Right before going into the studio to record this week’s GeekWire radio show and podcast, I noticed one of our guests, Giant Thinkwell CEO Adam Tratt, leaning over his computer with one of the biggest grins I’ve ever seen.

Adam TrattHe had just found out that the company’s new iPad app, Haiku Deck, had scored a coveted spot in the “New and Noteworthy” section of the App Store, giving the app a big dose of exposure on the world’s largest stage for tablet computing. We started recording the show as soon as we could, to capture the moment.

As I told Adam, it felt like interviewing a ballplayer after a big win. So, how does it feel?

“It feels good to know that we’re there. I’m a little terrified, frankly,” he said. “It’s more like qualifying for the Olympics than it is winning a medal. Now we have to live up to the expectations of getting lots of downloads. But I’m really proud of the team, they did a great job making an awesome app, and I can’t wait to share it with the world.”

Of course, the power of the App Store is a double-edged sword, and it’s just as easy for a worthy app to get lost and wither away into obscurity. I  talked with Adam about that risk, and the company’s decision to launch first for the iPad rather than other platforms.

Haiku Deck is an app for creating presentations, with features including the ability to easily find Creative Commons images that suit the subject of your presentation. In some ways, it’s an alternative to Microsoft PowerPoint, but Tratt, a former member of the Microsoft Office team, disagreed with my suggestion that Haiku Deck is a PowerPoint competitor.

“First of all, look, we are a freckle on the derrière of Microsoft,” he said, laughing. “For me to suggest that I am competing with Microsoft is a little overblown. So I want to make it clear that those are your words, not mine.”

As of this weekend, Haiku Deck was the No. 2 free iPad app in the App Store’s productivity section. Not too bad for a freckle.

Listen to the full show at the top of this post or directly via this MP3 file.

More from this week’s show: 

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