Samir Arora

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Samir Arora

Born 1965
Occupation Entrepreneur
Website
Samir Arora

Samir Arora (born November 5, 1965) is best known for being the founder, CEO and Chairman of the web design pioneering company NetObjects, Inc. from 1995 - 2001, and being the co-founder, CEO and Chairman of Glam Media since 2003. Samir Arora holds four US software patents as co-inventor.[1][2][3][4]

Contents

[edit] Education

Samir Arora grew up in New Delhi, India. He has attended INSEAD Business School in France and executive education at Harvard Business School, holds a diploma in sales and marketing from the London Business School, studied electrical and electronic engineering at Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), and attended high school at St. Xavier's.

[edit] The Apple and Rae years

Samir Arora worked at Apple Computer[5] in Software and New Media from 1983 to 1992, and moved to Cupertino, California, in 1986.

Arora wrote a white paper called "Information Navigation: The Future of Computing" in late 1986, and worked on early Desktop Publishing, HyperCard and 4th Dimension systems.

He is known for creating the first "External Objects" specification, coined the term "MacNavigator" and "MacBrowser" and worked on the early prototypes that lead to the making of the "Knowledge Navigator" video in 1987. Arora worked for the Chairman and CEO of Apple Computer, John Sculley, from 1987 to 1991.

From 1992 to 1995, Arora was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Rae Technology (a spin-off from Apple Computer), which developed "information navigation applications" that can be seen as predecessors of Web sites. Rae Technology created the first Personal Information Manager (PIM) Rae Assist.

[edit] NetObjects

In 1995 Samir Arora founded NetObjects, Inc., together with David Kleinberg, Clement Mok and Sal Arora. With a high-class development and design team, NetObjects Fusion, one of the very first web design tools, was created.

NetObjects Fusion was revolutionary at the time of its introduction in 1996. It was innovative in the way Web sites were designed and structured.

For introducing NetObjects Fusion Samir Arora was elected as Web Innovator of the Year 1997 by CNET as someone who helped "shape the Web"[6][7][8], and also was named Entrepreneur of the Year 1997 by the Emerging Business Council of the Information Industry Association (now Software and Information Industry Association)[9].

After the very successful launch of NetObjects Fusion, IBM became the majority investor at a $150 million valuation. NetObjects, Inc. went public on NASDAQ in 1999 with IBM as a majority shareholder.

Tough competition and fast changing markets made NetObjects, Inc. introduce a shift in its business model from packaged software to a subscription model. Decreasing revenues and the decline in public markets heavily affected share prices, and following a de-listing notice from the NASDAQ, it's majority shareholder IBM made the decision to sell the company in 2001. Its assets including NetObjects Fusion were sold to Website Pros, a web services company, based in Jacksonville, Florida, USA. A portfolio of seven patents was acquired by Macromedia (now Adobe), the distributor of Dreamweaver.

[edit] Information Capital LLC and Tickle

Since 1997, Samir Arora has been the Chairman of Information Capital LLC, a venture capital fund based in Woodside, California, USA, which invests in consumer publishing, media & technology companies.

From June 2003 to February 2004 Arora served as Chairman on the Board of Emode: Tickle, Inc.[10]. Tickle, one of the first social networking sites, was founded in 1999 in Boston as Emode.com, and moved to San Francisco in 2000. When Arora joined the company's board, it had been profitable for six quarters.[11] Tickle was acquired by Monster.com in May 2004.

[edit] Glam Media

In 2003 Arora helped found and invested in Glam Media - a privately held company that publishes Glam.com and other sites focusing on life-style and fashion.[12] Glam developed into one of the fastest growing websites of the U.S. in 2007.[13] Industry observers discuss whether Glam can be seen as a new type of "distributed media company"[14][15] since it works as a platform for own as well as third-party produced content and advertisements. In February 2008, Glam Media closed a 4th round of financing indicating a valuation of $500 million.[16]

As of 2008, Samir Arora serves as Chairman and CEO of Glam Media.

[edit] Interests in the arts and entertainment

Besides his media and software activities, multi-talented Samir Arora has had numerous engagements in the entertainment industry. He has participated in more than 30 theatre and television productions, including Jesus Christ Superstar (1975-76), Tommy (1978), Kidstuff (1979), Death of an Anarchist (1980), and The Day of Atonement (1981). Arora has written 2 plays: The Pinnacle (1982) and The Vulture Stooped Low (1984), two musicals: The Wall (1981) and Stronger than Superman (1984), and has directed and produced 4 plays. Arora serves on the board of trustees of TheatreWorks and is the Chairman of the not-for profit organization IZII.

[edit] Health and therapy

Samir Arora is a certified body therapist (AISI) and has studied Bodywork, Ida Rolf's Structural Integration, Moshé Feldenkrais' Functional Integration, Zen Trigger Point, Berry Method, Trager Work, and Dub Leigh's Zentherapy.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Method and apparatus for implementing web pages having master borders - United States Patent 6311196. Google Patents. Retrieved on January 27, 2007.
  2. ^ Hierarchical structure editor for web sites - United States Patent 5911145. Google Patents. Retrieved on January 27, 2007.
  3. ^ Draw-based editor for web pages - United States Patent 5845299. Google Patents. Retrieved on January 27, 2007.
  4. ^ Hierarchical drag and drop structure editor for web sites - United States Patent 7246307. United States Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved on September 25, 2007.
  5. ^ Face to Face - Net Luminary. Incisive Media Ltd.. Retrieved on December 8, 2007.
  6. ^ BUILDER.COM Debuts First Annual Web Innovator Awards. CNET Networks. Retrieved on June 16, 2007.
  7. ^ April, 1998 Archive. The Mac Observer. Retrieved on June 16, 2007.
  8. ^ NetObjects CEO Receives Web Innovator Award From CNET's Builder.com. NetObjects, Inc.. Retrieved on June 16, 2007.
  9. ^ IIA's Entrepreneur of the Year: Samir Arora—Chairman CEO and Founder. NetObjects, Inc.. Retrieved on June 16, 2007.
  10. ^ Emode Names Samir Arora Chairman of the Board, Enters Media Metrix Top 50. ADVFN PLC.. Retrieved on February 28, 2008.
  11. ^ Juan Carlos Perez. Social networking site Emode tickles Ringo. Infoworld. Retrieved on February 28, 2008.
  12. ^ Claire Cain Miller. Pretty in Pink. Forbes.com. Retrieved on November 2, 2007.
  13. ^ comScore Media Metrix Releases Top 50 Web Ranking for August. comScore, Inc.. Retrieved on October 26, 2007.
  14. ^ Paul R. La Monica. The Glam-orous Life. CNNMoney.com. Retrieved on October 17, 2007.
  15. ^ Bill Mickey Miller. Glamorizing Brands. Red 7 Media, LLC. Retrieved on February 25, 2008.
  16. ^ Matt Marshall. Woman’s network Glam raises $84.6 million at half a billion valuation, Adconion raises $80M. VentureBeat. Retrieved on February 25, 2008.

[edit] External links and references