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Michael Jones | |
|---|---|
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| Born | Michael Jones August 13, 1975 |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | University of Oregon (B.A.) |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur |
Michael Jones (born August 13, 1975) is an American entrepreneur and investor. Jones is currently the CEO of Science Inc. [1] [2] In 2017, Jones was named one of Los Angeles's 500 most influential people by the Los Angeles Business Journal. [3]
Jones attended Lake Oswego High School and has a bachelor of arts in international business and marketing from the University of Oregon where he was named Student Entrepreneur of the Year in 1997. [4] [5]
In 2001, Jones founded Userplane, a Los Angeles-based company that provides instant messaging and other applications for companies such as Myspace and Honda. In 2006, Userplane was acquired by AOL. [6] In 2005, Jones began angel investing, primarily focused in the Los Angeles area. He has personally invested in more than 30 startups. [7] In 2008, Jones launched Tsavo Media, an online media network company which was later sold to Cybernex for $75 million. [8]
In 2010, Jones was hired as the CEO of Myspace where he was tasked with the company’s relaunch, one of the more high-profile turn-around challenges in the industry. [9] This included stabilizing a historically negative traffic and user trend, reducing the operational cost of the business by nearly 90 percent, and pivoting the product from its legacy as a social network to a social entertainment destination, [10] then selling the business on News Corp’s behalf to SpecificMedia. [11] Jones left Myspace in the summer of 2011. [12]
In 2011, Jones launched technology startup studio Science Inc. [13] [14] Jones spent much of his time working with the companies’ CEOs and investors on strategy, growth and business development. [15] In 2011, Dollar Shave Club launched with investments from Science Inc. Science was Dollar Shave Club’s first investor, before the startup raised a $1 million seed round in March 2012. [16]
Other startups that have come from Science include Liquid Death, where Jones sits on the board; DogVacay (acquired by Rover); HelloSociety (acquired by The New York Times); HomeHero; FameBit (acquired by Google and rebranded as YouTube BrandConnect); Delicious; Playhaven (acquired by RockYou); Kyoku (acquired by TheFeed); and Quarterly. [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] His exits in 2016 included Science portfolio companies HelloSociety (acquired by The New York Times), [23] FameBit (acquired by Google) [23] and Dollar Shave Club (acquired by Unilever). [25]
In 2017, Science Inc. launched its initial coin offering for its blockchain-focused incubator, Science Blockchain. It was the first incubator to do so. [26]
In February 2018, Science Inc. closed on $75 million for its venture fund with traditional limited partners, including a fund of funds, sovereign wealth funds, foundations, and other institutional investors. [27] The capital will be used to back breakaway companies coming out of Science's incubators, co-invest in deals that were not seeded by Science, and will be used to co-invest alongside other venture investors. [27]
In September 2017, Science Inc. announced Science Blockchain, an incubator focused on blockchain-based companies, funded through an initial coin offering (ICO). [28] The offering falls within U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) private placement exemptions from registration under Regulation D (SEC) and Regulation S. [26] The ICO only allows accredited investors to buy tokens in the ICO. [26] The ICO offering is being managed by The Argon Group, via its subsidiary Argon Investment Management LLC, under the Regulation D Section 506(c) exemption from registration issued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. [26]
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