Relic Entertainment
Relic was started in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada by Alex Garden and Luke Moloney in 1997. Their first title, "Homeworld", was released on September 28, 1999 to critical acclaim and successful sales. Though they did not immediately continue working on the franchise (Sierra Entertainment, the game's publisher, owned the rights), the game did have a spin-off, "", developed by Barking Dog Studios and published by Sierra.
Lew Cirne
Cirne pioneered application performance management (APM) software technology as the founder and CEO of Wily Technology, which was acquired by CA, Inc. in March 2006. 
Cirne founded the company New Relic in 2008.