Gary Mekikian Explained

Gary Mekikian
Birth Name:Garo Mekikian
Birth Place:Yerevan, Armenia
Nationality:American
Alma Mater:Stanford University
University of Southern California
Occupation:CEO of M&M Media, Inc.
Years Active:1993 — present
Known For:Technology and software entrepreneurship
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Gary Mekikian is an American businessman who is the co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of M&M Media Inc, a Los Angeles–based media technology company. Prior to M&M Media, Mekikian co-founded International Integration, also known as i-Cube; answerfriend, which became Inquira; and GATeIC.

Mekikian is a co-organizer of LA2DC.org, a Los Angeles–based organization whose mission is to raise awareness of modern-day genocides and the Holocaust, and to eliminate genocide as a war tactic.

Mekikian has a BS in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California and an MS from Stanford University, and he holds patents in media technologies[1] [2] and medical devices.[3] Mekikian is a member of Stanford University's Graduate School of Business MSx Alumni Advisory Board. He collaborates with Stanford University professors Dr. William Barnett[4] and Dr. John Roberts to write and teach case studies on entrepreneurship, information technology, semiconductor industry, and the mobile internet.

Education

After attending Hollywood High School for two years, Mekikian earned an electrical engineering degree from University of Southern California and an MS from Stanford University.

Career

Early ventures

In 1993, after working at Hewlett-Packard Company as a sales engineer, Mekikian joined the founding team at International Integration Inc., also known as i-Cube, which went public in 1998.[5] i-Cube was acquired by Razorfish, Inc. in 1999.[6]

Mekikian began working with Dr. Deniz Yuret, a researcher in Natural Language Processing at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Sundar Subramaniam, a co-founder of i-Cube, to found answerFriend, Inc., which developed commercialized web based question-answering technologies.[7] [8] In 2002, answerFriend merged with another natural language processing technology company, Electric Knowledge, to form InQuira. In 2011, Oracle Corporation acquired Inquira.[9]

In 2006, Mekikian co-founded GATeIC[10] a semiconductor IP company.

M&M Media / TREBEL Music

In 2014, after a patent was issued on a new method of delivering and monetizing digital media on mobile and desktop devices,[1] Mekikian co-founded M&M Media, Inc.,[11] a digital music distribution company that released the TREBEL Music app to reduce digital media piracy by specifically targeting a demographic which uses piracy as a form of digital media consumption.[12] [13]

TREBEL Music operates in Indonesia, Mexico, Colombia,[14] and the US, and its investors include fashion mogul, Chris Burch, global pop star Maluma,[15] [16] NBA basketball star, Thaddeus Young,[17] soccer star Memo Ochoa,[18] [19] and Indonesian media mogul, Hary Tanoesoedibjo.[20]

Genocide Awareness and Prevention

In 2015, the descendants of the survivors of the Armenian genocide commemorated the 100th anniversary of the first genocide of the 20th century around the world.[21] Mekikian, along with a group of Armenian Americans, organized an event which was titled LA2DC,[22] a coast-to-coast, running and cycling, relay marathon. The purpose of the event is to increase awareness of modern-day genocides, and prevent genocides from being used as a war tactic. Over a thousand athletes ran and cycled non-stop, from Los Angeles to Washington DC, to deliver a petition to Congress - a message of gratitude to Americans and others who worked to prevent genocides, and rescued the survivors. Mekikian and colleagues authored the petition[23] which was delivered in a relay baton to Congressman Adam Schiff who read it on the floor of the House of Representatives on May 20, 2015.

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Electronic Media Download and Distribution Using Real-Time Message Matching and Concatenation.
  2. Web site: Answering natural language queries.
  3. Web site: Method and apparatus to prevent esophageal damage.
  4. Web site: William P. Barnett. Stanford Graduate School of Business.
  5. Web site: International Integration Inc. S1. SEC Report.
  6. News: Razorfish Is Set to Acquire i-Cube In Stock Deal Worth $677 Million. Andrea PetersenStaff Reporter of The Wall Street. Journal. Wall Street Journal . August 11, 1999. www.wsj.com.
  7. News: 24 August 2000. AnswerFriend Seeks to Sell Question-Answering Software. Wall Street Journal.
  8. Web site: The Innovators MEET THE 65 COMPANIES AND THEIR OWNERS WHO HAVE CONJURED UP THE LATEST WAVE OF PRODUCTS, SERVICES, AND TECHNOLOGIES. - May 1, 2001. money.cnn.com.
  9. Web site: Oracle and InQuira. www.oracle.com. 2020-03-02.
  10. Web site: Gary Mekikian. Stanford Graduate School of Business.
  11. Web site: Prosser . David . Trebel Hopes Going Public Will Take It To The Top Of The Charts . 2023-04-22 . Forbes . en.
  12. Web site: Trebel Music app provides free music downloads, campus charts tailored to students. Megan. Braa. September 23, 2015. The Rocky Mountain Collegian.
  13. Web site: Trebel Music app aims to bring free tunes to college students. September 21, 2015.
  14. Web site: Hernández . Enrique . 2022-03-02 . Trebel, una app fondeada por industriales regios y colombianos para abatir la piratería musical . 2023-04-22 . Forbes México . es-MX.
  15. Web site: Vega . Lina Vargas . 2023-03-15 . Trebel es la aplicación que permite escuchar música de forma legal y gratuita sin gastar datos . 2023-04-22 . Forbes Colombia . es.
  16. Web site: Colombian Star Maluma Invests in Trebel Music-Streaming Platform (1) . 2023-04-22 . news.bloomberglaw.com . en.
  17. Web site: 'Felices sin wifi': Maluma invierte app con socios mexicanos, de descarga de música . 2023-04-22 . El Financiero . 30 March 2022 . es.
  18. Web site: Hernández . Enrique . 2022-11-17 . Estas son las marcas, empresas e inversiones de Memo Ochoa y Alfredo Talavera . 2023-04-22 . Forbes México . es-MX.
  19. Web site: Univision . Guillermo Ochoa se suma a TREBEL como inversionista . 2023-04-22 . TUDN . spanish.
  20. Web site: Pradipta . Vega Aulia . MNC Studios Investasi di TREBEL Music, Bakal Punya 1 Direktur . 2023-04-22 . CNBC Indonesia . id-ID.
  21. News: Armenia, on Day of Rain and Sorrow, Observes 100th Anniversary of Genocide. Herszenhorn. David M.. 2015-04-24. The New York Times. 0362-4331. 2017-01-01.
  22. News: Cyclists, Marchers Commemorate Armenian Genocide. NBC Southern California. 2016-12-31.
  23. Web site: Congressional Record. www.congress.gov. 2016-12-31.
  24. Web site: Mercado Libre. Stanford Graduate School of Business.
  25. Web site: Note on the IT Services Industry. Stanford Graduate School of Business.
  26. Web site: Tata Consultancy Services, Globalization of IT Services. Stanford Graduate School of Business.
  27. Web site: Creating Qualcomm (A). Stanford Graduate School of Business.