Mike Cassidy (entrepreneur)
Encyclopedia
Mike Cassidy is an entrepreneur, and was CEO and co-founder of four previous Internet start-ups: Stylus Innovation, Direct Hit
, Xfire
, and Ruba. Currently, he is Director of Search Product Management at Google following Google's acquisition of Ruba.
(BS '85, MS '86 in Aerospace Engineering), Harvard Business School
(1991), and studied jazz piano at the Berklee College of Music
.
on April 25, 2006 for $110 million.
After a stint as an EIR
at Benchmark Capital
, Mike founded Ruba with Arnaud Weber, who was previously a technical lead for the Chrome
browser project at Google
.
Cassidy is perhaps best known for his promotion of "speed as the primary business strategy." He has given numerous talks on the subject, and his Slideshare presentation on the subject has received over 16,000 views.
Direct Hit Technologies
Direct Hit Technologies, Inc. was a Boston-based search engine company that provided search engine services to major web portals and operated a public search engine at directhit.com...
, Xfire
Xfire
Xfire is a proprietary freeware instant messaging service for gamers, that also serves as a game server browser and has various other features. It is currently available for Microsoft Windows. Xfire was originally developed by Ultimate Arena based in Menlo Park, California...
, and Ruba. Currently, he is Director of Search Product Management at Google following Google's acquisition of Ruba.
Education
Cassidy was educated at the Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyMassachusetts 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...
(BS '85, MS '86 in Aerospace Engineering), Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School is the graduate business school of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States and is widely recognized as one of the top business schools in the world. The school offers the world's largest full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, and many executive...
(1991), and studied jazz piano at the Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...
.
Career
His first success, Stylus Innovation, was started with $500 from each of the three co-founders, Cassidy included. The company was later sold to Artisoft for $13 million in 1996. His second effort was early Internet search engine Direct Hit, which was sold to Ask Jeeves for $532.5 million in January 2000 only 500 days after launch. Cassidy's next effort was Xfire, a freeware instant messaging service aimed at gamers. Xfire was sold to ViacomViacom
Viacom Inc. , short for "Video & Audio Communications", is an American media conglomerate with interests primarily in, but not limited to, cinema and cable television...
on April 25, 2006 for $110 million.
After a stint as an EIR
Entrepreneur In Residence
Entrepreneur in residence , sometimes executive in residence, is a position or title within the venture capital, law firm, and business school industries, typically held by a seasoned entrepreneur who is brought on-staff by a venture capital firm, university or other organization.The EIR role in a...
at Benchmark Capital
Benchmark Capital
Benchmark Capital is a venture capital firm responsible for the early stage funding of some very successful startups. In 1997, the firm invested $6.7 million in eBay, which became worth more than $5 billion by the spring of 1999. Other high-profile investments include Ariba, Juniper Networks, Red...
, Mike founded Ruba with Arnaud Weber, who was previously a technical lead for the Chrome
Google Chrome
Google Chrome is a web browser developed by Google that uses the WebKit layout engine. It was first released as a beta version for Microsoft Windows on September 2, 2008, and the public stable release was on December 11, 2008. The name is derived from the graphical user interface frame, or...
browser project at 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...
.
Cassidy is perhaps best known for his promotion of "speed as the primary business strategy." He has given numerous talks on the subject, and his Slideshare presentation on the subject has received over 16,000 views.