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Episode 163

A $10M Exit to Yahoo with Eric Marcoullier

This week on The Exit: Eric Marcoullier went through college wanting to be a DJ, but when he bought a copy of Wired magazine, a lightbulb went off for Eric, he knew that the internet was where he would make his money. Eric moved into online publishing and was part of the team to launch IGN, a video game and entertainment website which was where he was involved in his first big exit. They took the company public and then sold it for $650M to Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. From there, Eric went on to co-found MyBlogLog, a social network for the blogger community that was based in part on interactions facilitated by a popular web widget that members would install on their blog. After just two years, MyBlogLog was acquired by Yahoo for $10M. Discover what Eric has learnt from two big exits, and how he’s helping other founders achieve their dream exits. 

Since dropping out of college in 1995, Eric Marcoullier has co-founded a number of companies. Some were successful, some not so much. They include IGN (IPO), MyBlogLog (acquired by Yahoo!), Gnip (acquired by Twitter) and OneTrueFan (acquired by BigDoor).
Over the years, Eric has invested in and advised many early-stage startups, both through a software development shop he co-owned and mentoring at Techstars, beginning with the very first program in 2007. Those startups include CitizenNet (acquired by Condé Nast), Foodzie (acquired by Joyus), Intense Debate (acquired by Automattic), Pana (acquired by Coupa), Zemanta (acquired by Outbrain) and Zynga (IPO).

Currently, Eric is coaching first- and second-time startup founders who haven’t yet established product or market fit. 

Coaching Site – www.marcoullier.com

Coaching Blog – www.ObviousStartupAdvice.com

Monthly CEO Dinner – www.ThunderviewCEODinners.com

 

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YOUR HOST

Steve McGarry

An entrepreneur, content creator, and investor based in sunny Tampa, Florida. In 2015, while living in San Francisco, Steve sold his first fintech startup LendLayer to Max Levchin’s (founder of PayPal) consumer finance company Affirm.

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