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Along the way he worked for a Japanese gaming company, raised venture capital for his own start-up “Snyppit” (a platform for sharing small video clips, not unlike TikTok), and worked in mobile partnerships and business development for Facebook, then Spotify. Now, he works at Apple’s Asia-Pacific headquarters.

Sobol says while on reflection each position led naturally to the next, at the time he was following his instincts and seizing opportunities that excited him rather than charting a pre-determined course.

“Taking risks, doing things that seemed interesting, taking lateral moves to get ahead, or even stepping back to move forward,” Sobol says, have all helped him to get where he is today.

"Ideas are easy. Execution is hard,” he philosophizes, with particular reference to his own company, Snyppit. It was listed by Apple as one of the best video companies in a handful of Asian countries in 2013 but was ultimately unsustainable. “It’s ok. You learn more from your failures than your successes.”��

That flexibility and being comfortable with uncertainty are hallmarks of Sobol’s life. “Exploring and staying curious,” he says, have opened doors for him. He also credits travelling alone at a young age as teaching him to go with the flow.

Coming to Dalhousie

Sobol, who grew up in Ottawa, was living in Israel after undergrad when he was recruited by the dean of Dalhousie Computer Science, who was a family friend, to come to Dal for its new Master of Electronic Commerce degree (which has since morphed into the Master of Digital Innovation ��𲵰����).��

“[The dean] said there would be three pillars – technology, business and law. With those three pillars you can succeed anywhere…I thought, ‘This is going to be fantastic for me.’ ”
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Sobol was the first to enroll in the program and again found himself at times flying solo, such as when he was the only computer science student in business, law and engineering classes. But he didn’t mind.

“I got my love for entrepreneurship through the program. It helped me find comfort with risk,” he says.��

Plus, it was at Dal that Sobol met his wife. The couple now have two children: a daughter in Canada at university, and a son finishing high school in Singapore.

From early adopter to parental protector

Sobol says that while tech has always excited him – he calls himself an early adopter and his first computer was a Commodore 64 – being a parent has him considering technology a little differently. He and his wife were strict about limiting their children’s screen time and did not give them iPods. “They were the last of their friends to have [smart] phones but eventually got them to use WhatsAPP and SnapChat, to be able to communicate with their friends” he says.����

He approaches social media cautiously, advising that all parents educate themselves and their children so they can filter what reaches them.��

“With the lack of fact-checking these days I often see headlines and wonder if I’m reading [satirical news site] The Onion or the news.”

The future looks multi-dimensional��

Sobol says after a quarter-century in the profession he is still very excited about tech, and probably will be for life. But also, that he’s starting to feel like his own parents did when the Internet arrived. “I’m pushing myself to stay ahead of the curve,” he says, predicting that before long kids will use ChatGPT the way his generation uses email – as a tool.

One of the things that has Sobol buzzing these days is Apple Vision Pro, which he says is “unbelievable” for how it sparks creativity. “It’s for and uses eye tracking,” Sobol explains. It doesn’t have just one application but rather allows the user to work on multiple applications at once or to watch a movie. “It’s very futuristic.”

Sobol has reached that sweet spot in his career where he can look ahead with anticipation while also reflecting with satisfaction on his journey to date. “I’ve been very lucky in my career path. When I joined Facebook in 2010 it was the hottest company. Then I joined Spotify and I’ve always loved music; helping people access it was great. Apple, even my own start-up; I often sit back and think wow, how did I get here.”��