Eric Tilenius

Current

General Manager at Zynga

Past

Founder & CEO at Tilenius Investments
Sector Advisor at Maveron LLC
Principal at Tilenius Consulting

CEO at GuruNet (Answers.com)
Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Mayfield
Founding CEO, Chairman, VP Business Development at Netcentives Inc.
Consultant at Bain & Company
Product Manager at Intuit Inc.
Associate Product Manager at Oracle Corportation

see less...

6 more...

Education

Stanford University Graduate School of Business
Princeton University
International Space University

see less...

Recommended

4 people have recommended Eric

Connections

500+ connections

Industry

Internet

Websites

My Company

Eric Tilenius’s Summary

After several years on the investing & VC side of the house, I have returned to my roots as an entrepreneur and operator! I am joining the fantastic team at Zynga as a general manager and could not be more psyched!!

Zynga is revolutionizing gaming. This is a truly amazing company with awesome talent and, like eBay, Google, PayPal, and Skype before it, Zynga has just nailed the perfect sweet spot in the market.

I will be learning a LOT! My very first startup was a gaming company back in high school, so it's been a while since I've done games, but I just LOVE what Zynga is doing!

Prior to Zynga, I did angel investing and served as a Sector Advisor to Maveron LLC, helping them devise strategy and make connections in the online gaming, consumer internet, and Web 2.0 markets.

My angel investing work included Powerset (sold to Microsoft), UpTake (up round from Trinity), Xoopit (sold to Yahoo!), Ustream.TV (up round from DCM), 2DuNet (used car site in China, up round IDG), Allocade, Signalink, MixBook, Owner’s Pass, Adina for Life, Aquea Scientific, and Charles Chocolates, among others.

I've also run an endowment-strategy hedge fund for three years, where I averaged returns in excess of 20% per year. Also on the investing side, I've also served as an entrepreneur-in-residence at Mayfield Fund.

I entered the investing world with a strong operating foundation in – and passion for – startups. Prior to starting my investment firm, I was CEO of Answers.com (NASDAQ:ANSW). I previously co-founded, and was founding CEO and Chairman of Netcentives Inc., a leading internet rewards, loyalty, and direct marketing firm that I helped take public in 1999. Prior to Netcentives, I was a management consultant at Bain & Company, and held product management positions at Intuit and Oracle. I founded my first software company (a gaming firm) while still in high school.

Eric Tilenius’s Specialties:

Social gaming, online gaming, games-as-a-service, Web 2.0, consumer internet, venture capital, branded consumer services, advertising, marketing services, product design & management, M&A, and business development.

Eric Tilenius’s Experience

General Manager

Zynga

(Privately Held; Computer Games industry)

September 2009 — Present (3 months)

I'm psyched, honored, and humbled to have been picked to join the AMAZING team at Zynga! I will be learning lots about social gaming and helping the company continue its incredible growth. I am passionate about the team and the cool games at Zynga and look forward to being back on the operating side!
Founder & CEO

Tilenius Investments

(Venture Capital & Private Equity industry)

January 2005 — September 2009 (4 years 9 months)

I was an active angel investor. I LOVED working with amazing entrepreneurs to help them SUCCEED! My portfolio includes Powerset (sold to Microsoft), UpTake, Xoopit (sold to Yahoo!), Ustream.TV, MixBook, Owner’s Pass, Adina for Life, and Allocade, among others. I also ran an endowment-strategy hedge fund for three years, where I averaged returns in excess of 20% per year.
Sector Advisor

Maveron LLC

(Privately Held; Venture Capital & Private Equity industry)

September 2008 — July 2009 (11 months)

I was working part-time with Maveron, a leading consumer-branded Venture Capital firm focused on helping entrepreneurs achieve their dreams of building great consumer businesses. I served as a Sector Advisor to them, focused on Web 2.0, consumer internet, gaming (both social and casual games), advertising, search, and marketing services startups -- plus some "classic" consumer startups, too.
Principal

Tilenius Consulting

(Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Computer Software industry)

September 2002 — December 2004 (2 years 4 months)

High impact consulting for venture funded start-ups.
CEO

GuruNet (Answers.com)

(Public Company; 51-200 employees; GRU; Computer Software industry)

April 2000 — June 2001 (1 year 3 months)

www.gurunet.com and www.answers.com

>> Went public late 2004. "Answer engine" that provides you with a complete briefing on millions of people, places, and subjects instead of links as traditional search engines do.
Entrepreneur-in-Residence

Mayfield

(Partnership; 11-50 employees; Venture Capital & Private Equity industry)

October 1999 — April 2000 (7 months)
Founding CEO, Chairman, VP Business Development

Netcentives Inc.

(Public Company; 201-500 employees; NCNT; Internet industry)

December 1995 — September 1999 (3 years 10 months)

Online rewards, loyalty, and direct marketing firm
Consultant

Bain & Company

(Partnership; 1001-5000 employees; Management Consulting industry)

June 1995 — September 1995 (4 months)

Summer internership while attending Stanford GSB (Business School).
Product Manager

Intuit Inc.

(Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; INTU; Computer Software industry)

April 1992 — September 1994 (2 years 6 months)

Product Manager, Quicken for Macintosh (2 complete versions, full P&L responsibility); Product Manager, "Microsoft Killer" project
Associate Product Manager

Oracle Corportation

(Public Company; 5001-10,000 employees; ORCL; Computer Software industry)

August 1990 — April 1992 (1 year 9 months)

In the Office Automation Group: Document Processing product and strategy, including Groupware strategy work

Eric Tilenius’s Education

Stanford University Graduate School of Business

1994 — 1996
Princeton University

AB , Economics , 1986 — 1990

Winner, Best Undergraduate Economics Thesis 1990

Activities and Societies:

Phi Beta Kappa, Summa Cum Laude
International Space University