Ray King (entrepreneur) explained

Raymond King
Nationality:American
Alma Mater:Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1982–1984)
Occupation:Entrepreneur

Raymond "Ray" King (born 1964) is an American entrepreneur and co-founder of multiple companies including AboutUs.org and Top Level Design.

Early life, education and career

King was born in 1964 to Kenneth, an architect, and Yien-Koo.[1] He graduated from The Bronx High School of Science in June 1982.[1] He began his career in technology as a teenager establishing The Computer Workshop, with 17 of his friends, which offered computing classes at his apartment and Manhattan's Grand Central Terminal.[1] [2] [3] In an interview with The New York Times, King said:

The venture, which taught people how to use Apple II and IBM PCs, earned King $60,000.[4] He later recalled: "We approached people at Grand Central Station and convinced them to come take our courses. We were written up in The New York Times. I made enough money to pay for one year of college at MIT."[2] King remained enrolled at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for eighteen months studying computer science before leaving in 1984 to start Semaphore Inc.,[5] a company that sold accounting, billing, and project management software to architecture and engineering firms.[4] The company received $4 million in invested capital and grew to 100 employees in four offices by the time it was sold to Virginia-based DelTek Inc. in 2000 for nearly $12 million.[2] [4] [6]

After relocating to Portland, Oregon to live in a city where he could bike to work, and enjoy a higher quality of living,[2] he founded the secondary market domain name company SnapNames in 2000. The company specialized in "snapping up" expired domain names, which occurred "all the time", according to King.[7] It took in $7.8 million in invested capital and partnered with several of the largest domain name registrars.[6] [8] King was appointed chief operating officer in 2001.[9] He left SnapNames in 2005 to start his next business venture, AboutUs. By 2006, SnapNames was generating gross sales of $49 million.[2] The company sold to California-based Oversee.net in 2007 for $30 million.[3] [6]

King founded AboutUs.org, a wiki Internet domain directory, in 2006.[3] In November 2006, the company closed its initial financing round for one million dollars.[10] [11] In January 2009, AboutUs secured a $5 million Series A funding round from Voyager Capital, Capybara Ventures, Northwest Technology Ventures and private individuals, including angel investors Tom Holce and Irving Levin.[6] [12] Within three years, AboutUs employed 34 people in Portland and Lahore, Pakistan.[4] King served as chief executive officer until he stepped down in 2013.[3]

In 2012, King co-founded Top Level Design, a domain name registry for multiple generic top-level domains, with his brother-in-law and investor Peter Brual.[3] [13] [14] The registry has managed the .design, .gay, .ink, and .wiki top-level domains.[15]

Personal life and recognition

King and his wife Deneen have one daughter named Dakota and collect minimalist art.[2] [16] In 2000, the New York Post profiled their five-level townhouse in the West Village valued at $7.75 million.[17] In 2009, he received the Oregon Entrepreneurs Network's annual award for individual achievement.[3] [4] [18]

Works

Further reading

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Ferretti. Fred. An Enterprising Computer Vacation. August 18, 2015. The New York Times. September 2, 1982. https://web.archive.org/web/20150929142231/http://www.nytimes.com/1982/09/02/garden/an-enterprising-computer-vacation.html. 29 September 2015.
  2. Meisner. Jeff. After co-founding SnapNames, Ray King launches AboutUs. Portland Business Journal. September 21, 2008. August 14, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150929142543/http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2008/09/22/focus13.html. 29 September 2015.
  3. News: Rogoway. Mike. Ray King steps down as AboutUs CEO, starts new Portland venture. October 2, 2014. The Oregonian. Advance Publications. April 23, 2013. Portland, Oregon. 8750-1317. https://web.archive.org/web/20150929142832/http://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/index.ssf/2013/04/ray_king_steps_down_as_aboutus.html. 29 September 2015.
  4. Finnemore. Melody. Ray King puts wiki format to effective use. Portland Business Journal. November 1, 2009. August 14, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150929143142/http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2009/11/02/focus12.html. 29 September 2015.
  5. SnapNames CEO: 'Getting from startup to long-term viability'. Portland Business Journal. February 7, 2003. August 14, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150929143456/http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2003/02/03/daily47.html. 29 September 2015.
  6. AboutUs closes $5 million round. Portland Business Journal. July 20, 2009. August 14, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150929143609/http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2009/07/20/daily9.html. 29 September 2015.
  7. News: Kornblum. Janet. Failure to act fast takes people out of their domain. August 14, 2015. USA Today. June 4, 2001. https://web.archive.org/web/20150929143831/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/2001-06-04-domain-name-woes.htm. 29 September 2015.
  8. Goldfield. Robert. SnapNames looks to be internet name monitor. Portland Business Journal. December 17, 2000. August 14, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150929150430/http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2000/12/18/story2.html?page=all. 29 September 2015.
  9. SnapNames appoints Ray King as COO. Portland Business Journal. May 10, 2001. August 14, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150929152138/http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2001/05/07/daily40.html. 29 September 2015.
  10. Earnshaw. Aliza. Startup hits the money with biz wiki. Portland Business Journal. November 12, 2006. August 14, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150929153737/http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2006/11/13/story2.html?page=1&b=1163394000%5E1374690. 29 September 2015. dead.
  11. Web site: Kirkpatrick. Marshall. AboutUs: A Wiki About Every Website. 15 November 2006 . TechCrunch. August 14, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150929153912/http://techcrunch.com/2006/11/14/aboutusorg-a-wiki-about-every-website/. 29 September 2015.
  12. Earnshaw. Aliza. AboutUs nabs $5M infusion. Portland Business Journal. January 11, 2009. August 14, 2015.
  13. Web site: Allemann. Andrew. SnapNames co-founder Ray King behind registry applying for 10 top level domains. June 11, 2012. Domain Name Wire. October 2, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20150929151054/http://domainnamewire.com/2012/06/11/snapnames-co-founder-ray-king-behind-registry-applying-for-10-top-level-domains/. 29 September 2015.
  14. King. Ray. Guest Opinion: .Gay and the LGBTQ Community. PQ Monthly. Brilliant Media. Portland, Oregon. October 18, 2013. October 3, 2014. usurped. https://web.archive.org/web/20150929152939/http://www.pqmonthly.com/guest-opinion-gay-lgbtq-community/17089. 29 September 2015. Note: Posted by Nick Mattos.
  15. http://toplevel.design/our-tlds/ Top Level Design, Our TLDs
  16. News: Crow. Kelly. Small Collectors. August 18, 2015. The Wall Street Journal. September 14, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20150929151254/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB118971801238026797. 29 September 2015.
  17. News: Keil. Braden. Pads with Pools, and other Sultry Summer Stories. August 14, 2015. New York Post. July 2, 2000. https://web.archive.org/web/20150929152620/http://nypost.com/2000/07/02/pads-with-pools-and-other-sultry-summer-stories/. 29 September 2015.
  18. Web site: OEN Tom Holce Entrepreneurship Award Winners & Finalists. Oregon Entrepreneurs Network. August 14, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150929152451/http://www.oen.org/events/entrepreneurship-awards/oen-tom-holce-entrepreneurship-award-winners-finalists/. 29 September 2015.

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