Bill Zanker

Bill Zanker is an American entrepreneur, best known for being the founder of the adult education company The Learning Annex. He is married to Deborah Zanker, and the two have three children, Ediva Zanker (born 1993), Dylan Zanker (born 1995) and Vera Zanker (born 1996). The family currently resides in Utah.

Zanker grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey. He earned a bachelor of arts degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and majored in film towards a master's degree at The New School.[1]

Entrepreneurial pursuits

FundAnything

In 2013 Zanker announced the launch of FundAnything.com, a digital platform aimed at broadening the crowdfunding market to include the general public. One of the more notable financial partners is Donald Trump, who, as of May 7, 2013, personally supports new projects on a weekly basis that are also promoted on Trump's Twitter account.[2]

In July 2013, the platform supported comedian and radio personality Adam Carolla to raise US$1 million in under 30 days for his film Road Hard. As of September 12, 2013, FundAnything executive Brad Wyman stated that he continues to negotiate with all of America's major studios and was preparing for a television studio campaign: "I’m ready to do a crowdfunding campaign for a TV studio where they’re literally putting up five different shows. The one that gets the highest funding will get put into production.”[3]

The Learning Annex

In 1980 Bill founded The Learning Annex, which he later sold in 1991. He remained a consultant until 1997, when he partnered with California Learning Annex and acquired New York Learning Annex. In December 2001, Bill became the owner of all Learning Annex Properties after buying out his partners. In 2007,The Learning Annex was valued at $107 million.

The Great American BackRub

In 1993, Bill founded a chain of stress reduction stores called The Great American BackRub. He sold the company to The Barclay Group in 1997.

BrainFuel.com

In 1998, Bill started BrainFuel.com, which was one of the first internet-based eLearning companies. In 1999, he sold it for $9 million.

OneMinuteU

In 2007, Bill started a second education website called OneMinuteU. The site centered on video sharing. The idea is that users can post videos, but they must teach the viewer something and the video must be one minute long.

Think Big and Kick Ass in Business and Life

In 2007, Bill co-authored a book with Donald Trump called Think Big and Kick Ass in Business and Life. It is a New York Times Best Seller.

References

  1. ↑ Timberlake, Cotten. "`How To' Courses Leading 30-Year-Old to Riches", Los Angeles Times, January 24, 1985. Accessed December 20, 2008.
  2. ↑ "Donald Trump gets into crowdfunding". CNN. Retrieved 2013-05-07.
  3. ↑ Jens Erik Gould (12 September 2013). "In Hollywood, Crowdfunding Isn’t Just for No-Names". The Financialist. Credit Suisse. Retrieved 13 September 2013.

External links