guided and supported so they have the best chance at succeeding.
Rea Hailley | Co-founder
How We Serve Our Clients
Budget Flexibility
One of our first clients was Shannon Philipps, founder of Unbounded Thinking. He was just starting out and needed a dev agency. He was quoted six figures and 12-month contracts. He met Al at a networking event where Al asked what his monthly budget actually was. We built a plan around that number and automated his entire system. Today, his company is global.
Integrity in Advice
A founder came to us wanting to build a custom social platform. I sent her to Circle and Slack instead. It was $100 a month versus a $60,000+ build. She needed to validate her community first. We will build custom when it actually makes sense.
Fractional Expertise
Kelly Hall, CEO at Vermillion Power Technologies, reached out because she needed an expert developer who could hit the ground running. We introduced her to one of our lead builders on a fractional basis. This gave her team high-level industry expertise without the overhead or delay of a full-time hire. By working with us, she also qualified for SR&ED tax credits that cover 33% of the cost.
Listen to Kelly’s experience here
Meet Your Team
We are a team of builders who understand both business and tech. Our background combines deep enterprise experience from organizations like the City of Calgary and DC Bank with the high-growth product mindset of Shopify.
Rea Hailley
CO-FOUNDER
Rea brings 20 years of experience in B2B strategy and business development. She’s specializes in identifying market opportunities and building scalable revenue systems. At Shopify, she grew her e-commerce portfolio to $90M in one year. At Calgary Comics & Entertainment Expo, she built and scaled the entire revenue division.
She’s on a mission to help non-technical founders make smarter technology decisions and avoid costly mistakes.
Al Del Degan
CO-FOUNDER
Al is a serial entrepreneur, mentor, and teacher. With 32 years of software development experience, he’s worked with organizations such as Calgary Airport Authority, The City of Calgary, Transport Canada, DC Bank, and Travel Alberta. Al uses AI-assisted development to handle repetitive coding tasks, allowing one developer to deliver what traditionally required a team of five.
His approach cuts project timelines by 60-75%, delivering enterprise-grade solutions faster and at lower cost—while maintaining industry and security best practices.
Tony Enerson
TECHNOLOGY
Tony is an entrepreneur and educator with 30 years building enterprise software systems. He’s led control system implementations, large-scale migrations, and full-stack web and mobile applications with advanced GIS integration. He’s built real-time data processing systems, analytics platforms, and deployed machine learning in production environments.
He also teaches full-stack development, training the next generation of AI-enabled developers.
Justin Quaintance
TECHNOLOGY
Justin specializes in A.I. systems and production machine learning. He helps companies turn industrial data into AI systems that save millions annually. He built a zero-to-acquisition ML platform that optimized global water desalination facilities, cutting energy costs by 5% and making drinking water more affordable worldwide.
He teaches PyTorch fundamentals to process engineering teams, presented at PyData Calgary, and spoken at PyCon US for three consecutive years.
Tim Chan
FINANCE
Tim is a strategic management leader with over 15 years in the energy sector, focusing on integrated energy, power generation, commodities trading, and risk management. He has led product management and business transformation at Canada’s largest energy company, teaches at University of Calgary and in the founder and director of Untapped Energy Association and YYC Data Society.
