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Matt Williams | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 21, 1972 |
| Alma mater | University of Arizona |
| Occupation | CEO of Pro.com |
| Known for | CEO of Digg.com, Amazon executive |
Matt Williams (born August 21, 1972 in Dallas, Texas) is an American Internet entrepreneur and the CEO of Pro.com. [1] Previous positions include CEO of Digg.com, executive roles at Amazon, and Entrepreneur-In-Residence at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. [2]
Williams was born in Dallas, Texas, and grew up in the Pacific Northwest, attending Shorecrest High School near Seattle, Washington. His parents were both entrepreneurs: his father starting radio stations, including KUBE 93.3 in Seattle [3] [ unreliable source? ] and his mother starting Lake Forest Park Montessori in North Seattle. Williams graduated from the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona. [4]
In 1996 Williams and high-school friend Sky Kruse cofounded Seattle-based LiveBid.com, a proprietary software site that partnered with traditional auction houses to stream their events online, allowing Internet bidders to participate in bidding. [5] [6] The firm was acquired by Amazon in 1999. [5]
Williams remained at Amazon until 2010, he occupied several executive roles, including General Manager of Payments. [7] He was responsible for early iterations of various web products, including Amazon's Selling on Amazon and WebStore by Amazon. [8]
In 2001, Williams initiated a partnership between Amazon and the Annual Today Show Holiday Drive, a project of the Today Show Charitable Foundation, Inc. The partnership allowed Amazon customers to select and purchase a wish list of toy products for needy children from the site. [9]
In September 2010, Williams became CEO of social news aggregator Digg.com. He inherited a number of challenges: the technically marred release of site redesign Digg v4 had resulted in a decline in customer usage and an alienation of the site's core audience; at the same time, changes in the internet milieu - most particularly Google's search algorithm - had made Digg's news aggregation model less relevant. [10] After the departure of former CEO Jay Adelson, founder Kevin Rose had run the company, making Williams the company's third CEO within a span of months. [11]
During Williams' tenure, the firm's metrics began to rebound. Site engagement increased significantly: Diggs and time on site by 20%, the total number of comments submitted per day by 50%. [12] Despite this, the company's burn rate remained high, resulting in layoffs of 40% of staff and cuts in operational costs in order to approach cash flow positive in 2011. [12] [13]
In July 2012, Williams completed the sale of Digg in three parts: some staff members were transferred to The Washington Post's SocialCode project for $12 million, a suite of patents were sold to LinkedIn for $4 million, and the Digg brand and website was sold to Betaworks for stock plus at least $500,000 cash. [14]
In mid-2013, Williams became CEO of the Internet startup Pro.com, a home services marketplace where users receive instant price estimates from home professionals and schedule appointments online. [15]
In 2012 Williams became Entrepreneur in Residence at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. [2] Williams is a Member of the Board of Directors for SmartThings. [16]
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