More information about me
I am a venture partner at Firstmark.
Firstmark is an early stage VC in New York City, specialising in gaming, ecommerce, online marketing, and other new media. I help Firstmark portfolio companies with online marketing and technology strategy, and also evaluate new companies as well.
I founded OpenX in 2006.
OpenX is an open source ad server used by hundreds of thousands of websites across the globe. Collectively, OpenX powers hundreds of billions of ads on these websites monthly. I raised over $20M in capital from Index Ventures, Accel, OATV, First Round, and other investors.
Historically, I was the OpenX community leader, and led the product and engineering efforts. I currently serve on the OpenX board of directors.
I co-founded M3 Media Services in 2003.
M3 is an advertising technology platform, which delivered ads for Unanimis Consulting and a number of other publishers in the UK. Unanimis and M3 merged so that Unanimis could provide a comprehensive service and technology platform. Three years later in 2009, France Telecom (Orange) purchased Unanimis.
I co-founded Article27 in 2000.
Article27 was my first startup, which focused on securing the rights to independent film (‘95% of films are never seen’), and distributing through the internet. This idea resonated with film companies as a new way for distribution, but there was not enough of an online audience to watch full length film in 2000-2002 to justify the cost of film rights. We closed the company after 3 years and two rounds of financing.
I worked in healthcare IT for IDX (GE Healthcare)
My first job after university was with IDX (now GE Healthcare). I was a founding team member of the web framework architecture group in 1995, and developed a web application framework for all of IDX products. I worked with some brilliant people, who taught me quite a bit about product design and the software development process.
Other stuff
I am married with two children, and live in New York City, after spending 8 years in London and 7 years in Boston. I spend time collecting photography and contemporary art, and playing tennis and golf. I quite enjoy participating in the NYC entrepreneurship community - it is fascinating watching the startup ecosystem develop right under your nose.
Please keep in touch!
email: scott@switzer.org
twitter: scottswitzer
skype: switzer
tumblr: scottswitzer
Notes