Sam Yagan
Birth dateApril 10, 1977 (age 49)
Birth placeChicago, Illinois, U.S.[1]
EducationHarvard University
Stanford University
OccupationCo-founder of OkCupid
Co-founder of SparkNotes
Vice-Chairman of Match.com
Former CEO of Shoprunner
Years active1999–present
SpouseJessica Droste Yagan (m. 2003)

Sam Yagan (born April 10, 1977) is an American Internet entrepreneur best known as the co-founder of OkCupid.[2] Time named Yagan one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2013.[2] He is the co-founder and managing director of Corazon Capital.

Family and education

Yagan is the son of Syrian immigrants, Al and Dr. Haifa Yagan,[3][4] and grew up in Bourbonnais, Illinois; he studied at Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School, Illinois Math and Science Academy, Harvard College, and eventually Stanford Graduate School of Business.[5][6]

Yagan holds a bachelor's degree in Applied Mathematics and Economics from Harvard University and an MBA from Stanford University, where he earned distinction as a Siebel Scholar, an Arjay Miller Scholar, and the Henry Ford Scholar, the award granted to each class's valedictorian.[7] His brother Danny Yagan is an economics professor at the University of California, Berkeley.[8] His wife Jessica Droste Yagan is the CEO of Impact Engine, an impact investing fund.[9]

Career

In 1999, during his senior year at Harvard, Yagan and his classmates, Chris Coyne, Max Krohn, and Christian Rudder started TheSpark.com,[10][11] which would later be known as SparkNotes.[12] In 2000, Yagan and partners sold SparkNotes to iTurf for $30 million,[13][14] the partners then helped iTurf sell the site again to Barnes & Noble. in 2001.[14][15] After the sale, Yagan then stayed at Barnes & Noble for a year.[16]

eDonkey was a part of MetaMachine Inc and was a peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing network. Yagan was the CEO of MetaMachine Inc.[17] As the developer of eDonkey, Yagan testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee expressing a need for balance between innovation and intellectual property.[18]

In 2006, MetaMachine, Yagan, and founder Jed McCaleb agreed to pay $30 million to avoid potential copyright infringement lawsuits brought by the RIAA.[17] In accordance with the agreement, MetaMachine, Yagan and McCaleb agreed to discontinue distribution of its software as well as to deprecate previous copies of its software.[19]

In 2003, Yagan again teamed up with his Harvard classmates Chris Coyne, Max Krohn, and Christian Rudder to found online dating website OkCupid.[14] Yagan and partners designed OkCupid with a question-and-answer-based system.[20][21] In 2011, Yagan led the sale of OkCupid to Match Group, a subsidiary of IAC, for $50 million.[22] Yagan was the CEO of Match Group for three years and left at the end of 2015 before joining the company's public board as vice chairman.[23] While Yagan was CEO, Match Group started Tinder.[24]

In 2009, Yagan, Kelli Rhee, and Kapil Chaudhary co-founded Excelerate Labs with the financial backing from Sandbox Industries.[25] Excelerate Labs merged with Techstars in 2013.[26]

In 2014, Yagan co-founded Corazon Capital with Steve Farsht.[27]

In 2016, Yagan became the CEO of ShopRunner, an e-commerce network that provides two-day shipping across multiple merchants that was founded by Michael Rubin.[28][29] He led the sale of the company to FedEx in December 2020.[30] Yagan shut down ShopRunner's office in San Mateo, California, and established its headquarters in Chicago.[31] He attributed this move to the labor market and ability to recruit.[32]

Board memberships

Yagan has participated on the board for several companies including Grindr,[33] Match Group,[34] Rush University Medical Center,[35] Start Early,[36] Shiftgig,[34] SpotHero,[34] Tinder,[34] and Techstars.[37]

Recognition

Time named Yagan one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2013.[2] In 2011, Yagan was named to Crain's "40 under 40" in Chicago.[38]

Personal life

Sam Yagan is married to his high school sweetheart, Jessica Droste Yagan.[39][40] They have three children.[1][41] Yagan and his wife started the Yagan Family Foundation.[42]

References

  1. ^ Ihejirika, Maudlyne (November 21, 2015). "Sunday Sitdown: Sam Yagan, tech guru, son of Syrian immigrants". Chicago Sun-Times
  2. ^ "Time 100 - Sam Yagan". Time Magazine. April 18, 2013. Archived April 24, 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
  3. ^ "Yagan's influence no illusion". The Daily Journal. December 2013.
  4. ^ "Time magazine ranks Bourbonnais' Sam Yagan among 100 most influential people". The Daily Journal. April 2013.
  5. ^ The Daily Journal staff reports (20 April 2013). "Time magazine ranks Bourbonnais' Sam Yagan among 100 most influential people". The Daily Journal. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  6. ^ Feloni, Richard & Baer, Drake (September 9, 2014). "The 25 Most Successful Stanford Business School Graduates". Business Insider. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  7. ^ "Executive Profile: Sam Yagan". Bloomberg Businessweek. Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 2013-06-28. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
  8. ^ "Faculty Profiles: Danny Yagan". Department of Economics. UC Berkeley Department of Economics. Archived October 1, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
  9. ^ "Jessica Droste Yagan — IMPACT ENGINE". Retrieved Dec 1, 2023.
  10. ^ Aucoin, Don (August 2007). "Digital Man". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on October 1, 2022. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
  11. ^ Copeland, Libby (4 January 2004). "Point. Click. Ick! Gross Anatomy Of a Web Site". Washington Post. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
  12. ^ Martin, Stacy (5 September 2004). "SITE SPECIFIC-www.sparknotes.com". San Francisco Chronicle. San Francisco: Hearst Communications Inc. Archived 31 January 2005 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2006-03-19.
  13. ^ Roberts, Daniel (25 September 2013). "The nerd king of online dating". Fortune. Retrieved 1 March 2024. Before they created OkCupid, he and the same friends started SparkNotes, an online alternative to CliffsNotes study guides, in 1999. It sold to iTurf, Inc. for $30 million.
  14. ^ Hemmerdinger, J. (3 March 2011). "Matchmaking math: 1 + 1 = $50 million". Press Herald. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  15. ^ Helm, Burt (23 October 2005). "A Hard Ride For eDonkey". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 13 March 2024. Yagan sold the business to Barnes & Noble Inc. (BKS ) for $3.75 million in 2001.
  16. ^ Mazarakis, Richard & Feloni, Anna (21 May 2018). "The cofounder of OKCupid says 3 lucky moments led him to run a multi-billion-dollar company". Business Insider. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  17. ^ McCarthy, Caroline (26 September 2006). "File-sharing site eDonkey kicks it". CNET. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  18. ^ "Testimony of Sam Yagan". United States Senate Judiciary Committee. Archived December 20, 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  19. ^ Billboard Staff (12 September 2006). "eDonkey Settles With Majors To Tune Of $30m". Billboard. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  20. ^ Ciment, Shoshy (14 February 2020). "The 'grandfather of online dating' reveals the 3 crucial questions that can predict long-term compatibility in a relationship". Business Insider. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  21. ^ NPR Staff (6 September 2014). "Online Dating Stats Reveal A 'Dataclysm' Of Telling Trends". NPR. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  22. ^ Elahi, Amina (December 22, 2015). "Sam Yagan set to join Match Group board after IPO". Business Insider. Retrieved 1 March 2024. OkCupid and SparkNotes co-founder Yagan is a prominent figure in Chicago’s technology scene. He sold the dating company to Match Group parent IAC in 2011 for $50 million and went on to co-found local accelerator Excelerate Labs, now Techstars Chicago.
  23. ^ Elahi, Amina (22 December 2015). "Sam Yagan set to join Match Group board after IPO". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  24. ^ Roberts, Daniel (25 September 2013). "The nerd king of online dating". Fortune. Retrieved 1 March 2024. Many of Tinder’s users don’t realize that it is owned by Match; the app came from its R&D lab and launched under Yagan’s guidance.
  25. ^ Rao, Leena (20 March 2010). "Excelerate Labs Brings A Startup Incubator To Chicago". TechCrunch. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  26. ^ Harris, Melissa (1 February 2013). "City's top tech-startup incubator to merge with national competitor". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 1 March 2024. Excelerate Labs, Chicago’s first and most prominent tech startup incubator, is joining TechStars, a Boulder, Colo.-based competitor
  27. ^ Moore, Galen (5 October 2016). "OkCupid Founder Sam Yagan's Corazon Capital Is Back With a Bigger Fund II". Chicago Inno. Retrieved 1 March 2024. The $13 million Corazon I, also led by Yagan and Farsht, was known for bringing in local entrepreneurs as limited partners, including Inventables founder CEO Zach Kaplan...The firm has participated in Series A-sized rounds for several Chicago startups.
  28. ^ Elahi, Amina (12 July 2016). "Former Match CEO Sam Yagan takes the helm at ShopRunner". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  29. ^ Del Rey, Jason (5 October 2018). "Michael Rubin's ShopRunner plans to acquire the e-commerce startup Spring". Vox. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  30. ^ Cremades, Alejandro. "This Founder Bounced Back From Startup Failure To Leading A $400M IPO That Transformed Online Dating". Forbes. Archived February 12, 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  31. ^ Pletz, John (26 April 2017). "Yagan moves ShopRunner's Silicon Valley ops to Chicago". Crain’s Chicago Business. Retrieved 1 March 2024. The e-commerce software company is shutting down its Silicon Valley office and moving about 30 jobs to Chicago…Employees in San Mateo, Calif., have been offered the chance to relocate to Chicago, and some will continue to work remotely from the West Coast.
  32. ^ Pletz, John (26 April 2017). "Yagan moves ShopRunner's Silicon Valley ops to Chicago". Crain’s Chicago Business. Retrieved 1 March 2024. "It's become clear our place in this labor market is so strong and our ability to recruit is more advantageous than in San Mateo," said Yagan, who got his MBA from Stanford University.
  33. ^ "Form S-1 registration statement under the securities act of 1993 Corazon Capital v838 Monoceros Corp". www.sec.gov. 12 February 2021. Retrieved 1 March 2024. Mr. Yagan sits on the board of several private companies, including The Duchossois Group, SpotHero, Brilliant Worldwide, and Grindr.
  34. ^ Elahi, Amina (December 22, 2015). "Sam Yagan set to join Match Group board after IPO". Business Insider. Retrieved 1 March 2024. Yagan also sits on the board of Tinder, another Match Group-owned dating app, as well as on the boards of local startups including Shiftgig and SpotHero.
  35. ^ "Hospital Leadership at RUSH University Medical Center". www.rush.edu. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  36. ^ "Start Early Board of Directors". Start Early. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  37. ^ Moore, Galen (5 October 2016). "OkCupid Founder Sam Yagan's Corazon Capital Is Back With a Bigger Fund II". Chicago Inno. Retrieved 1 March 2024. Yagan is now CEO of Shoprunner. Both he and Farsht are on the board of Techstars Chicago.
  38. ^ [http://www.chicagobusiness.com/section/40under40-2011#_Yagan" "40 under 40"]. Crain's Chicago Business. 2011. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130416133950/http://www.chicagobusiness.com/section/40under40-2011#_Yagan" Archived] April 16, 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
  39. ^ Kapos, Shia (February 11, 2013). "Married to their high school sweethearts". Crain's Chicago Business. Archived October 1, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
  40. ^ "Jessica Droste Yagan '95 and Sam Yagan '95 Step Up for IMSA". IMSA360. November 6, 2012. Archived April 19, 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
  41. ^ "15 Questions with ...Sam Yagan". CNN Business. Archived from the original on February 11, 2015. Retrieved October 31, 2024.
  42. ^ "Yagan Family Foundation - Nonprofit Explorer". ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. ProPublica. 9 May 2013. Retrieved 13 March 2024.