![]() | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
Amit Kapur is an American-born internet entrepreneur. He is currently the co-founder and CEO of WhoCo, a technology company focused on hiring and recruiting. He is best known as co-founder of technology start-up Gravity [1] and as the former chief operating officer at MySpace. [2]
Kapur grew up in Huron, South Dakota. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford University.[ citation needed ]
After graduation, Kapur worked at NBC Universal in its planning and digital strategy department. [3]
Kapur joined MySpace in 2005 and was in charge of the development of MySpace Music and MySpace mobile. He was named chief operating officer of the company in January 2008. [4]
In 2009, Kapur along with 2 other MySpace employees, Jim Benedetto and Steve Pearman, left the company [5] to found Santa Monica-based Gravity. [6] They raised $10 million in Series A funding in May 2009 [7] and another $10.6 million in Series B funding in October 2012. [8]
Gravity was acquired by AOL in January 2014. [9] [10] After the acquisition, Kapur was named President of AOL's publisher platform where he remained until 2017. [11]
In early 2019, Kapur co-founded Santa Monica-based WhoCo, a technology startup focused on hiring and recruiting, alongside former Google and AOL executive Tim Armstrong. [12]
AOL is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City, and a brand marketed by Yahoo! Inc.
Stephen McConnell Case is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist best known as the former chief executive officer and chairman of America Online (AOL). Case joined AOL's predecessor company, Quantum Computer Services, as a marketing vice-president in 1985, became CEO of the company in 1991, and, at the height of the dot-com bubble in 2000, orchestrated with Gerald M. Levin the merger that created AOL Time Warner, described as "the biggest train wreck in the history of corporate America."
Myspace is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it was the first social network to reach a global audience and had a significant influence on technology, pop culture and music. It also played a critical role in the early growth of companies like YouTube and created a developer platform that launched companies such as Zynga, RockYou, and Photobucket, among others, to success. From 2005 to 2009, Myspace was the largest social networking site in the world.
Brian Alvey is an American serial entrepreneur, programmer, designer and blogger. He grew up in Brooklyn and now lives in San Francisco where he is the CTO of Automattic's WordPress VIP Platform. He is best known for co-founding the blog publishing company Weblogs, Inc. with Jason Calacanis.
TechCrunch is an American global online newspaper focusing on topics regarding high-tech and startup companies. It was founded in June 2005 by Archimedes Ventures, led by partners Michael Arrington and Keith Teare.
Chris DeWolfe is an American technology entrepreneur. He co-founded Myspace in 2003 and was its chief executive officer (CEO) until 2009. DeWolfe has been the CEO of Jam City, a video game developer, since he co-founded it in 2010.
Justin Kan is an American internet entrepreneur and investor. He is the co-founder of live video platforms Justin.tv and Twitch, as well as the mobile social video application Socialcam. He was also the co-founder and former CEO of law-tech company Atrium before it was shut down in March 2020. In 2021, he launched NFT marketplace Fractal, which was renamed to Stash in 2024.
Michael Jones is an American entrepreneur, investor and CEO of Science Inc.
J. Michael Arrington is the American founder and former co-editor of TechCrunch, a blog covering the Silicon Valley technology start-up communities and the wider technology field in America and elsewhere. Magazines such as Wired and Forbes have named Arrington one of the most powerful people on the Internet. In 2008, he was selected by TIME Magazine as one of the most influential people in the world.
Aber Whitcomb is the founder and President of Salt AI. He was the CTO and Co-Founder of Jam City, Inc. As CTO of Jam City Inc, a multi-platform game developer and distributor, Aber Whitcomb oversaw the cross-platform technology strategy and played a key role in developing and operating Jam City titles on a global scale. Whitcomb is a recognized expert in large scale computing, networking and storage and frequently speaks on these topics at industry events. He has been profiled in publications such as VentureBeat, The New York Times, and SoCalTech.
Richard Marc Rosenblatt is an American entrepreneur. He built, operated, and sold over US$3.3 billion of Internet media and content-aggregation companies. Formerly the chairman and CEO of Demand Media, Rosenblatt left the company on October 14, 2013, and currently serves as founder, chairman and CEO of Whip Media. He is also the co-founder and chairman of Autograph.
Craig Forman is an American entrepreneur, media executive, and former foreign correspondent who served as chief executive officer of The McClatchy Company. He previously worked at The Wall Street Journal. He is currently a partner at NextNews Ventures, an early-stage private investment fund based in San Francisco. Forman has been a non-resident fellow at the Shorenstein Center at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.
Timothy M. Armstrong is an American business executive. He was formerly the CEO of Oath Inc., then a subsidiary of Verizon Communications that served as the umbrella company of its digital content subdivisions, including AOL and Yahoo!. Previously, he was the CEO of AOL Inc. from 2009 until its purchase by Verizon in 2015.
Owen Thomas Van Natta is an American businessman who has found success in a variety of tech spaces, including e-tail, social networking, music streaming, gaming, finance and investment. He currently serves as Founder of OVN Capital and has held notable positions in various tech companies, including Amazon.com, Facebook, Myspace, BOKU Mobile Payments, and Zynga. Van Natta holds a bachelor's degree in English and American literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Patch Media operates Patch.com, an American local news and information platform, based in Manhattan. It is primarily owned by Hale Global. Patch is operated by Planck, LLC, doing business as Patch Media.
Colin Digiaro is an American business executive. Alongside Chris DeWolfe and Aber Whitcomb, he was a co-founder of MySpace and Jam City. At MySpace, he was the Senior Vice President of International Corporate Development, a post he left in 2008 to found Slingshot Labs, an Internet incubator owned by News Corporation.
Geoffrey Arone is an American blockchain investor and advisor.
Gravity was a start up content personalization company based out of Los Angeles, California, United States. They helped publishers and advertisers deliver personalized content and ads. The company was founded in 2009, by Amit Kapur, Jim Benedetto, and Steve Pearman. The company was acquired by AOL in January 2014, for a reported $90.7 million.
GOQii is an Indian fitness technology company, headquartered in California that offers a wearable fitness band with a mobile-app, and personalised remote health coaching. The company was founded by Vishal Gondal, the former CEO & Founder of Indiagames. After closing its beta program in April 2014, GOQii became commercially available in India in August 2014. The company has offices in Mumbai, India and Shenzhen, China and plans to expand its services to the Middle East, the United States, and Singapore. Investors include Sumeru Ventures, Animoca Brands, Mitsui, NEA, Megadelta, DSG Consumer Partners, Galaxy Digital, Denlow Investment Trust, Edelweiss, Cheetah Mobile, GWC, Mr Ratan Tata, Mr Akshay Kumar and Mr Vijay Shekhar Sharma.
Dmitry Shapiro is an American entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of GoMeta, Inc., based in San Diego. Under GoMeta, he launched Koji, an App Store featuring social mini-apps that can be integrated into various Links In Bios. Shapiro's entrepreneurial journey includes creating the video sharing site Veoh in 2005, which was launched a few months after YouTube. Additionally, he held the position of Chief Technology Officer at MySpace, before moving on to Google, where he served as Group Product Manager. Shapiro left Google in order to found GoMeta.