Internet Biographies

In 2003, Swedish businessman Niklas Zennström sent out an email message to his friends, asking them to take a look at a new Web site called Skype.com. With that message, he launched one of the most popular Internet services of the early twenty-first century. Skype revolutionized the way that people communicated by offering free and low-cost phone calls to anywhere in the world through the Internet. In the years since Zennström sent that e-mail message, more than six hundred million people worldwide have become Skype users. This informational text is aligned to content areas in social science and technology, providing readers with a compelling look at the technological world of Internet start-ups and Zennström's cutting-edge business savvy. The insightful narrative includes sidebars on some of the company's innovations, a biographical fact sheet on Zennström, and a fact sheet that profiles the company's achievements. A timeline provides students with a succinct overview of Zenntröm's life and Skype's history.

This title tells the story of the social media gaming company Zynga, known for games such as FarmVille and CityVille, and its unconventional founder and CEO, Mark Pincus. As suggested by the company's motto "Connecting the world through games," Pincus has aimed to connect people around the globe through games played on Facebook and other social platforms. Readers will enjoy getting the inside scoop on Pincus' sometimes controversial journey to the billionaires' club.

Started in Chicago, Illinois, Groupon has expanded to dozens of cities all around the world and has become an Internet sensation. Mason's billion-dollar idea has revolutionized e-commerce. Groupon has taken the good and the bad in stride, using setbacks, challenges, and competition to learn valuable lessons and improve its strategies for continued growth and worldwide expansion. It has revolutionized the ways in which we interact with our local economy, including our neighborhood businesses and merchants. This is the remarkable story of Andrew Mason and his billion dollar idea that is saving consumers around the world billions of their own dollars while providing a boost to recession-challenged local businesses. This volume includes Fact Sheets on Mason and Groupon, as well as an informative timeline.

Sometimes in business, success comes not by reinventing the wheel but by simply building a better mousetrap. That's exactly what David Karp did when he founded his microblogging site, Tumblr. This book introduces readers to Karp and follows him from his humble beginnings as a shy kid to the head of one of the most successful tech companies today. He grew his business simply because he believed he could build a simpler, leaner blogging platform that was easier to use. His idea was a hit, and Tumblr's success took off. As with most companies, though, Karp's business experienced growing pains from its rapid expansion and struggled to turn a profit. However, readers learn that Karp, the once introverted kid who transformed into a confident leader, is looking toward further growing Tumblr into an even greater success. With fact sheets on the founder and the company itself, readers see that it's possible to turn a simple idea into a revolutionary business.

This biography follows Internet and television innovator Jason Kilar from the family vacation in Florida's Disney World that sparked his interest in customer service when he was still a child, to his rise through the ranks of two of the most intriguing and successful new media companies: Amazon and Hulu. In addition to an account of Kilar's personal journey, readers will get an overview of how media technology and the Internet have evolved over the last two decades, radically altering the landscape of commerce as well as entertainment and making it possible for companies like Amazon and Hulu to thrive.

The video-game franchise Call of Duty has earned millions of fans through its realistic, engaging representation of both contemporary and historical wars. The story behind the game's development is just as contentious. Vince Zampella, Grant Collier, Jason West, and their development studio Infinity Ward designed the Call of Duty games, which were then released by the publisher Activision. After several years, the creators and Activision were engaged in a legal battle over money and rights. This volume details the saga and serves as a cautionary tale for how egos can destroy profitable business relationships.

Since its release for Apple's iPhone in 2009, Angry Birds has been one of the most successful video games in history. Although Angry Birds seemed to be an overnight success, the game was actually the result of years of struggle by Rovio Entertainment, the Finnish company that created it. The company's founder, Niklas Hed, his cousin Mikael Hed, and Peter Vesterbacka have established not just a profitable video game but a cultural phenomenon. In this thrilling narrative, readers examine the challenges and triumphs of building a company while keeping the spirit of fun behind the development of new products.

Thanks to Shazam's services and products, we no longer have to spend hours wondering about the title of a song we heard in passing or wait to hear it again to find out who sings it. With Shazam, consumers can instantly find song, movie, or product information at the touch of a button, without even requiring a search engine. The foresight of the company's four founders made possible one of the early smartphone apps now used by over 400 million people. Their stories and the development of this remarkable business are chronicled in this volume.

In an increasingly app-focused world, you would be hard-pressed to find a user who hasn't encountered the massively popular photo-sharing app Instagram. With over 150 million active monthly users, Instagram's wild success is well known, but unlike other stories of tech triumph, few know the details behind the achievements of Instagram cofounders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. With their experience from other companies, including Google and Microsoft, this pair gave new life to amateur photography the world over. Readers will learn how two young, driven techies became the CEOs of the most popular photography app in the world today.

The company that is now Google began as a partnership of ideas between two Stanford University graduate students, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, with a shared vision. They both had the confidence and nerve to set out on their own to start up a technology company together. Eric Schmidt was recruited as CEO in 2001 to help guide the company with his management expertise, without changing its exuberant corporate culture. Google has grown from an ambitious little start-up with the dream of changing the world into a global giant that really could, and has, changed the world. In this compelling text, readers learn about Google's business model, the range of products and services––most of which the company gives away for free––and its mission: "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." This perceptive book includes sidebars on the company's innovations, a biographical fact sheet on Brin, Page, and Schmidt, as well as a fact sheet that profiles the company's key accomplishments. A timeline offers readers a concise overview of significant events in the history of Google.

Reid Hoffman enjoys helping people do good things. He started the social network LinkedIn precisely to help people, specifically people in a professional context, form, improve, and make use of their relationships. In fact, the tagline of the company is "Relationships matter." All of Hoffman's actions and decisions are guided by three principles: making the greatest impact for good, valuing relationships, and working toward massive scale. This captivating biography of the man and the company he cofounded provides readers with a look into entrepreneurship, goal setting, Internet start-ups' business operations, and how to build on successes to help the common good. The informational text, which includes fact sheets on the life of Hoffman and LinkedIn's accomplishments, takes inspiration from some science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) concepts to encourage students to become technologically literate so that they can participate fully in these emerging fields. A timeline provides readers with a concise overview of notable events.

Crowdfunding is not a new concept­-it was actually used by the Medicis and Walt Whitman in the funding of the arts. However, crowdfunding through the Internet is a new phenomenon. This book introduces readers to the concept of funding creative projects through a group of people, explaining its benefits and how it works. The history of crowdfunding is covered to the present day. Once Kickstarter came along, the company itself had to raise funds to get started. This book highlights the efforts of Chen, Strickler, and Adler to sell their idea to investors. It reveals how Kickstarter went through growing pains but finally emerged as one of the most successful Internet companies today. Readers learn about what it takes to make a start-up a lasting enterprise. With fact sheets on the founders and the company, this book serves as an inspiration for anyone interested in one day starting his or her own Internet company.

Netflix started out as a small company, but millions of subscribers later it took down Blockbuster, with only a modern approach to video rental. The story of Netflix is interesting, as is the story of its founder, Reed Hastings. This volume is a must-read for any future Internet entrepreneur, detailing the rise of the company and the many speed bumps it encountered along the way.

Born in Huntsville, Alabama, no one expected that Jimmy Wales would go on to create one of the most successful and widely-used Web sites in history: Wikipedia. Wikipedia is the product of a lot of hard work. It had its ups and downs and its failures and successes before becoming the Internet phenomenon it is today. This book details the journey, from the early life of Jimmy Wales through the height of Wikipedia's success.

In 2006, an Australian computer programmer and former hacker named Julian Assange launched a website called WikiLeaks that he claimed would change the way governments worked. Assange envisioned the website as a place where people could post secret and confidential documents that would reveal the abuses by governments and corporations perpetrated against ordinary citizens. In less than five years, Assange took WikiLeaks from an obscure site known only to political activists and hackers to an international phenomenon. Documents made public by the website revealed a wide range of illegal and questionable behaviors by companies and governments around the world, from cover-ups of shady banking practices to assassination plots. Human rights groups and journalists have praised WikiLeaks for its work. Assange and WikiLeaks have received awards and recognition for promoting open governments. Yet they also have been criticized numerous times for releasing sensitive documents. Politicians in many countries have accused the site of attempting to undermine governments. In the United States, Assange has been vilified by some for releasing information about U.S. military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the website has been criticized for endangering these and other military and intelligence operations. WikiLeaks has faced efforts to cut off its funding and has survived several attempts to close it down through political pressure and court actions. Several major crises have threatened to derail WikiLeaks, including a criminal case against Assange in Sweden for which he is facing extradition. Key members left the group due to disagreements over the website's mission and goals, and the methods used to achieve them. In addition, technical problems have periodically hampered the website's ability to accept leaked documents and undermined its security. Even if WikiLeaks itself fades or collapses under the weight of its own controversies and challenges, the organization has still acted as a trailblazer in the fight for freedom of electronic information and provided an example for future activists to follow-and for those in positions of authority to fear. This book penetrates the highly secretive world of WikiLeaks, profiling its highest-ranking decision-makers, and examining the philosophy and motivation of its founder. Combining cloak-and-dagger, high-stakes international intrigue with impassioned public debate over the ethics of leaking and a straight-forward biography of a man and the company he founded, this book is a fascinating, compelling, thought-provoking read. The volume provides a privileged glimpse into the corridors of power and the top-secret decision-making we would otherwise remain unaware of; also included are fact sheets on Assange and WikiLeaks, and an informative timeline.

The brainchild of founder Tim Westergren, Pandora Internet Radio is a Web-based service that provides a unique, personalized music stream to each listener. Utilizing a wealth of information supplied to a database by trained music analysts, Pandora responds to listeners' musical tastes, playing songs that share characteristics with their favorite songs or artists. This title tells the fascinating story of how Westergren's innovative company developed out of his personal interests and experiences. Enhanced with sidebars, fact sheets, and a timeline, it details Westergren's journey in bringing Pandora from concept to reality in the digital marketplace.

With over 2,000 employees, 800 million users, and annual revenues of more than $4 billion, it's hard to imagine that Mark Zuckerberg-in his Harvard dorm room-started Facebook less than 10 years ago. This is the astounding story of Zuckerberg's launch of "the Facebook," as it was originally called in 2004, and with it the revolutionizing of business and the way we communicate, and spread messages, throughout the world. This new way of communicating has inspired great social change. Readers discover how business success is not just financial, but also humanitarian.

Zappos redefined online shopping when it came on the scene in 1999, founded by Nick Swinmurn and Tony Hsieh. Their savvy approach to customer service and determination to keep their employees happy has resulted in Zappos becoming a multimillion dollar company. This volume is not only an intriguing modern history of an empire, it's a valuable resource for future Internet entrepreneurs.

The Internet is host to a world of information but it's also full of misinformation. At the Khan Academy, which is an online education site started by visionary Salman Khan, one can learn about such diverse subjects as whether there are different sizes of infinity, or if basketball star and regular contributor to the site LeBron James thinks it's easier to make three free throws or one three pointer. That's right, LeBron James is a regular contributor. Bill Gates' kids are regular visitors. Readers find out just who Salman Khan is and how he became a superstar magnet and a superstar in his own right.

This fascinating biography tells the story of Steve Jobs, genius pioneer of the digital age, and his role in creating and building Apple, one of the world's most powerful, profitable, and innovative companies. In vivid, detailed chapters, the author describes the evolution of Apple from a start-up in the Jobs family garage to a company that has changed the way we all live, work, communicate, and are entertained today. Readers will enjoy following the twists and turns of one man's dramatic life story while also learning how computer technology and digital devices have evolved over the past fifty years. The book is a must-read for all people interested in technology, business, art, or design. It will also appeal to anyone curious about how today's digital world developed, explained through the story of one of the world's iconoclastic leaders.

This insightful work combines Jeff Bezos's life story, beginning in 1964 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with the creation of Amazon, in 1995, and its rise as the largest online retailer in the world. Bezos's zeal and tirelessness has seen Amazon through the inevitable ups and downs that come with building a start-up-taking it from a garage and turning it into a worldwide powerhouse. Although Bezos has wide-ranging interests and investments today, Amazon remains the cornerstone of his work life, and he is determined to keep his company at the forefront of technological and commercial innovation. The narrative includes captivating sidebars on Bezos's life and innovations, and fact sheets on his life and the company. A timeline helps readers glean pertinent facts about Bezos and Amazon quickly.

50 million active Twitter users log in to Twitter every single day. 230 million tweets are sent every day. Twitter is one of the most widely-used and well-known social networks that exists. In just 140 characters, people share their political views, jokes, favorite things, and more. With a lot of hard work from Evan Williams, Biz Stone, Jack Dorsey, and many others this Internet phenomenon was able to manifest. Readers explore the lives of the main Twitter creators and how their company has grown, and changed, since its introduction.