Matt Williams (Internet entrepreneur)

Matt Williams

Matt Williams
Born August 21, 1972
Dallas, Texas
Alma mater University of Arizona
Occupation CEO of Pro.com
Known for CEO of Digg.com, Amazon executive

Matt Williams (born August 21, 1972 in Dallas, Texas) is an American Internet entrepreneur and CEO of Pro.com.[1] Previous positions include CEO of Digg.com, numerous executive roles at Amazon.com, and an Entrepreneur-In-Residence at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.[2]

Early life and career

Born in Dallas, Texas, Williams grew up in the Pacific Northwest, attending Shorecrest High School near Seattle, Washington. His parents were both entrepreneurs: his father starting numerous radio stations, including KUBE 93.3 in Seattle[3] and his mother starting Lake Forest Park Montessori in North Seattle. Williams attended the University of Arizona, earning a B.S. in Business - Entrepreneurship in three years (1990-1993), graduating Cum Laude with Honors.[4] While an undergraduate at U of A, he was a member of the PAC-10 swimming and diving team coached by Olympic medalist diver Cynthia Potter.[5]

LiveBid.com

In 1996 Williams and high-school friend Sky Kruse co-founded Seattle-based LiveBid.com, a proprietary software solution that partnered with traditional auction houses to stream their events online, allowing Internet bidders to participate in bidding.[6] "We like to think of it as expanding the buyer base of an auction house by using a mouse as a paddle," Williams stated.[7] LiveBid.com's business model was unique; while Amazon.com, eBay and Yahoo! Auctions were then focused on amateur auction sales between individuals, LiveBid.com was the only company to partner with existing licensed regional and national auctioneers, pioneering live auction events on the Internet.[8]

In 1999 Williams, as CEO and president, sought additional VC funding for the 20 person company, receiving offers for blue-chip backing from Hummer Winblad and Mohr Davidow.[6] In the course of the funding round, Williams was approached by Amazon.com to merge, resulting in the acquisition of LiveBid.com by Amazon.com for an undisclosed amount in stock, with both Williams and Kruse retained in executive roles.[7]

Amazon.com

Williams' tenure at Amazon.com lasted more than a decade. From 1999-2010, he occupied numerous executive roles, including General Manager of Payments, General Manager for WebStore, Director of Community and Gifts, and Director of Live Auctions.[9] He was responsible for early iterations of various pioneering web products, including Amazon.com's Selling on Amazon and WebStore by Amazon,[10] as well as customer reviews, wish list, and registry. Williams also served as "shadow" to Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos, a role requiring him to accompany Bezos throughout all day-to-day activities and confer in an advisory capacity.[11]

In 2001 Williams initiated a partnership between Amazon.com and the Annual Today Show Holiday Drive, a project of the Today Show Charitable Foundation, Inc. The partnership allowed Amazon.com customers to select and purchase a wish list of toy products for needy children from the site, resulting in charitable donations to over 200 non-profit organizations.[12] From 2001-2010 Williams made annual appearances on The Today Show in support of the drive.[13]

Digg.com

In September 2010, Williams became CEO of social news aggregator Digg.com. He inherited a number of challenges: the technically-marred release of site redesign Digg v4 had resulted in a decline in customer usage and an alienation of the site's core audience; at the same time, changes in the internet milieu - most particularly Google's search algorithm - had made Digg's news aggregation model less relevant.[14] After the departure of former CEO Jay Adelson, founder Kevin Rose had run the company, making Williams the company's third CEO within a span of months.[15]

Under Williams direction, Digg's metrics began to rebound through improved communication with the Digg community, corresponding product enhancements, and a Facebook Open Graph integration. Site engagement increased significantly: Diggs and time on site by 20%, while the total number of comments submitted per day experienced a 50% lift.[16] Despite these improvements, the company's burn rate remained high, resulting in layoffs of 40% of staff and cuts in operational costs in order to approach cash flow positive in 2011.[16][17]

In July 2012, Williams completed the sale of Digg in three parts: 15 staff members were transferred to The Washington Post's SocialCode project for $12 million, a suite of patents were sold to LinkedIn for $4 million, while the Digg brand and website was sold to Betaworks for millions of dollars in stock plus cash, with at least $500,000 in the form of cash.[18]

Andreessen Horowitz

In 2012 Williams became Entrepreneur-In-Residence at Andreessen Horowitz, the venture capital firm co-founded by former Netscape and Opsware co-founder Marc Andreessen and former Opsware co-founder Ben Horowitz.[2]

Pro.com

In mid-2013 Williams became CEO of Internet startup Pro.com, a home services marketplace where users receive instant price estimates from home professionals and schedule appointments online.[19]

Personal life

Williams is a Member of Board of Directors for SmartThings.[20]

References

  1. ↑ "Former Digg CEO Matt Williams Launches Pro.com To Connect Homeowners With Nearby Contractors". Tech Crunch. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Amazon vets launch home-improvement site". Seattle Times. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Ex-Digg CEO raises $3.5M from Jeff Bezos, Andreessen Horowitz and others for Pro.com, giving you price estimates for home projects". GeekWire. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Judges Announced for 2014 McGuire New Venture Competition and Showcase". McGuire Experience. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Cynthia Potter Biography". IMDb. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Looking for auction". Puget Sound Business Journal. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Amazon.com Agrees to Purchase LiveBid.com, the Internet's Only Provider Of Live Auctions". PR Newswire. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Amazon.Com Buying Online Auction Firm -- Deal With Seattle-Based Livebid Expands Services". The Seattle Times. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Matt Williams CrunchBase Profile". CrunchBase. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Amazon: We Want Sellers. An Interview with Matt Williams". EcommerceBytes. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  11. ↑ Stone, Brad (October 17, 2013). "Jeff Bezos’s League of Shadows". Business Week. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  12. ↑ "‘Today’ launches 13th annual holiday gift drive". today.com.
  13. ↑ "Amazon.com's Matt Williams Discusses Donating To The Today Show's Wish List". NBC Universal Archives. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Betaworks Buys Digg Assets and John Borthwick Becomes CEO". All Things D. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  15. ↑ "Digg’s Looking For A New CEO". The Next Web. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Interview With Digg CEO Matt Williams On Future Of Digg". TechCrunch. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Digg To Layoff 37% Of Staff, Product Refocus Imminent". TechCrunch. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  18. ↑ "Digg sale splits the company three ways for $16m total". Slash Gear. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  19. ↑ "Pro.com wants to make home repairs easier for consumers". USA Today. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  20. ↑ "About SmartThings". Smarthings.com. Retrieved May 30, 2014.

External links