Daniel J. Porter Explained

Daniel Jonathan Porter (born June 13, 1966) is an American Internet entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of Overtime, a digital sports media company that is geared towards Generation Z sports fans.[1] He was previously the Head of Digital at William Morris Endeavor, the former CEO of OMGPOP and the creator of the Draw Something mobile game. Following the sale of OMGPOP to Zynga, he was the GM of Zynga New York for one year.[2] He also served as the first president of Teach For America.[3]

Background

Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Porter was raised in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, 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.[4]

Porter is married to filmmaker Melanie Judd, and they have two sons.

Education

Porter graduated from Friends Central School, in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania.

Porter is a 1988 graduate of Princeton University with an A.B. in History. While at Princeton, Dan focused on music, spending four years with the Princeton jazz band as a keyboardist and weekends earning money playing piano at Faculty Club brunches.[5]

He is a 1995 graduate of NYU with an M.A. in Latin American Studies.

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[6] at its first summer training institute. In 1994 he became the first president of Teach For America, where he worked on the expansion of the program to Phoenix and Seattle and the Americorps program.[7]

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 Metropolitan Corporate Academy.

Business career

In 1999 Porter served as the president of TicketWeb. He led its sale to TicketMaster (IAC) in 2000.[8]

Porter also worked for Richard Branson's Virgin Group, where he started the Virgin Festival in North America,[9] ran Corporate development for Virgin USA and invested in several companies.

In 2009 Porter became the CEO of Iminlikewithyou[10] [11] which subsequently changed its name to OMGPOP. In February 2012 the company released the mobile game Draw Something. In 50 days it had 50 million downloads, making it, at the time, the fastest-growing mobile game ever.[12] [13] On March 22, 2012 Zynga acquired OMGPOP for $180 million.[14] [15] Draw Something eventually recorded over 250 million downloads.

In 2012 he was named by Business Insider as the 6th most influential person in New York tech.[16]

In April 2013 Porter left Zynga.[17]

From 2013 to 2016 Porter ran digital at WME - IMG where he conceived of and launched the Esports practice, culminating in the E League;[18] led the digital talent division; launched the fashion network Made to Measure;[19] and launched and led WME Ventures.[20]

Overtime

In November 2016 Porter left WME - IMG to launch Overtime.[21]

Overtime raised a $2.5 million seed round led by Greycroft and former NBA Commissioner David Stern in January 2017.[22]

Overtime raised a $9.5 million A round, led by Andreessen Horowitz and included Kevin Durant, announced in February 2018.[23]

In 2018, its first year of operations, Overtime generated over one billion video views.[24] By 2019, Overtime was doing a billion video views every month and had expanded to basketball, football, soccer and video games.[25]

Overtime raised a $23 million B round led by Spark Capital and included Carmelo Anthony in February 2019.[26]

Overtime raised an $80 million C round led by Sapphire Sport and Black Capital and included Jeff Bezos and Drake in April 2021 .[27]

In March 2021, Overtime announced the launch of Overtime Elite, a professional basketball league for 16-to-19 year-olds.[28]

In March 2022, Overtime announced the launch of OT7, a seven-on-seven football league.[29]

Overtime raised a $100 million D round led by Liberty Media Corporation in August 2022.[30]

Controversy

Porter stirred controversy when, over Twitter, he slammed a former employee who decided to leave OMGPOP concurrent with the acquisition by Zynga.[31] He was involved in a back and forth over Twitter with Notch of Minecraft fame.[32]

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: This founder who sold a startup for $200 million wants to build the next ESPN out of smartphone footage. Business Insider. 2017-03-06. en.
  2. News: Jeffries. Adrienne. OMGPOP CEO Dan Porter Is Now VP of General Management of Zynga New York. 6 February 2013. BeatBeat. 21 March 2012.
  3. George . Bill . Diana Mayer . Andrew MacLean . Wendy Kopp and Teach For America . Harvard Business School . April 11, 2007 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131018004029/http://www.kiyoshikurokawa.com/jp/files/teachforamerica1.pdf . 2013-10-18 .
  4. Web site: Media startups trying to drive people to their websites are doing it wrong, says Overtime CEO Dan Porter. vox.com. Johnson. Eric. March 7, 2019. January 21, 2023.
  5. Web site: 2022-09-22 . The Ball Is in His Court . 2022-10-06 . Princeton Alumni Weekly . en.
  6. News: Wilgoren. Jodi. Wendy Kopp, Leader of TEACH FOR AMERICA. 6 February 2013. New York Times. 12 November 2000.
  7. Web site: 2022-09-22 . The Ball Is in His Court . 2022-10-06 . Princeton Alumni Weekly . en.
  8. News: King . Brad . Ticketmaster Grabs TicketWeb . 6 February 2013 . Wired . 30 May 2000 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130424083240/http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2000/05/36651 . 24 April 2013 .
  9. Book: Branson, Richard. Business Stripped Bare. 2008. Portfolio / Penguin. 9781101513927.
  10. News: Kee . Tameka . 11 February 2009 . Industry Moves: Iminlikewithyou; Acxiom; Nielsen; Warner Bros. . CBS News . 6 February 2013.
  11. News: Frommer . Dan . 4 February 2009 . I'minlikewithyou Hires New CEO, Changing Names. Next: Revenue . Business Insider . 6 February 2013.
  12. News: Fox . Zoe . 5 April 2012 . Draw Something' Hits 50 Million Downloads in 50 Days . Mashable . 6 February 2013.
  13. News: 5 April 2012 . Draw Something is 'fastest growing' mobile game . BBC News . 6 February 2013.
  14. News: Geron . Tomio . 21 March 2012 . Zynga Acquires OMGPOP, Maker Of 'Draw Something . Forbes . 6 February 2013.
  15. News: Worthem . Jenna . 25 March 2012 . A Game Explodes and Changes Life Overnight at a Struggling Start-Up . New York Times . 6 February 2013.
  16. Web site: Shontell . Allyson . Silicon Alley 100 . 6 February 2013 . Business Insider.
  17. Web site: OMGPOP Head Dan Porter Leaves Zynga A Year After $180M Acquisition, Former CityVille GM Steps In. 2 April 2013 .
  18. News: Turner, WME/IMG Form E-Sports League, With TBS to Air Live Events. Spangler. Todd. 2015-09-24. Variety. 2017-03-06. en-US.
  19. Web site: Apple TV's first exclusive may be a fashion channel. 2015-09-09. The Verge. 2017-03-06.
  20. News: WME Launching Venture Capital Fund (Exclusive). The Hollywood Reporter. 2017-03-06. en.
  21. News: Dan Porter, WME's Head Of Digital, To Exit Agency. Busch. Anita. 2016-10-23. Deadline. 2018-03-20. en-US.
  22. Web site: This founder who sold a startup for $200 million wants to build the next ESPN out of smartphone footage. Business Insider. McAlone. Nathan. February 22, 2017. August 13, 2022.
  23. Web site: Overtime gets $9.5M to build a new style of sports network that young people will actually watch – TechCrunch. techcrunch.com. 14 February 2018 . en-US. 2018-03-20.
  24. News: A start-up found a smart way to build a sports media brand: High school basketball. Jackson. Eric. 2018-03-05. CNBC. 2018-03-20.
  25. The Brooklyn start-up helping high-school athletes go viral. McGrath. Ben. 2019-06-19. The New Yorker.
  26. Web site: Overtime Banks $23 Million From Spark Capital, MSG Networks, Carmelo Anthony and Others. variety.com. Spangler. Todd. February 14, 2019. August 13, 2022.
  27. Web site: Overtime Raises $80 Million From Jeff Bezos, Drake, NBA Stars and Others. wsj.com. Patel. Sahil. April 22, 2021. August 13, 2022.
  28. News: Draper . Kevin . A New League's Shot at the N.C.A.A.: $100,000 Salaries for High School Players . The New York Times . 4 March 2021 . 23 August 2022.
  29. Web site: Koons . Zach . Cam Newton, Overtime to Launch New High School Football League . SI . 29 March 2022 . 23 August 2022.
  30. Web site: Overtime raises $100 million series D. Fischer. Sean. axios.com. August 9, 2022. August 13, 2022.
  31. News: Tiku . Nitasha . OMGPOP CEO Dan Porter Gets Bitter on Twitter Over Disparaging Ex-Employee . 6 February 2013 . BetaBeat . 2 April 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130406214924/http://betabeat.com/2012/04/omgpop-ceo-dan-porter-shay-pierce-twitter-apology-zynga-draw-something-04022012/ . 6 April 2013 .
  32. Web site: Draw Something CEO Backs Down When Notch Calls Out His Uncalled-For Twitter Rage. Good. Owen. Kotaku. April 1, 2012. January 12, 2021.

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