Jonathan Abrams is a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
engineer, entrepreneur, and investor. He is best known as the founder of
Friendster
Friendster was a social network game based in Mountain View, California, founded by Jonathan Abrams and launched in March 2003.Eric Eldon, August 4, 2008.Friendster raises $20 million, nabs a Googler to be CEO VentureBeat. Retrieved December 4, 2 ...
where he worked from 2002 to 2005. He then founded Socializr, where he worked from 2005 to 2010, and Nuzzel, where he stayed from 2012 to 2018. He has invested in over 50 companies, including
Docker and
Instacart
Instacart is an American company that operates a grocery delivery and pick-up service in the United States and Canada. The company offers its services via a website and mobile app. The service allows customers to order groceries from participatin ...
. He was the owner of a patent for a "System, method, and apparatus for connecting users in an online computer system based on their relationships within social networks". This, and Friendster's other patents, were bought by Facebook for $40 million in 2010.
As of March 2021, Abrams is a board member of
Girls in Tech
Girls in Tech is a global non-profit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operat ...
, and a co-founder and managing partner of Founders Den, a workplace for startups.
Friendster
Friendster
Friendster was a social network game based in Mountain View, California, founded by Jonathan Abrams and launched in March 2003.Eric Eldon, August 4, 2008.Friendster raises $20 million, nabs a Googler to be CEO VentureBeat. Retrieved December 4, 2 ...
was an early social network that once boasted over 111 million users and was the inspiration behind
MySpace and other more modern social networks.
Google
Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
offered to buy the company in 2003 for $30 million in Google stock, which would have been worth $1.1 billion as of March 2021, but the offer was denied. Friendster was then funded by
Kleiner Perkins
Kleiner Perkins, formerly Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), is an American venture capital firm which specializes in investing in incubation, early stage and growth companies. Since its founding in 1972, the firm has backed entrepreneurs ...
and
Benchmark
Benchmark may refer to:
Business and economics
* Benchmarking, evaluating performance within organizations
* Benchmark price
* Benchmark (crude oil), oil-specific practices
Science and technology
* Benchmark (surveying), a point of known elevati ...
with a valuation of $53 million in October 2003. In 2004, the Board of Directors removed him as CEO, and Tim Koogle took over as interim CEO.
Startups
Abrams has continued working with startups, founding Socializr, another social network for sharing events with friends, which was purchased by Punchbowl. From 2012 to 2018, he worked on Nuzzel, an app for providing news and media intelligence. Abrams is currently a founder and managing partner of startup incubator Founders Den, which has hosted companies including
AdBlock
AdBlock is an ad blocking browser extension for Google Chrome, Apple Safari (desktop and mobile), Firefox, Opera, and Microsoft Edge. AdBlock allows users to prevent page elements, such as advertisements, from being displayed. It is free to ...
, Spigot, and Docker. He is currently one of the co-founders of 8-Bit Capital, a
seed investment firm.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abrams, Jonathan
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Place of birth missing (living people)
Nationality missing
Technology company founders