Billy McFarland (entrepreneur)
| Billy McFarland | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
1991 (age 23–24) New York, NY |
| Residence | New York, NY |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Bucknell University |
| Occupation |
Founder and CEO, Spling (2010-present) Founder and CEO, Magnises (2013-present) |
| Years active | 2005-present |
Billy McFarland (born 1991)[1] is an American tech entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of Spling, and founder and CEO of the Magnises black card, which he launched in New York City in 2014.
Early life and education
McFarland was born in New York City[2] and raised in Short Hills, New Jersey.[3] At the age of 13, he founded his first company, an online outsourcing business that matched clients with designers.[1][3] He briefly attended Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania,[3][4] where he studied computer engineering.[5]
Career
Spling
McFarland dropped out of college toward the end of his freshman year and founded online ad platform Spling, where he continues to serve as CEO.[3][6] The site allows users to improve the appearance of URLs by turning them from text links into graphic images organized as mosaics on virtual bulletin boards.[6] Spling's clients include Discovery and Universal.[7]
Magnises
McFarland founded Magnises in August 2013, and officially launched the card on March 1, 2014,[8][9] aiming to create an exclusive black card that was community-oriented and technology-based, offering perks, guidance and cachet that would improve the everyday life of its members and appeal to the millennial generation.[1][10][11][12] The card is not an actual credit card, as it is not connected to any financial institution; rather, it transfers data from an existing card onto the strip of the Magnises card, allowing it to be used in place of the original debit or credit card.[8][13] The original card continues to work as well.[14]
The card has a $250 annual fee, with no initiation fee or spending requirements.[4][8] It is available in New York City, with plans to expand to Washington, DC, Atlanta, Los Angeles and London.[4][14][7] As of August 2014, Magnises has 3,000 members,[11] including actress Rosario Dawson, former NBA player Baron Davis, and musicians French Montana, Wale and Gabe Saporta.[8][13] Magnises raised $1 million in venture capital, with investors and advisers including record executive Kevin Liles, A&M Octone Records COO David Boxenbaum, photographer Patrick McMullan, former MasterCard chairman Lance Weaver, former president and CEO of Ogilvy & Mather Bill Gray, and venture capital firm Deep Fork Capital.[4][8][7][15]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Alyson Penn, “New Black Card Comes With One Big Perk – A New York City Social Life,” Business Insider, June 11, 2014.
- ↑ “You should know… Magnises,” Scene, May 2014.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Doree Lewak, “The college dropout behind NYC’s most exclusive credit card,” New York Post, July 5, 2014.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 “Black card for millennials,” Fox Business, July 11, 2014.
- ↑ Christopher Wink, “Spling founder Billy McFarland: our investors are in New York City,” Technical.ly / Philly, March 6, 2012.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 “Spling.com Seeks to Beautify Web Links, CEO Says,” Bloomberg TV, May 10, 2013.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Krista Soriano, “Carded: What It’s Like to Own a Magnises Card,” Du Jour, March 2014.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Carson Griffith, “Musicians Embrace Magnises, a Black Card for the Younger Set,” Billboard, March 18, 2014.
- ↑ Julie Earle-Levine, “Techie creates starter ‘black card’ for 20-somethings,” New York Post, April 20, 2014.
- ↑ Jeremy Glass, “Magnises: The Only Other Black Card You Need to Know About,” Supercompressor, April 18, 2014.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 “The Mastermind Behind NYC’s Newest Black Card,” Bloomberg TV, August 19, 2014.
- ↑ “Millennials lacking financial literacy?” Fox Business, August 14, 2014.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Kristin Tice Studeman, “A Hunk of Metal, a Chunk of Clout,” New York Times, December 18, 2013.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Michelle Magnan, “Magnises Credit Card,” AskMen, July 2014.
- ↑ “Billy McFarland, Founder & CEO of Magnises,” The Native Society, May 9, 2014.