Joshua Baer
Austinpreneur
- Location
- Austin, Texas Area
- Industry
- Internet
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Joshua Baer's Overview
- Current
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- Chief Innovation Officer at Return Path
- Specialist at University of Texas at Austin
- Organizer at Inbox Love
- Organizer at Ignite Austin
- Board of Directors at WP Engine
- Managing Director at Capital Factory
- Founder & CEO at OtherInbox
- Investor at The Grove Wine Bar
- Board of Directors at Greenling Organic Delivery
- Founder & Advisor at BUZZMGR
- Partner at Capital Thought
- Publisher at Deliverability.com
- Past
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- Chief Evangelist at Datran Media
- Board of Directors at Lashback
- Committee Chair at Email Senders and Providers Coalition (ESPC)
- Board of Advisors at Hoop-a-paluza
- Partner at MassageEnvy
- Board of Directors at Charity Partners of Austin
- Board of Advisors at ME Television
- Chief Technology Officer at Datran Media
- Board of Directors at EFF Austin
- Founder & CEO at UnsubCentral
- Guest Analyst at Ferris Research
- Founder & CEO at SKYLIST, Inc.
- Founder & CTO at URaPI
- Founder & CEO at Netmonitor, Inc.
- Entrepreneur in Residence at VentureBeginnings
- Director of Business Development at IveBeenGood.com
- Trilogy University at Trilogy Software
- Moderator at ListMom-Talk
- Intern at StarNine Technologies
- Grocery Bagger at DeMoulas Market Basket
- Education
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- Carnegie Mellon University
- Recommendations
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19 people have recommended Joshua
- Connections
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500+ connections
- Websites
Joshua Baer's Summary
Joshua Baer spends all day worrying about email so that you don't have to. He is the Founder of OtherInbox, which was acquired by Return Path in 2011 where he now serves as Chief Innovation Officer. He's founded or invested in a dozen email startups and you can find his mark on about half of the email messages in your Inbox.
Joshua helps people quit their jobs and become entrepreneurs. He founded Capital Factory to help mentor and invest in tech startups in Austin, Texas. He founded his first startup in 1996 in his college dormitory at CMU and now he teaches a class at the University of Texas for student entrepreneurs.
Joshua received Computer Science and Information Decision Systems degrees from Carnegie Mellon University and lives in Austin, TX with his wife and three children.
"That which you manifest is before you." - Art of Racing in the Rain
Joshua Baer's Experience
Chief Innovation Officer
Return Path
Privately Held; 201-500 employees; Computer Software industry
January 2012 – Present (1 year 5 months) Austin, Texas
I spend all day worrying about email so that you don't have to. I run the Return Path Labs. Return Path is the only Email Intelligence solution for email marketers. OtherInbox is cure for email overload. Context.io is the missing API for email.
Specialist
University of Texas at Austin
Educational Institution; 10,001+ employees; Higher Education industry
May 2011 – Present (2 years 1 month) Austin, Texas
I teach the 1 Semester Startup class along with Bob Metcalfe and John Butler. Our students get credit for graduation for working on their own startups along with help from mentors in the Austin community.
http://1semesterstartup.com
Organizer
Inbox Love
November 2010 – Present (2 years 7 months)
A one day conference focused on the Future of Email. Must-know tactics and latest updates on email platforms & tech innovation solutions. Proven techniques for rocking customer acquisition, retention & deliverability, as well as deal flow for partnership and acquisition channels.New email productivity & workflow solutions for the busy professional.
Organizer
Ignite Austin
Nonprofit; 1-10 employees; Think Tanks industry
January 2010 – Present (3 years 5 months)
5 minutes. 20 slides. What would you say?
Ignite Austin brings together an inspiring and unexpected blend of thinkers from business, art, technology, government and academia. All with ideas. And all willing to share them.
I'm fortunate to work with Whurley, Josh Jones-Dilworth, John Rodriguez and my wife Amy Baer as co-organizers on this.
http://www.igniteaustin.org
Board of Directors
WP Engine
Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Information Technology and Services industry
January 2010 – Present (3 years 5 months) Austin, Texas Area
WP Engine provides the fastest, most secure Wordpress hosting along with the best customer service. Plus custom tools you won't find anywhere else like a staging server, backups to github, and more.
If your Wordpress site is important, it should be hosted on WP Engine.
http://wpengine.com
I helped Jason Cohen found this company and spin it out of Capital Thought.
Managing Director
Capital Factory
January 2009 – Present (4 years 5 months)
Capital Factory is a seed stage mentoring program for startups that provides a small amount of seed capital and weekly mentoring sessions by entrepreneurs who have founded successful companies. Startup companies apply to participate in our 10 week summer program intended to get a startup pointed in the right direction with a clear path to cash flow.
http://www.capitalfactory.com
Founder & CEO
OtherInbox
Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Internet industry
January 2008 – Present (5 years 5 months) Austin, Texas
I founded OtherInbox in 2008 with Mike Subelsky. We launched at TechCrunch50 and then at the SXSW Accelerator. At the end of 2011 we joined Return Path and I continue as CEO of OtherInbox.
OtherInbox saves you time and cuts down on unwanted emails. You don't have to learn anything new or change your email address - we work with what you've got. More than 2 million people think that their Aol, Gmail or Yahoo Mail inbox is better with OtherInbox. Automatic Organizer cleans up your inbox by putting receipts, newsletters, and Facebook messages into folders. Every morning you get a daily summary to make sure that you don't miss anything important. When you get a shipping notice, it automatically shows up on your calendar in Outlook or Google Calendar. Unsubscriber is the simplest way to stop emails you don't want. Just put the messages that you don't want into the Unsubscribe folder and forget about them. Unsubscriber will make sure that you don't ever see any messages from them again, plus it will actually try to click the links and get you off the list. OtherInbox, Inc. is proudly based in Austin, Texas and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Return Path, Inc.
Investor
The Grove Wine Bar
Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Restaurants industry
December 2007 – Present (5 years 6 months) Bee Cave Road in Austin Texas
The Grove is a wine bar and restaurant opened by Reed Clemons and Beth Lasita over on Bee Cave Road, just west of 360 and across from The County Line. Reed has been doing restaurants in Austin for years, such as Mezzaluna, The Bitter End, The Granite Cafe, Hangtown Grill, Reed's Supper Club, etc. I was fortunate to get involved as an investor!
From the get go our goal has been to provide a casual place where Austinites and visitors could enjoy great wine and food. When we first opened, we called ourselves a wine bar. However, since our inception, we have had a full kitchen. The menu is simply fantastic. Does this make us a restaurant, people wonder? It definitely makes us more than a wine bar, we are the grove wine bar | kitchen.
We hope our customers appreciate and enjoy what we do. It truly is a labor of love.
We also opened up Lola Savannah Coffee Shop next door, and the Good2Go delivery and to-go service.
http://www.grovewinebar.com/
http://www.lolasavannah.com/
http://www.good2goaustin.com/
Board of Directors
Greenling Organic Delivery
Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Food & Beverages industry
December 2006 – Present (6 years 6 months)
Greenling Organic Delivery provides home delivery of local and organic grocery items directly to your home. For the same price as whole foods, you can have high quality organic goodies brought to your door. This award winning startup is currently servicing the Austin and San Antonio markets and expanding rapidly.
As an investor and board member, I help Greenling with their eCommerce website and online marketing strategy, as well as fundraising and corporate strategy.
Founder & Advisor
BUZZMGR
June 2004 – Present (9 years)
Created the technical direction, direct development resources and overall leadership for BUZZMGR. The service monitors and anlyzes online word of mouth in fan-generated media such as social networks, blogs, fan forums and influence the buzz in sports, entertainment and lifestyle markets for PR and marketing purposes.
Partner
Capital Thought
Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Internet industry
March 2004 – Present (9 years 3 months)
Lean customer and product development for startups.
We thrive on uncertainty. We excel at establishing product/market fit, and we find growing a seedling of an idea into a real company -- fun!
At Capital Thought, your project is sponsored by a founder—Jason Cohen or Joshua Baer. Both have started three tech companies each—writing the software, devising the marketing, leading them to millions of dollars in annual revenue, and negotiating successful exits.
We are not just consultants. We are partners.
Read case studies about our work with Bazaarvoice, Rackspace Mosso, OtherInbox, Return Path Sender Score Reputation Network, and UnsubCentral at http://www.capitalthought.com/case-studies.html
Right now Jason Cohen runs Capital Thought and I'm focused on OtherInbox full-time. http://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncohen
Publisher
Deliverability.com
November 2003 – Present (9 years 7 months) Austin, Texas
Deliverability.com is the premier independent blog for the email marketing community. Tens of thousands of readers come here to find news, rumors and tips about email deliverability and email marketing posted by a dozen of the leaders in the industry.
Chief Evangelist
Datran Media
Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Marketing and Advertising industry
December 2007 – May 2011 (3 years 6 months)
I work with emerging media, press and corporate development.
Board of Directors
Lashback
Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Internet industry
July 2005 – January 2010 (4 years 7 months)
Formed in 2003, LashBack was born from the idea that someone should be able to automate an email unsubscribe request. Since then LashBack has developed and patented several 2nd generation anti-spam technologies which are being adopted by the largest ISPs in the world to enhance their spam fighting abilities. LashBack's unsubscribe "Reputation" services and automated unsubscribe service "UnsubSafe" will play a key role in stamping out the burden of junk email to ISP's anti-spam organizations and their consumers.
LashBack is raising the value of email by developing and deploying technical solutions that bring visibility, accountability and control to all players in the email Ecosystem. Currently LashBack data is used to protect over 500 million inboxes worldwide.
Committee Chair
Email Senders and Providers Coalition (ESPC)
January 2004 – December 2008 (5 years)
The Email Sender and Provider Coalition (ESPC) was formed to fight spam while protecting the delivery of legitimate email. The ESPC members have recognized the need for strong spam solutions that ensure the delivery of legitimate email and have been very active in the war against spam.
I founded and co-chaired the Vendor Relations committee (which later was renamed the Receiver Relations committee) and currently co-chair the Technology committee.
http://www.espcoalition.org/
http://www.deliverability.com/
Board of Advisors
Hoop-a-paluza
October 2007 – September 2008 (1 year)
Hoop-A-Paluza (HAPI) is a charity, a fundraiser and a big party all rolled into one. We hold an annual carnival each year. People register for the event online. Before the event, participants obtain pledges from donors who "sponsor" them to shoot 20 free throws. At the event, participants shoot their baskets to raise money for worthy children’s causes, after which they and their families enjoy rides, free refreshments, entertainment and fun contests. All proceeds benefit a select group of children's charities each year – and participants and their families enjoy a fun-filled carnival-style event free of charge.
With an all-volunteer organization since its founding in 2002, HAPI has raised more than $1,000,000 to aid children’s causes in New Jersey and spawned sister events around the country.
Partner
MassageEnvy
November 2006 – August 2008 (1 year 10 months)
Massage Envy® is a Scottsdale-based national franchise of massage clinics dedicated to bringing professional, affordable therapeutic massage services to consumers at convenient times and locations that fit busy lifestyles.
I was one of the partners and investors for a handful of MassageEnvy franchises in Austin. I was not involved with MassageEnvy corporate.
Board of Directors
Charity Partners of Austin
May 2006 – April 2008 (2 years)
CPA was founded in 2005 by a group of local philanthropists with the objective of giving back to our community, while producing fun and entertaining events for families and friends. We focus on providing funding support for nonprofit organizations that have a direct and meaningful impact on kids, families, and the arts.
http://www.charitypartnersofaustin.org/
Board of Advisors
ME Television
Public Company; 11-50 employees; Music industry
April 2006 – April 2008 (2 years 1 month)
ME, “Music and Entertainment” Television, is a 24- hour regional network dedicated to showcasing and providing television exposure for regional artists as well as the hundreds of touring groups that make up the vibrant Texas live music scene. Supporting established artists and promoting and discovering new talent is a priority. ME is the entertainment resource, with venue schedules, artist information, interviews and local live music shows every night at 7pm on ME Live!
ME Television launched October 1, 2005 and is currently broadcast to Austin and the 40 surrounding cities. ME Television is a national prototype for a series of regional music and entertainment networks around the country.
Besides hanging around the TV studio every chance I get, I also help out with the Internet strategy.
http://www.metelevision.com/
Chief Technology Officer
Datran Media
Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Marketing and Advertising industry
January 2006 – January 2008 (2 years 1 month)
Datran served optimized, relevant and custom created advertisements into your email inbox, like an ad server. Like paid search, performance dictates which ads float to the top and which sink to the bottom. In 2011 Datran Media merged with ContextWeb to form PulsePoint.
I became Chief Technology Officer of Datran Media in January 2006 after it acquired SKYLIST and UnsubCentral. I was an executive sponsor for key strategic accounts including Microsoft and Turner, lead R&D projects across the companies, and represented Datran Media to the industry and the press.
Board of Directors
EFF Austin
September 2006 – November 2007 (1 year 3 months)
The Electronic Frontier Foundation Austin advocates establishment and protection of digital rights and defense of the wealth of digital information, innovation, and technology. We promote the right of all citizens to communicate and share information without unreasonable constraint. We also advocate the fundamental right to explore, tinker, create, and innovate along the frontier of emerging technologies.
http://www.effaustin.org/
Founder & CEO
UnsubCentral
Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Marketing and Advertising industry
January 2004 – January 2006 (2 years 1 month)
In December 2003 Congress passed the CAN-SPAM act. It made the advertiser responsible for honoring unsubscribes and maintaining an email suppression list, which many had never done before. In order to comply with the law, email marketers now needed to securely exchange these suppression files.
We launched UnsubCentral in January 2004 to provide a secure, central repository for email suppression lists and easy access control. It quickly became the gold standard for email suppression lists and provides trusted, third party compliance for billions of email messages per month.
Guest Analyst
Ferris Research
Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Market Research industry
May 1997 – January 2006 (8 years 9 months)
I started out working with David Ferris in college as a contract programmer for his Filemaker Pro database and website. Soon I became a guest analyst, writing and reviewing research notes on emerging technology, regulation, and best practices for distribution to F500 CTO / CIO client base.
Founder & CEO
SKYLIST, Inc.
Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Computer Software industry
January 1996 – December 2005 (10 years)
I started SKYLIST as a dorm-room dot-com while studying at Carnegie Mellon. I was working with ListSTAR as an intern at StarNine and one of my consulting clients asked me if I would host the Computer Book Publishing discussion list on my server. One list became two, and then ten, and then a hundred.
By the time I graduated from CMU, I had a nice little business with a few hundred thousand a year in revenue. But it was when we decided to take the plunge and create our own email platform called StormPost that the company really started to grow quickly. We also shifted focus from discussion forums to newsletters and promotions.
By the time I sold SKYLIST to Datran Media, it was ranked best value by Jupiter research and had earned clients such as Microsoft, Nascar, Disney and the Boston Globe.
In 2006, SKYLIST was rated one of the best places to work in Austin.
Director of Business Development
IveBeenGood.com
October 1999 – August 2000 (11 months)
IveBeenGood.com was incubated in Trilogy University and also operated as UberWorks, Inc.
We launched at Internet World 1999 and were covered on the CBS Evening News and New York Times.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz39wHj95c
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9901E0DC1E3DF93BA25752C1A96F958260
I was a key contributor from product conception to company acquisition for $20mm by Network Commerce. I developed the sales pitch and strategy for >$1M software licensing and hosting deals, opened the initial pipeline, closed $2mm+ in revenue in 6 months, and developed and executed $250,000 online marketing plan with <$3 customer acquisition cost.
Trilogy University
Trilogy Software
Privately Held; 201-500 employees; Computer Software industry
July 1999 – September 1999 (3 months)
TU is a three to four month total-immersion program that many view as the most challenging and most rewarding period of their career.
Each TU class is tasked with using innovation and technology to drive the execution of Trilogy's strategy. Previous TU classes have built new products and even new businesses. Others have driven Trilogy’s focus on e-commerce. A TU project in 1999 became one of our largest software deals of the year. As the company intensified its focus on leadership development the next year, a TU team created a web site that the company still uses today to communicate our vision and exchange ideas that drive forward every day.
Recognized in a case study for Harvard Business School and described in an article in the Harvard Business Review magazine, TU is a program in which young professionals are proud to have participated.
Here is an article from Fortune in 1998 that talks about life at Trilogy back then...
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/21/insanity.html
Moderator
ListMom-Talk
Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Internet industry
January 1996 – June 1999 (3 years 6 months)
ListMom-Talk was an email list of almost 1,000 people who were responsible for running email lists on all platforms. Administrators from the biggest mailing list sites and the developers of mailing list software such were all active on the list. List etiquette, comparisons of list software, problems with members of a list, and listserver configuration were all appropriate topics. The List-Unsubscribe header and the rest of RFC 2369 were developed by this group and is now widely implemented by Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, LISTSERV, Majordomo and pretty much everyone else.
http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc2369.html
Joshua Baer's Honors and Awards
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Community Leader of the Year
Entrepreneur's Foundation- February 2013
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Austin Under 40 Winner - Technology & Science
Austin Under 40- January 2012
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Henry Crown Fellow
Aspen Institute- March 2013
The Henry Crown Fellowship Program, established in 1997, seeks to develop the next generation of community-spirited leaders, providing them with the tools necessary to meet the challenges of business and civic leadership in the 21st century. The program is a unique mix of seminars designed to broaden the perspectives of the participants and hone their skills in values-centered leadership. It honors the memory of Chicago industrialist Henry Crown (1896-1990), whose legendary career was marked by a lifelong commitment to honor, integrity, industry and philanthropy.
http://www.aspeninstitute.org/leadership-programs/henry-crown-fellowship-program
Joshua Baer's Skills & Expertise
- Email Marketing
- Online Marketing
- Cloud Computing
- Enterprise Software
- SaaS
- spam
- Spam Filtering
- startups
- entrepreneur
- funding
- angel investing
- Start-ups
- Entrepreneurship
- Product Management
- Angel Investing
- Online Advertising
- Funding
- Digital Media
- Strategy
- E-commerce
- Ruby on Rails
- Blogging
- Social Networking
- Lean Startup
- IP
Joshua Baer's Education
Carnegie Mellon University
Computer Science & Information Decision Systems, Computer Science
1994 – 1999
Activities and Societies: Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Interfraternity Council, Dow Jones Entrepreneurship Center
Joshua Baer's Additional Information
- Websites:
- Interests:
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Entrepreneurship Electric cars Porsche and Tesla Live Music
- Groups and Associations:
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Co-Author of RFC 2369, Trilogy University 99, Bootstrap Austin, Austin on Rails
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- Honors and Awards:
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Carnegie Mellon University Dow Jones Center Enterprise Award with Distinction
Carnegie Mellon University Senior Leadership Award
SKYLIST 13th Best Place to Work in Austin in 2006
OtherInbox TechCrunch50 finalist 2008
Texas Social Media Awards finalist 2009
Austin Information Technologist of the Year 2009
Austin Under 40 finalist 2009
Texas Social Media Awards finalist 2010
Austin Under 40 finalist 2010
Contact Joshua for:
- consulting offers
- new ventures
- job inquiries
- expertise requests
- business deals
- reference requests
- getting back in touch
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