Daniel Porter

Daniel Jonathan Porter (born June 13, 1966) is a Jewish American Internet entrepreneur. He is the Head of Digital at William Morris Endeavor. He is the former CEO of OMGPOP and the creator of the Draw Something mobile game. Following to the sale of OMGPOP to Zynga, he was the GM of Zynga New York for one year following the sale.[1] He also served as the first President of Teach For America[2]

Background

Born in Cambridge MA, Porter was raised in Ardmore, PA, a suburb of Philadelphia. His parents were college professors at the University of Pennsylvania and Bryn Mawr College. His great uncle is the Nobel Prize–winning economist Milton Friedman. He is married to filmmaker Melanie Judd and they have two sons.

Educational career

Porter began by teaching at Clara Barton High School in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. in 1990 he joined the early team of Teach America[3] at its first summer training institute and in 1994 became the President of Teach For America where he worked on the expansion of the program to Phoenix and Seattle and the Americorps program. After leaving Teach For America, Porter ran Cities in Schools, a youth organization in New York City, which also was a partner with Goldman, Sachs in running the High School, Metropolitan Corporate Academy.

Business career

In 1999 Porter served as the President of TicketWeb. He led its sale to TicketMaster (IAC) in 2000.[4]

Porter also worked for Richard Branson's Virgin Group where he started the Virgin Festival in North America,[5] ran Corporate development for Virgin USA and invested in several companies.

In 2012 he was named by Business Insider as the 6th most influential person in New York tech.[6]

In April 2013 Porter left Zynga [7]

Draw Something

In 2009 Porter became the CEO of Iminlikewithyou[8][9] which subsequently changed its name to OMGPOP. In February 2012 the company released the mobile game Draw Something. In 50 days the game shot to 50 million downloads making it at the time the fastest-growing mobile game ever.[10][11] On March 22, 2012 Zynga acquired OMGPOP for $180 million.[12][13] Draw Something eventually recorded over 100 million downloads.

Controversy

Porter stirred controversy when, over Twitter, he slammed a former employee who decided to leave the company concurrent with the acquisition.[14] He was involved in a back and forth over Twitter with Notch of Minecraft fame.

Education

Porter is a 1988 graduate of Princeton University with an A.B. in History. He is a 1995 graduate of NYU with an M.A. in Latin American Studies. He graduated from Friends Central School, in Wynnewood PA.

External links

References

  1. ↑ Jeffries, Adrienne (21 March 2012). "OMGPOP CEO Dan Porter Is Now VP of General Management of Zynga New York". BeatBeat. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
  2. ↑ George, Bill; Diana Mayer; Andrew MacLean (April 11, 2007). "Wendy Kopp and Teach For America" (PDF). Harvard Business School.
  3. ↑ Wilgoren, Jodi (12 November 2000). "Wendy Kopp, Leader of TEACH FOR AMERICA". New York Times. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
  4. ↑ King, Brad (30 May 2000). "Ticketmaster Grabs TicketWeb". Wired. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
  5. ↑ Branson, Richard (2008). Business Stripped Bare. Portfolio / Penguin.
  6. ↑ Shontell, Allyson. "Silicon Alley 100". Business Insider. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
  7. ↑ http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/02/dan-porter-omgpop
  8. ↑ Kee, Tameka (11 February 2009). "Industry Moves: Iminlikewithyou; Acxiom; Nielsen; Warner Bros.". CBS News. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
  9. ↑ Frommer, Dan (4 February 2009). "I'minlikewithyou Hires New CEO, Changing Names. Next: Revenue". Business Insider. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
  10. ↑ Fox, Zoe (5 April 2012). "Draw Something' Hits 50 Million Downloads in 50 Days". Mashable. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
  11. ↑ "Draw Something is 'fastest growing' mobile game". BBC News. 5 April 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
  12. ↑ Geron, Tomio (21 March 2012). "Zynga Acquires OMGPOP, Maker Of 'Draw Something". Forbes. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
  13. ↑ Worthem, Jenna (25 March 2012). "A Game Explodes and Changes Life Overnight at a Struggling Start-Up". New York Times. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
  14. ↑ Tiku, Nitasha (2 April 2012). "OMGPOP CEO Dan Porter Gets Bitter on Twitter Over Disparaging Ex-Employee". BetaBeat. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
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