Michael Jones (entrepreneur)

Michael Jones (born August 13, 1975) is an American entrepreneur and investor. Jones is currently the CEO of startup studio Science Inc.[1][2] In 2017, Jones was named one of Los Angeles’s 500 most influential people by the Los Angeles Business Journal.[3]

Michael Jones
Born
Michael Jones

(1975-08-13) August 13, 1975
Lake Oswego, Oregon
NationalityAmerican
EducationUniversity of Oregon (B.A.)
OccupationEntrepreneur

Education

Jones attended Lake Oswego High School and has a bachelor of arts in international business and marketing from the University of Oregon where he was named Student Entrepreneur of the Year in 1997.[4][5]

Business career

Early career

In 2001, Jones founded Userplane, a Los Angeles-based company that provides instant messaging and other applications for companies such as Myspace and Honda. In 2006, Userplane was acquired by AOL.[6] In 2005, Jones began angel investing, primarily focused in the Los Angeles area. He has personally invested in more than 30 startups.[7] In 2008, Jones launched Tsavo Media, an online media network company which was later sold to Cybernex for $75 million.[8]

Myspace

In 2010, Jones was hired as the CEO of Myspace where he was tasked with the company’s relaunch, one of the more high-profile turn-around challenges in the industry.[9] This included stabilizing a historically negative traffic and user trend, reducing the operational cost of the business by nearly 90 percent, and pivoting the product from its legacy as a social network to a social entertainment destination,[10] then selling the business on News Corp’s behalf to SpecificMedia.[11] Jones left Myspace in the summer of 2011.[12]

Science Inc.

In 2011, Jones launched technology startup studio Science Inc.[13][14] Jones spent much of his time working with the companies’ CEOs and investors on strategy, growth and business development.[15] In 2011, Dollar Shave Club launched with investments from Science Inc. Science was Dollar Shave Club’s first investor, before the startup raised a $1 million seed round in March 2012.[16] Other startups that have come from Science include DogVacay, Hello Society, HomeHero, FameBit, Delicious, Playhaven, Kyoku,[17] and Quarterly.[18][19][20] His exits in 2016 include Science portfolio companies HelloSociety (acquired by The New York Times),[21] FameBit (acquired by Google)[22] and Dollar Shave Club (acquired by Unilever).[23] In 2017, Science Inc. launched its initial coin offering for its blockchain-focused incubator, Science Blockchain. It was the first incubator to do so.[24] In February 2018, Science Inc. closed on $75 million for its venture fund with traditional limited partners, including a fund of funds, sovereign wealth funds, foundations, and other institutional investors.[25] The capital will be used to back breakaway companies coming out of Science's incubators, co-invest in deals that were not seeded by Science, and will be used to co-invest alongside other venture investors.[26]

Science Blockchain

In September 2017, Science Inc. announced Science Blockchain, an incubator focused on blockchain-based companies, funded through an Initial Coin Offering (ICO).[27][28] The offering falls within U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) private placement exemptions from registration under Regulation D (SEC) and Regulation S.[29] The ICO only allows accredited investors to buy tokens in the ICO.[30] The ICO offering is being managed by The Argon Group, via its subsidiary Argon Investment Management LLC, under the Regulation D Section 506(c) exemption from registration issued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.[31]

References
  1. "Mike Jones Launches Technology Studio, Science, In LA With $10M From Eric Schmidt And Others" Techcrunch, November 16, 2011
  2. "The next big thing coming out of Silicon Beach? Mobile everything" USA Today, July 14, 2015
  3. "LA 500: Michael Jones" LA Business Journal, August 11, 2017
  4. "University of Oregon Alumni Association" UOAlumni.com, April 26, 2014
  5. "Take a tour of former Myspace CEO and tech incubator Mike Jones' Malibu mansion" Business Insider, May 8th, 2015
  6. "AOL snaps up IM developer Userplane" CNET, August 14th, 2006
  7. "Former MySpace CEO Michael Jones launches $30M VC fund to back Indian mobile startups" TechCircle India, July 2015, 2015
  8. "Former MySpace CEO launches a startup studio" CNET, November 11th, 2014
  9. "Saving Myspace: CEO Mike Jones Talks About Rethink, Relaunch and–Fingers Crossed–Resurgence" AllThingsD, October 27th, 2010
  10. "For Myspace, a Redesign to Entice Generation Y" The New York Times, October 27th, 2010
  11. "Exclusive: Myspace to Be Sold to Specific Media for $35 Million" AllThingsD, June 29th, 2011
  12. "Myspace Acquired, CEO Out: Email From Mike Jones To Employees" TechCrunch, June 29th, 2011
  13. "Former MySpace CEO creates startup incubator called Science, invests in former MySpace execs" VentureBeat, November 16th, 2011
  14. "The Most Innovative Social Media Companies 2013" Fast Company, February 13th, 2013
  15. "15 Questions with Mike Jones" CNN Money, May 13, 2015
  16. "Science Incubator Turns Up the Heat With New Services" LA Business Journal, June 28, 2015
  17. [https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/science-ventures-iii-investment-themes-michael-jones/?trackingId=NNAEMjIiRSKy3TBwWexPcw%3D%3D "Science Ventures III Investment Themes "] LinkedIn, October 6, 2020
  18. "Science Inc. to buy Social Bookmarking Site Delicious" Social Tech, May 8, 2014
  19. "Science Inc. Acquires Mobile Ad Network PlayHaven From Upsight" TechCrunch, September 24, 2014
  20. "Science Incubator Turns Up the Heat With New Services" LA Business Journal, June 28, 2015
  21. "The New York Times acquires influencer marketing agency HelloSociety" TechCrunch, March 11, 2017
  22. "Google acquires FameBit to connect YouTube creators with marketers" TechCrunch, October 11, 2016
  23. "Unilever Buys Dollar Shave Club for $1 Billion" Fortune, July 19, 2016
  24. "A Venture Firm Turns to Coin Offering for Incubator Gambit" Wall Street Journal, August 2, 2017
  25. "Science, the L.A.-based incubator, just closed on $75 million for its first real venture fund" TechCrunch, February 2, 2018
  26. "Science, the L.A.-based incubator, just closed on $75 million for its first real venture fund" TechCrunch, February 2, 2018
  27. "Why Science is turning to ICOs for its incubator" TechCrunch, August 4, 2017
  28. https://science.tokenhub.com/
  29. "A Venture Firm Turns to Coin Offering for Incubator Gambit" The Wall Street Journal, August 2, 2017
  30. "A Venture Firm Turns to Coin Offering for Incubator Gambit" The Wall Street Journal, August 2, 2017
  31. "A Venture Firm Turns to Coin Offering for Incubator Gambit" The Wall Street Journal, August 2, 2017
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