Evan Williams (blogger)
Encyclopedia
Evan Williams is an American
entrepreneur
who has founded several Internet companies. Two of the internet's top ten websites have been created by Evan Williams' companies: Blogger
, weblog-authoring software of Pyra Labs
, and Twitter
, where he was previously CEO
.
, where he assisted with crop irrigation in summers. He attended the University of Nebraska for a year and a half, leaving to pursue his career.
firms in Key West
, Dallas, Austin, Texas
and again on his family farm in Nebraska. In 1996 Williams moved to Sebastopol, California
in Sonoma County to work for the technology publishing company O'Reilly Media
. He started at O'Reilly in a marketing position but eventually became an independent contractor writing computer code, which led to freelance opportunities with companies including Intel and Hewlett-Packard
.
co-founded Pyra Labs
to make project management software. A note-taking feature spun off as Blogger
, one of the first web applications for creating and managing weblogs. Williams invented the term "blogger" and was instrumental in the popularization of the term "blog". Pyra survived the departure of Hourihan and other employees, and was eventually acquired by Google
on February 13, 2003.
In 2003, Williams was named to the MIT
Technology Review
TR100
as one of the top 100 innovators in the world under the age of 35. In 2004, he was named one of PC Magazine
s "People of the Year", along with Hourihan and Paul Bausch for their work on Blogger.
, a podcasting
company. In late 2006, Williams co-founded Obvious Corp. with Biz Stone
and other former Odeo employees to acquire all previous properties from Odeo's former backers. In April 2007, Odeo was acquired by Sonic Mountain.
Twitter
Among Obvious Corp.'s projects was Twitter
, a free social networking and micro-blogging service. Twitter itself was spun out into a new company in April 2007, with Williams as co-founder, board member and investor. In October 2008, Williams became CEO of Twitter, displacing Jack Dorsey who became chairman of the board. By February 2009, Compete.com ranked Twitter the third most-used social network based on their count of 6 million unique monthly visitors and 55 million monthly visits. As of 14 April 2010, Twitter has 105,779,710 registered users. It gets 300,000 new users a day and receives 180 million unique visitors a month. 75% of its traffic comes from outside of Twitter.com. On 4 October 2010, Williams stepped down from CEO (to be taken over by Dick Costolo
).
with his wife, Sara Morishige. Together they have one child.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
who has founded several Internet companies. Two of the internet's top ten websites have been created by Evan Williams' companies: Blogger
Blogger (service)
Blogger is a blog-publishing service that allows private or multi-user blogs with time-stamped entries. It was created by Pyra Labs, which was bought by Google in 2003. Generally, the blogs are hosted by Google at a subdomain of blogspot.com. Up until May 1, 2010 Blogger allowed users to publish...
, weblog-authoring software of Pyra Labs
Pyra Labs
Pyra Labs is the company that coined the word Blog, creating the service Blogger.The co-founders were Evan Williams and Meg Hourihan, and the company's first product, also named 'Pyra', was a web application which would combine a project manager, contact manager, and to-do list...
, and Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
, where he was previously CEO
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
.
Early life and education
Williams grew up on a farm in Clarks, NebraskaClarks, Nebraska
Clarks is a village in Merrick County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 361 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Grand Island, Nebraska Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Clarks is located at ....
, where he assisted with crop irrigation in summers. He attended the University of Nebraska for a year and a half, leaving to pursue his career.
Early career
After leaving school, Williams worked at various technology jobs and start-upStartup company
A startup company or startup is a company with a limited operating history. These companies, generally newly created, are in a phase of development and research for markets...
firms in Key West
Key West
Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida on the North American continent at the southernmost tip of the Florida Keys. Key West is home to the southernmost point in the Continental United States; the island is about from Cuba....
, Dallas, Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
and again on his family farm in Nebraska. In 1996 Williams moved to Sebastopol, California
Sebastopol, California
Sebastopol is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States, approximately north of San Francisco. The population was 7,379 at the 2010 census, but its businesses also serve surrounding rural portions of Sonoma County, totaling about 50,000 people...
in Sonoma County to work for the technology publishing company O'Reilly Media
O'Reilly Media
O'Reilly Media is an American media company established by Tim O'Reilly that publishes books and Web sites and produces conferences on computer technology topics...
. He started at O'Reilly in a marketing position but eventually became an independent contractor writing computer code, which led to freelance opportunities with companies including Intel and Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
.
Pyra Labs and Blogger
Evan Williams and Meg HourihanMeg Hourihan
Meg Hourihan is the cofounder of Pyra Labs, the company that launched the Blogger personal blogging software that was acquired by Google. She published weblogs at and...
co-founded Pyra Labs
Pyra Labs
Pyra Labs is the company that coined the word Blog, creating the service Blogger.The co-founders were Evan Williams and Meg Hourihan, and the company's first product, also named 'Pyra', was a web application which would combine a project manager, contact manager, and to-do list...
to make project management software. A note-taking feature spun off as Blogger
Blogger (service)
Blogger is a blog-publishing service that allows private or multi-user blogs with time-stamped entries. It was created by Pyra Labs, which was bought by Google in 2003. Generally, the blogs are hosted by Google at a subdomain of blogspot.com. Up until May 1, 2010 Blogger allowed users to publish...
, one of the first web applications for creating and managing weblogs. Williams invented the term "blogger" and was instrumental in the popularization of the term "blog". Pyra survived the departure of Hourihan and other employees, and was eventually acquired by Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
on February 13, 2003.
In 2003, Williams was named to the MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
Technology Review
Technology Review
Technology Review is a magazine published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It was founded in 1899 as "The Technology Review", and was re-launched without the "The" in its name on April 23, 1998 under then publisher R. Bruce Journey...
TR100
TR35
The TR35 is an annual list published by MIT Technology Review magazine, naming the world's top 35 innovators under the age of 35.Some of the most famous winners of the award include Larry Page and Sergey Brin , Linus Torvalds , Jerry Yang , Jonathan Ive , Mark Zuckerberg...
as one of the top 100 innovators in the world under the age of 35. In 2004, he was named one of PC Magazine
PC Magazine
PC Magazine is a computer magazine published by Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009...
s "People of the Year", along with Hourihan and Paul Bausch for their work on Blogger.
Odeo
Williams left Google in October 2004 to co-found OdeoOdeo
Odeo was a directory and search destination website for RSS syndicated audio & video. It employed tools that enabled users to create, record, and share podcasts with a simple Adobe Flash-based interface....
, a podcasting
Podcasting
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
company. In late 2006, Williams co-founded Obvious Corp. with Biz Stone
Biz Stone
Christopher Isaac "Biz" Stone is a co-founder and Creative Director of Twitter, Inc and also helped to create and launch Xanga, Blogger, Odeo, and , founded in June 2011 with his long time collaborators Evan Williams and Jason Goldman to focus on building systems that help people work together to...
and other former Odeo employees to acquire all previous properties from Odeo's former backers. In April 2007, Odeo was acquired by Sonic Mountain.
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
, a free social networking and micro-blogging service. Twitter itself was spun out into a new company in April 2007, with Williams as co-founder, board member and investor. In October 2008, Williams became CEO of Twitter, displacing Jack Dorsey who became chairman of the board. By February 2009, Compete.com ranked Twitter the third most-used social network based on their count of 6 million unique monthly visitors and 55 million monthly visits. As of 14 April 2010, Twitter has 105,779,710 registered users. It gets 300,000 new users a day and receives 180 million unique visitors a month. 75% of its traffic comes from outside of Twitter.com. On 4 October 2010, Williams stepped down from CEO (to be taken over by Dick Costolo
Dick Costolo
Dick Costolo is the current CEO of Twitter and was its former COO. He took over as CEO from Evan Williams in October 2010.He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Michigan. Costolo became involved in theater during his sophomore year at University of...
).
Personal life
Williams is a vegetarian. He lives in the San Francisco Bay AreaSan Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
with his wife, Sara Morishige. Together they have one child.
Speeches
Interviews
- Interview with Evan Williams at economist.com
- Interview with Evan Williams at cnet.comCNET.comCNET is a tech media website that publishes news articles, blogs, and podcasts on technology and consumer electronics. Originally founded in 1994 by Halsey Minor and Shelby Bonnie, it was the flagship brand of CNET Networks and became a brand of CBS Interactive through CNET Networks' acquisition...
- Interview with Evan Williams at techcrunch.com
- Interview with Evan Williams at FastCompany