Zaw Thet is a veteran entrepreneur who has been at the forefront of search, social networking, mobile, and advertising since the age of 19. In 2011, Zaw was selected as one of ten entrepreneurs to serve on the United Nations Foundation's Global Entrepreneurs Council. Currently, Zaw is incubating two stealth projects, as a co-founder and chairman of the board (plyfe.me and haulerdeals.com), that cross between the mobile, social, gamification, loyalty, ecommerce, video, and advertising sectors. His success as an entrepreneur and angel investor has enabled him to raise over $100mm in venture funding for his category-defining companies.
Most recently the Founder and CEO of 4INFO, which he founded 2004, the AdHaven division of 4INFO has become the largest mobile advertising platform in the US under his leadership: working with thousands of top tier publishers, advertisers, online advertising partners and platforms, and reaching hundreds of millions of mobile users every month. Among his many accolades, Zaw was selected as one of Business Week's "Mobile Barons" and he is quoted in the national press on a regular basis in publications such as the Wall Street Journal and New York Times. As a featured speaker, he has recently appeared at TechCrunch Disrupt, Summit Series, EO Alchemy, Guardian Activate, , SxSW, ad:tech, the MMA, and the 4A's.
He is also dedicated to philanthropy and the nonprofit sector: Zaw is the Chairman and Founder of Palindrome Advisors, a nonprofit he launched in March 2011 whose mission is to change how leaders give back, which has over 100 elite business leaders that have taken Palindrome Pledge and are matched with nonprofit boards. He is also is on the national board of After School All Stars, founded by Gov. Schwarzenegger, the largest nonprofit serving underprivileged 6-8th graders across the country. He is also an honorary board member of the San Francisco SPCA. Zaw studied Political and Computer Science at Stanford, where he was a President's Scholar. He also received his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was a Soros Fellow, and is still the youngest graduate in the school's history.
Come chat with veteran Ventures/GamesBeat writer Dean Takahashi, one of the most experienced and well-loved tech/game writers in the business. Spreecast will be live at 2:30pm PST this Wed, Feb 15th! @zawthet @deantak @spreecast
Learn about the secrets behind Sensa, one of the leading Weight-Loss systems in the world. CMO Stacey Kivel will share why Sensa has come to dominate the category.
An interview with Chris Kelly, founder of Kelly Investments. Former founding Facebook team and so much more!
Zaw is a veteran entrepreneur who has been at the forefront of search, social networking, mobile, and adtech since the age of 19. Most recently Zaw was the founder and CEO of 4INFO, one of the largest mobile advertising platforms in the world. Business Week recognized him as one the "Mobile Barons" helping to shape the mobile ad industry since 2004. In 2011, Zaw was selected as one of ten entrepreneurs to serve on the United Nations Foundation's inaugural Global Entrepreneurs Council. Currently, Zaw is an angel investor and a co-founder of social amplification platform plyfe.me and social commerce engine HaulerDeals.
He is also dedicated to philanthropy and the nonprofit sector: Zaw is the Chairman & Founder of Palindrome Advisors, a nonprofit he launched in March 2011 whose mission is to change how leaders give back and over 100 elite business leaders that have taken Palindrome Pledge and are matched with nonprofit boards. He is also is on the national board of After School All Stars, founded by Gov. Schwarzenegger, the largest nonprofit serving underprivileged 6-8th graders across the country. He is also an honorary board member of the San Francisco SPCA. Zaw studied Political and Computer Science at Stanford, where he was a President's Scholar. He also received his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was a Soros Fellow, and is still the youngest graduate in the school's history.
"HaulerDeals is a roll-up of 15 to 20 “Haulers” or fashion gurus with existing audiences on YouTube, Pinterest, and other social networks. Each week, the Haulers displays stylish looks, called “daily crushes,” from partner boutique brands at discount prices. Items generally cost less than $100 each.
The haulers have a cumulative four million YouTube subscribers and more than one billion total video views....
The most interesting wrinkle is that the company is not relying on advertising to drive revenue. They’re building a social commerce engine by letting people buy the clothes, accessories, makeup, and jewelry products that the gurus promote in its videos. The products are offered in either a flash sale along the lines of Gilt Groupe, or by subscription like Beachmint and JustFab."
See: http://pandodaily.com/2012/06/12/steath-mode-with-a-billion-youtube-views-haulerdeals-raises-secret-1-million-from-intelligent-beauty/
The United Nations Foundation has brought together ten of the brightest entrepreneurs under the age of 40 to help the UN achieve a new level of innovation and impact in solving global problems. Together they form the first class of the Foundation’s Global Entrepreneurs Council - the next generation of great thinkers who pledge to help the UN create a better world. Learn more at:
http://www.unfoundation.org/press-center/press-releases/2011/un-foundation-announces-inaugural-class-global-entrepreneurs-council.html
Founded in 2011, plyfe (www.plyfe.me) is a revolutionary new company that gives any consumer the ability to be rewarded for their digital, social, mobile and real-world activities (through plyfe.me or on partners' properties), by competing in games with leaderboards to earn points that can be redeemed for real prizes and products. Its mission is to make your online, mobile and real-world activities more social, rewarding and fun. Full details and access to plyfe's gamification platform for partners will be announced in April. plyfe's primary headquarters are in New York City, with additional offices in San Francisco and Pittsburgh. Come play life with plyfe!
Palindrome Advisors is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to change how leaders give back. With over one hundred Founding Advisors and thirty nonprofit partners, Palindrome links the nonprofit world with executive level leaders that give back through a number of programs, including but not limited to: serving on the board of a nonprofit (the Palindrome Pledge), mentoring the next generation of entrepreneurs, engaging in volunteering programs and nonprofit-based salons, and dedicating time and resources to building tools specifically for nonprofit partners. Palindrome was founded in May 2010 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.
AdHaven, a division of 4INFO, is rethinking mobile advertising with an innovative approach centered on mobile audiences that enables true audience targeting at scale.
The AdHaven Mobile Audience Platform includes a next-generation mobile ad server, audience and data management platform, and analytics platform that combine to deliver the most advanced targeting and highest ROI in the mobile advertising industry. AdHaven partners with the world’s leading data providers, inventory exchanges, and ad-sources to bridge the gap between mobile inventory and online advertising spend. Publishers and app developers use AdHaven to sell and manage mobile inventory or optimize revenue.
The AdHaven Audience Network serves targeted mobile ads for the world’s top agencies and brands like Ford, Universal Pictures, KFC, Kmart, Amtrak, and Proctor & Gamble. The AdHaven Audience network is made up of a large network of well-known web properties and apps, offering a complete suite of mobile ad units in mobile web, apps, video and SMS. Premium publishers include brands such as Gannett, CBS, NBC, Discovery Channel, Yahoo!, AOL, the National Basketball Association, IAC, E!, and The Weather Channel.
4INFO, the parent company of AdHaven, has been at the forefront of mobile innovation since 2004 and is headquartered in San Mateo, CA with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston.
Founded in 2004, with a consistent track record of innovation and reliability, 4INFO is a diversified mobile advertising, media, and technology company that reaches millions of mobile consumers daily and touches them billions of times a month. AdHaven by 4INFO, recently spun out as its own division, is the industry's first mobile audience platform and network. The AdHaven Mobile Audience Platform includes a next-generation mobile ad server with the most advanced targeting capabilities in the mobile advertising industry, and the AdHaven Audience Network. 4INFO originated the first mobile optimized search engine for SMS, and still offers an array of consumer services and an enterprise-class SMS publishing platform. 4INFO is headquartered in San Mateo, CA with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston. Learn more at http://www.4info.com.