Alex Algard is an Internet entrepreneur. He is the founder and former CEO of
Hiya, Ekata and the founder and former CEO of
Whitepages.com, and
CarDomain
CarDomain.com was an online community site for car enthusiasts. Users could create profiles of their cars including pictures and write-ups, view the work of others, talk to the other users and car enthusiasts, and create social network profiles ...
.
Biography
His father was Swedish and his mother was Korean.
[Feldman, Amy (August 23, 2016)]
Algard has a BA degree in Economics (1996) and a
MS degree
MS, ms, Ms, M.S., etc. may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Ms.'' (magazine), an American feminist magazine
* Metal Storm (webzine), a heavy metal website based in Estonia
Businesses and organizations
* MS-13, criminal gang
* Missionaries ...
in Engineering (1998) from
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
.
Career
Algard founded Whitepages in 1996 after purchasing the domain name for $900. He began the business by developing an online database of public phone directory information. The website began generating revenue through advertisements, that reached $66 million a year by 2008.
Algard also created an Internet community called CarDomain Network with a high school friend in 1999.
The site facilitated communication between niche car enthusiasts.
In 2010 Whitepages' two biggest clients,
Yellowpages.com and Superpages.com, cut their expenditures after Google ventured into
local business searches. Subsequently, when profits plummeted, the company's investors became agitated, and Algard bought out Whitepages' investors for $80m. Algard pledged his assets, savings accounts and his family's home to the bank to raise the extra $30m in capital required for the buyout. In the spring of 2016, Algard created a new company to identify mobile phone spammers and
robocall
A robocall is a phone call that uses a computerized autodialer to deliver a pre-recorded message, as if from a robot. Robocalls are often associated with political and telemarketing phone campaigns, but can also be used for public service or emer ...
s and to ensure that important calls were not missed.
He named the organization Hiya. Deals with
T-mobile and
Samsung, as well as a
Balderton Capital-led series A round followed.
Personal life
When he was a teenager, his family moved to
Vancouver, B.C.
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The ...
References
External links
CarDomain.com Official websiteWhitepages.com Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Algard, Alex
1975 births
Living people
Businesspeople from Seattle
Canadian businesspeople
Stanford University School of Engineering alumni
Swedish businesspeople