Name Jay Gould Role Entrepreneur | Education Rowan University | |
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Organizations founded Yashi, WikiYou | ||
Jay Gould (born April 1, 1979) is an American tech entrepreneur and the founder & CEO of Yashi. Gould is also an active angel investor in web-based startups, such as DogVacay, Tout (company), Buffer (application), and Fitocracy.
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Education
Gould graduated from Rowan University in 2001, where he earned a bachelor's degree in Law & Justice.
Career
In December 2005, Gould sold his first business to Bolt Media for an undisclosed amount and joined Bolt as its President. At the time of the sale, Gould's websites had 3.3 million U.S. unique visitors, according to comScore Media Metrics.
While under Gould’s management, Bolt’s revenue grew to $7 million annually, 5.3 million monthly U.S. visitors to their website, culminating in signing a definitive agreement to sell the company for up to $30 million. Just prior to signing the $30 million definitive agreement, Universal Music Group filed a highly publicized lawsuit against Bolt, MySpace and others for alleged copyright infringement. Bolt was ultimately unable to reach a settlement with Universal Music, which resulted in the termination of Bolt’s $30 million acquisition, eventually leading Bolt to file an assignment for the benefit of creditors.
During Gould’s tenure at Bolt, he co-founded WikiYou, which raised $500,000 from investors, including Mayfield Fund, First Round Capital, and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman.
Gould later founded GamersMedia, the first vertical-advertising network to bring brand advertisers to casual-gaming websites, which at its launch had over 20 million unique visitors across 40 sites. GamersMedia was later rebranded as Yashi, and today is an award winning advertising technology company that has been named to Inc. Magazine's Inc. 5000 list of the Fastest-Growing Private Companies in America for three consecutive years in 2012, 2013, and 2014, as well as numerous other awards including Deloitte's Technology Fast 500, Red Herring NJBIZ 50 Fastest Growing Companies in New Jersey, as well as a Stevie Award for Company of the Year. On February 2, 2015, Yashi was acquired by Nexstar Broadcasting Group for $33 million.
Gould was named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year™ Award finalist in 2014. Other accolades include a Stevie Award for Executive of the Year in the American Business Awards and an NJBIZ Forty under 40 Award.
Investments
Gould has actively been involved with helping entrepreneurs acquire capital and expertise for their startup ventures. He is an active angel investor, with sizable contributions to companies such as Buffer, CapLinked, Tout, iDoneThis, Fitocracy, Cadee, and others. In March 2012, Gould was part of a $1 million funding initiative for DogVacay, an online marketplace for residential dog boarding.
In addition to startup capital, Gould also contributes his knowledge and expertise to entrepreneurs. He is a member of the Rowan University Entrepreneurship Program Advisor Council (ENTAC). In April 2010, he returned to his alma mater to serve as a judge for the Rowan University Elevator Pitch Contest.
Foundville
In October 2011, Gould launched foundville.com, a video podcast site featuring interviews with successful Internet entrepreneurs. Gould has interviewed founders of well-known companies such as HotOrNot, RockYou, Adify, Mochi Media, Eric M. Jackson's CapLinked, The Receivables Exchange, Wikia, SitePoint, and others.