Bruce Leak is an American

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

and

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

, and currently a co-founder at

Playground Global Playground Global is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in deep tech and assists startups with software, hardware, machine learning, marketing, talent and design. The company was founded in 2015 by Andy Rubin, Peter Barrett, Matt ...

. He was one of three co-founders of

WebTV MSN TV (formerly WebTV) was a web access product consisting of a thin client device that used a television for display (instead of using a computer monitor), and the online service that supported it. The device design and service was developed by ...

and is credited with making several major advances in the

Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...

operating system. ''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fra ...

'' magazine described him as an "Apple Hero," saying that he "kick-started the multimedia revolution, bringing quality video to the Mac a year before anything even remotely comparable hit Windows."

Background

Leak graduated 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 ...

with bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering and computer science. During his Stanford years, he worked at

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

on the initial versions of

Word A word is a basic element of language that carries an semantics, objective or pragmatics, practical semantics, meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of w ...

and Multiplan (

Excel ExCeL London (an abbreviation for Exhibition Centre London) is an exhibition centre, international convention centre and former hospital in the Custom House area of Newham, East London. It is situated on a site on the northern quay of the ...

). He held senior management and engineering roles at

Rocket Science Games Rocket Science Games was a video game developer and publisher that created games for consoles and personal computers from 1993 to 1997. The company released '' Loadstar: The Legend of Tully Bodine'', '' Cadillacs and Dinosaurs: The Second Cata ...

and

General Magic General Magic was an American software and electronics company co-founded by Bill Atkinson, Andy Hertzfeld, and Marc Porat. Based in Mountain View, California, the company developed precursors to "USB, software modems, small touchscreens, touch ...

Apple

He began his career at

Apple Computer Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company b ...

, where he invented and brought to market

QuickTime QuickTime is an extensible multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity. Created in 1991, the latest Mac version, QuickTime X, is avai ...

(1991) and 32-bit

QuickDraw A quickdraw (also known as an extender) is a piece of climbing equipment used by rock and ice climbers to allow the climbing rope to run freely through protection such as a bolt anchors or other traditional gear while leading. A quickdraw ...

."Apple Heroes and Villains"
, ''Wired'', March 29, 2006 '

WebTV

He is one of the co-founders of

Networks, a company founded in 1995 that enabled households to access the Internet through their televisions. He also served as the company's chief operating officer and later president."WebTV exec: Business humming, despite setbacks"
CNET News, November 2, 1999 WebTV Networks was purchased by Microsoft in 1997 and absorbed into the Microsoft Network. Leak became the President of Microsoft's WebTV Network subsidiary.

Carrier IQ

In 2005 Leak co-founded

Carrier IQ Carrier IQ was a privately owned mobile software company founded in 2005 in Sunnyvale, California. It provided diagnostic analysis of smartphones to the wireless industry via the installation of software on the user's phone, typically in a manner ...

, a company that provides embedded analytics to the wireless industry through embedding diagnostic software in the mobile phone. He served as CEO until his replacement by Mark Quinlivan in late 2006. Mr. Quinlivan left Carrier IQ in 2010. In 2011 Larry Lenhart was appointed CEO. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110831006226/en/Carrier-IQ-Appoints-Larry-Lenhart-President-CEO. In early 2016, Carrier IQ ceased operations and it was announced that AT&T had acquired software assets and staff from the company.

Playground Global

In early 2015 Leak co-founded

, alongside Andy Rubin, Matt Hershenson and Peter Barrett. Playground Global is a combination venture capital fund and tech incubator that provides resources, mentorship and funding to startups making hardware devices. As of late 2015, Playground Global had raised more than $300 million from investors including Google, Hewlett-Packard Co., electronics manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Tencent Holdings Ltd., Redpoint Ventures, and Seagate Technology PLC.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leak, Bruce Living people Apple Inc. employees Microsoft employees Year of birth missing (living people)