About BowlDevs
We build software for bowling small businesses
Spectre started behind the counter of a family pro shop, not in a boardroom. Today it runs in hundreds of pro shops worldwide, from shops run by one person to chains with several locations.
The story
It began with a binder nobody could find
Roughly a decade ago, Mark Buffa was working in the family pro shop at Buffa Distribution. Every shop he visited kept client measurements and drill specs somewhere different. A binder. A card file. A spreadsheet on one computer that nobody else could reach. Nothing was centralized and nothing was portable.
The first Spectre launched in 2017 as a local application. It solved the record keeping, but it was the wrong shape for how shops actually work: the data sat on one machine, and shops have more than one machine and more than one person.
Spectre Cloud followed in 2022 and moved everything to the browser. Same records, reachable from the counter, the workshop, the phone in your pocket and the laptop at home. Today Spectre serves hundreds of pro shops worldwide.
- Roughly a decade ago. The idea takes shape in the family pro shop at Buffa Distribution, where every shop keeps its records somewhere different.
- 2017. The first Spectre launches as a local application. It works, but the data is stuck on one computer.
- 2022. Spectre Cloud arrives and moves everything to the browser, reachable from any device on the account.
- Today. Hundreds of pro shops worldwide run on Spectre, from one person operations to chains with several locations.
Who we are
The people behind BowlDevs
President, BowlDevs Software
Mark Buffa
Mark has represented Canada nine times and won gold in Trios at the 2013 World Bowling Championships. He graduated in Computer Science from Wichita State University in 2005, and he is an IBPSIA Certified Master Instructor and a USBC Silver Coach.
He is President of BowlDevs Software and of Buffa Distribution, so the software gets tested in a working pro shop before anyone else sees it.
Secretary, BowlDevs Software
Luis Rodriguez
Luis brings 25 years of bowling and 20 years of building applications to the code. He founded CompuHelmac and is Secretary of BowlDevs Software.
He has been based in Montreal since 2005, and he bowls, which is why the software behaves the way bowlers expect it to.
Our mission
Tools that work for any size of pro shop
We build for the smallest single location shop and for the chains with many stores in the USA, with the same product. From there we build outward: to the bowler tracking an arsenal, to the coach running lessons, and to the person learning the trade.
How we work
Four things we hold to
- We ship what shops ask for. Spectre POS exists because it was the single most requested thing after launch. Tell us what is missing and it goes on the list.
- We keep the base product complete. Unlimited bowlers, unlimited spec sheets and unlimited arsenal entries are in the membership, not behind a higher tier.
- We speak your language. English, French and Spanish, across every product and in support.
- We never hold your data hostage. Cancel and you keep read only access to your records. Arrive from another system and we help you import.
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What we make
Five products, built by Spectre
Spectre Cloud runs the shop. Spectre POS runs the register. Spectre Stats is for the bowler. Spectre Coach is for lessons and video. Spectre Academy teaches the trade. Documentation for all of it lives in the Spectre wiki.
Something missing? Tell us. The roadmap is built out of what shops ask for.