| Matt Williams | |
| Birth Date: | August 21, 1972 |
| Birth Place: | Dallas, Texas |
| Occupation: | CEO of Pro.com |
| Known For: | CEO of Digg.com, Amazon executive |
Matt Williams (born August 21, 1972 in Dallas, Texas) is an American Internet entrepreneur and the CEO of Pro.com.[1] Previous positions include CEO of Digg.com, executive roles at Amazon, and Entrepreneur-In-Residence at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.[2]
Williams was born in Dallas, Texas, and grew up in the Pacific Northwest, attending Shorecrest High School near Seattle, Washington. His parents were both entrepreneurs: his father starting radio stations, including KUBE 93.3 in Seattle[3] and his mother starting Lake Forest Park Montessori in North Seattle. Williams graduated from the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona.[4]
In 1996 Williams and high-school friend Sky Kruse cofounded Seattle-based LiveBid.com, a proprietary software site that partnered with traditional auction houses to stream their events online, allowing Internet bidders to participate in bidding.[5] [6] The firm was acquired by Amazon in 1999.[5]
Williams remained at Amazon until 2010, he occupied several executive roles, including General Manager of Payments.[7] He was responsible for early iterations of various web products, including Amazon's Selling on Amazon and WebStore by Amazon.[8]
In 2001, Williams initiated a partnership between Amazon and the Annual Today Show Holiday Drive, a project of the Today Show Charitable Foundation, Inc. The partnership allowed Amazon customers to select and purchase a wish list of toy products for needy children from the site.[9]
In September 2010, Williams became CEO of social news aggregator Digg.com. He inherited a number of challenges: the technically marred release of site redesign Digg v4 had resulted in a decline in customer usage and an alienation of the site's core audience; at the same time, changes in the internet milieu - most particularly Google's search algorithm - had made Digg's news aggregation model less relevant.[10] After the departure of former CEO Jay Adelson, founder Kevin Rose had run the company, making Williams the company's third CEO within a span of months.[11]
During Williams' tenure, the firm's metrics began to rebound. Site engagement increased significantly: Diggs and time on site by 20%, the total number of comments submitted per day by 50%.[12] Despite this, the company's burn rate remained high, resulting in layoffs of 40% of staff and cuts in operational costs in order to approach cash flow positive in 2011.[13]
In July 2012, Williams completed the sale of Digg in three parts: some staff members were transferred to The Washington Posts SocialCode project for $12 million, a suite of patents were sold to LinkedIn for $4 million, and the Digg brand and website was sold to Betaworks for stock plus at least $500,000 cash.[14]
In mid-2013, Williams became CEO of the Internet startup Pro.com, a home services marketplace where users receive instant price estimates from home professionals and schedule appointments online.[15]
In 2012 Williams became Entrepreneur in Residence at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. Williams is a Member of the Board of Directors for SmartThings.[16]