Jay Gould (born April 1, 1979)[1] is an American tech entrepreneur and the founder & CEO of Yashi.[2] Gould is also an active angel investor, and has backed web-based startups including DogVacay,[3] Tout, Buffer, and Fitocracy.[4]
Education
Gould graduated from Rowan University in 2001, where he earned a bachelor's degree in Law & Justice.[5][better source needed]
Career
In December 2005, Gould sold his first business to Bolt Media for an undisclosed amount and joined Bolt as its President.[6] At the time of the sale, Gould's websites had 3.3 million U.S. unique visitors, according to comScore Media Metrics.[1]
While under Gould's management, Bolt's revenue grew to $7 million annually, 5.3 million U.S. visitors to their website monthly,[7][failed verification] culminating in signing a definitive agreement to sell the company for up to $30 million.[8][9][10] Just prior to signing the $30 million definitive agreement, Universal Music Group filed a lawsuit against Bolt, MySpace and others for alleged copyright infringement.[11] Bolt was ultimately unable to reach a settlement with Universal Music, which resulted in the termination of Bolt's $30 million acquisition, eventually leading Bolt to file an assignment for the benefit of creditors.[12][13]
During Gould's tenure at Bolt, he co-founded WikiYou, which raised $500,000 from investors, including Mayfield Fund, First Round Capital, and Reid Hoffman.[14]
Gould later founded GamersMedia, the first vertical-advertising network to bring brand advertisers to casual-gaming websites, which at its launch had over 20 million unique visitors across 40 sites.[15][16][17] On February 2, 2015, the company was acquired by Nexstar Media Group for $33 million.[18]
Yashi
Jay Gould and Caitlin Gould founded Yashi in 2007.[19] Yashi became a location-focused advertising platform that targeted mobile and web video advertising.[20]
The company was named to Inc. Magazine's Inc. 5000 list of the Fastest-Growing Private Companies in America for four consecutive years from 2012–2015.[20][21]
Yashi was acquired by Nexstar Broadcasting Group on February 2, 2015, for $33 million.[18]
Foundville
In October 2011, Gould launched foundville.com, a video podcast site featuring interviews with successful Internet entrepreneurs. Gould has interviewed founders of companies such as HotOrNot,[22] RockYou,[23] Adify,[24] Mochi Media,[25] CapLinked,[26] The Receivables Exchange,[27] Wikia,[28] SitePoint,[29] and others.
Investments
Gould is an angel investor, with sizable contributions to companies such as Buffer,[30] CapLinked, Tout, iDoneThis, Fitocracy, and Cadee, among others.[31] In March 2012, Gould was part of a $1 million funding initiative for DogVacay, an online marketplace for residential dog boarding.[31]
In addition to startup capital, Gould also contributes his knowledge and expertise to entrepreneurs. He is a member of the Rowan University Entrepreneurship Program Advisor Council (ENTAC).
Awards and recognition
References
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