- Cliff Boro
-
Clifford T. Boro Born Clifford Todd Boro
41
Leominster, MassachusettsOccupation Businessperson
Chief executive officer,
EntrepreneurParents Ira Michael Boro
Margaret Nason BoroWebsite Kidzui Clifford Todd Boro is a American entrepreneur and founder of KidZui, internet for kids. He also has served as the Chairman or Board member of companies such as the Internet Financial Network (IFN), Infogate, VideoEgg, mSnap and CVT Ventures with partners Vidar Vignisson and Thomas Broadhead. Known to have raised over $50 million in venture capital from investors such as Citigroup, The Trump Group and Idealab!).[1] He has high profile business partnerships with companies such as Comcast, Dreamworks and Best Buy. His current company has won several awards including the Editor’s Choice Children’s Technology Review, the Parents Choice Award, and the Wired Safety Best of the Web Award.[2] In addition, Boro has been known to have business affiliations with Howard Morgan and First Round Capital.[3]
Contents
History
Boro was born on May 19, 1970 in Leominster, Massachusetts to Ira Michael Boro and Margaret Nason Boro. He was raised with his brother Gregory and educated at the Dwight School, a PreK-12 private international school located on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. He excelled at the school and graduated in 1988. Yet Boro's later success with the founding of the Financial News Network led the school to create an award in his honor. The Cliff Boro Award is presented annually to students for innovative thought in science and technology.[4] After High school he also attended both the New York University and Brandeis University from 1992 to 1993 and majored in American Studies but left due to the requirements of his corporate responsibilities. Boro commented about his experiences there saying, "At Brandeis, the universities' motto is 'Truth, even to its innermost parts.' Although I did not graduate, I do feel that I received an important education in a short period of time."[5]
Winners of the Cliff Boro Award
This is the list of students who have received this award:
- 2004 - Jonathan Levy
Career
Boro began his career on Wall Street in 1987 in the hedge fund industry working as a full-time Wall Street trader during his senior year at Dwight School. His career began on Wall Street working in several capacities at Steinhardt Partners, Soros Fund Management and Berg Partners. Yet he also held many other occupations which have ranged from teaching skiing to hundreds of children, to crossing the Atlantic as second-mate on a mega-yacht and riding the ups and downs of the internet boom followed ever since by a career as a serial entrepreneur that allowed him to raise over $50 million before selling his later company to AOL.
Board of Directors Memberships
Passed and Present positions held by Clifford Boro:[6] [7]
Positions
- Internet Financial Network (Founder)(CEO), developing software that delivered and archived EDGAR information.
- Genesys Angelbridge Fund (advisory), a limited partnership that will target the gap between angel-backed startups and those backed by venture capital.[8]
- Infogate (CEO)
- Luxology (advisory), The Art and Science of 3D, check out our new modo software[9]
- CVT Ventures (Managing Partner), Venture-development group dedicated to helping entrepreneurs create and accelerate information technology businesses.
- VideoEgg (co-Founder)(former Chairman)(advisory),
- mSnap (Chairman), Better search productivity – get to the right answer sooner
- Kidzui (Founder)(CEO), Internet browser for Kids
Internet Financial Network
Boro founded the Internet Financial Network or IFN in October 1994 as its Chairman and CEO with offices in New York, Ft. Lauderdale and Boston.[10] Controlling equity interest for Boro's company was held together by both Data Broadcasting Corporation (NASDAQ:DBCC) and The Travelers group (NYSE:TRV). The company focused on developing software that delivered and archived EDGAR information in formats readily accessible to institutions. By May 6, 1996, all public companies were required to submit these filings electronically forcing even mayor Wall Street companies to find necessary providers. Boro's foresight of the market's need for such a service enabled IFN, to become one of a select few top EDGAR providers at the time.
In September 1996 Boro began testing for a proprietary protocol to gather real-time information via a virtual frame relay circuit or via the internet and that would then distribute the information using the protocol native to a firm's local area network. IFN created EdgarWatch 2.0, a stand-alone or LAN-based 32-bit software push-pull product that operates across Microsoft Windows 3.1, Workgroups, Win95 and MT platforms. This instant retrieval capability allowed traders and money managers to quickly and easily analyze corporate disclosures often before the news hits the Street. All this is done on the trader's own network in Windows and without the need for a web browser.
On February 12, 1997 IFN announced that it signed a three-year agreement with Smith Barney, Inc. to provide the financial services firm's Investment Banking and Research offices with IFN's EdgarWatch and Smart Edgar, real-time information and software products. The agreement also provided the option for Smith Barney to use on its own web pages IFN's EDGAR filing alerts and database archive.
In a statement about the deal Smith Barney's Manager of Information Services/Market Data, Debbie Hasbrouck, stated that "[they] expect that IFN's EdgarWatch and Smart Edgar will meet Smith Barney's need for real-time SEC documents and other information. We look foreward to a highly productive long-term relationship with IFN."
By October 2000 Boro decided to arrange a merger between IFN and Entrypoint Technologies to create Infogate. IFN officially ended in August 2001.[11]
Infogate
Internet Financial Network merged with EntryPoint in March 2000 forming Infogate yet was not official until August 2001.[11][12] The company was a revolutionary and free (advertising-supported) personalized financial and business information service launched together with CitiBank, Smith Barney and DLJ Direct. It later switched from free services of to a fee-based co-branded model.[13]
Boro was the co-founder, chairman and CEO of Infogate and lead the company to become a leading software and information network that created turnkey subscription-based personal information products for partners including CNN, USA Today and the Tribune Company.
After a successful three years the company was sold in March 2003 to AOL Time Warner. Boro and two other senior executives formed CVT Ventures, a venture-development group dedicated to accelerating technology startups.
CVT Ventures
Boro is the managing partner and co-founder of CVT Ventures with partners Vidar Vignisson and Thomas Broadhead. They founded CVT Ventures to help start and accelerate innovative software companies. However, before establishing CVT, the founders worked together as the management team for Infogate, Inc.[14][15]
CVT was financed by Jack Rivkin, the Chief Investment Officer of Neuberger Berman and former head of CitiGroup's Technology Venture Group. The company is an executive group dedicated to forming and accelerating information technology enterprises and technology-differentiated service companies. One of the companies that Boro got involved with was Luxology, a company devoted to creating professional content creation tools for 3D artists. He joined their board of advisors along side Howard Morgan, Stephen Mack and Adam Klein in 2004.[16]
VideoEgg
In 2005 Boro helped to co-found VideoEgg along with the company's CEO Matt Sanchez. VideoEgg is a video publishing and sharing service providing easy to use publishing solutions for video bloggers and other web publishers. He got the early funding for the company from First Round Capital prior to its launch at DEMOfall in September 2005. VideoEgg‘s straightforward approach to online video publishing focuses on simplifying digital video, making it as easy to post videos to the web as it is to post photos on Flickr. Videos can be drag and dropped onto websites using this technology, transferring the videos directly from phones, camcorders, and computers.
Sometime in 2006 Boro and the company got a new round of venture capital from August Capital and invited David Hornik from August Capital to join VideoEgg’s Board of Directors. In an interview Boro stated that “VideoEgg has been so fortunate to have First Round Capital as our seed investor and we are now delighted to welcome David Hornik and August Capital to our Board.”[17] [18] Yet in later years as the other companies Boro became apart of got started he resigned his position as chairman and took an advisory role on Videoegg's board.[17][19][20]
mSnap
mSnap was founded in 2006, as a leading mobile interactivity partner for traditional media companies. The company's SMS ad network included more than 1,150 radio, print and cable-broadcast media partners and has a potential reach of 200 million-plus mobile consumers per week. The founder and CEO of mSnap (Tim Favia) got assistance from Boro to launch the company's success. Through CVT, Cliff Boro was placed as the Chairman of mSnap.[21] In 2008, mSnap's network traffic grew more than 1,500 percent.[22]
In March 2009, SmartReply announced that it had acquired mSnap. According to the company, SmartReply and mSnap had tested multimedia campaigns, and they believed that radio did very well when paired with mobile. The goal of SmartReply's acquisition of mSnap was to bring quantifiable media to a new level of scale. One article on the merger stated that mSnap's "network combined with the technology and resources of SmartReply could propel the growth of the mobile channel and lead to other consolidations within the mobile ecosystem."[23]
Kidzui
As a kid, Boro’s father paid close attention to his interests and rewarded his inquisitive nature by leaving relevant books on his bedside table. Boro shared this story about his dad in a radio interview about how his father was the “Google” in his life. Boro states, “My psychic desire to KidZui is to be the modern day version of my dad.”[24] It was in that spirit of fostering a child’s natural curiosity that KidZui was founded. [25]
Boro founded Kidzui in March 2006 as an internet browser for kids, aged 3-12, dedicated to enriching children's online experiences, and providing parents with peace of mind. The Kidzui browser was made available in free and subscription versions and provides a captive portal to 1.5 million pre-screened websites. There are 8,600 categories, millions of pages, and all ages appropriate with specific content and pictures for each category.
Boro currently serves as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the company. He also brought on board the former Editor-in-Chief of LeapFrog, Deanne Kells, to be the Editor-in-Chief of KidZui. The privately-held company received funding from First Round Capital, Mission Ventures, Emergence Capital Partners, the Scholastic Corporation and Maveron, the VC firm best known as being led by Starbucks Chief Executive Howard Schultz. The browser launched in the spring of 2008 with Boro also obtaining patents for the 'CHILD-ORIENTED COMPUTING SYSTEM' which was designed for Kidzui as the child-oriented browsing system.[26][27]
In following years Boro began negotiating partnerships with many well known companies to distribute the Kidzui browser. In 2009 they partnered with Comcast. Boro commented on the deal saying that “Working with Comcast to share KidZui with their community has resulted in a very rewarding and powerful partnership.” [28][29] They also created a Kidzui extension to work on other browsers such as Mozilla. In an interview Cliff Boro stated, "Since launching in March, hundreds of thousands of kids and parents have seen the value in KidZui and have become active and engaged users. KidZui's Mozilla add-on now gives us the opportunity to connect with Mozilla's active community, giving them access to a safe social browser with just one click."[30]
Also in 2009, Boro and his company launched a Youtube-styled website for kids called "Zuitube". In his CNN interview Boro talked of the idea behind the new site. "The goal is to be both educational and entertaining. So KidZui has mapped out 8,600 channels of what kids are interested in, ranging from photosynthesis to Miley Cyrus. And we relate all of those categories to each other so kids can independently and safely browse, search and share." [31][32]
In 2010, Boro made high profile deals with Dreamworks and Best Buy to integrate Kidzui serves into their companies. [33] Through a new partnership with DreamWorks, KidZui integrated the lead character from the animated movie “How to Train Your Dragon” in its social networking experience as part of an integrated sponsorship. And under a deal with Best Buy the consumer electronics retailer now offers to load the KidZui browser as part of its software installation service.[34]
That same year Boro announced the new upgraded Kidzui browser referred to as 'K2'. In a statement he said “Building on the success of the original KidZui browser, our goal with the upgraded K2 version was to make the program even more accessible, easier and faster for younger children to use, while at the same time making it feel less childlike and more like a regular grown-up’s browser.”[2]
In 2011 Boro and his team unveiled Kidzui's new project called "KidClicks". KidClicks is a Advertising Platform for Family-Friendly Brands. [35][36]
To date the company has been awarded with the Editor’s Choice Children’s Technology Review, the Parents Choice Award, and the Wired Safety Best of the Web Award.[2]
References
- ^ Clifford Boro: Executive Profile & Biography - BusinessWeek
- ^ a b c KidZui Launches New Free Version of Award-Winning Kids’ Web Browser | Business Wire | Find Articles at BNET
- ^ Cliff Boro | First Round Capital | Seed Stage Venture Capital Fund in San Francisco, New York and Philadelphia
- ^ Layout 1
- ^ Succeeding Without a Traditional Business Degree
- ^ http://ausum.com/
- ^ Howard Morgan: Executive Profile & Biography - BusinessWeek
- ^ Angelbridge Fund 1, L.P
- ^ Luxology Announces New Board Members
- ^ CEO IN A BOX.(Clifford T. Boro)(Brief Article) | HighBeam Business: Arrive Prepared
- ^ a b Clifford Boro | LinkedIn
- ^ Infogate Watches Web, Wires for Whatever You Want | PCWorld
- ^ business - G'Day!
- ^ offaCliff: My First-Ever Accomplished New Year’s Resolution!
- ^ CVT Ventures
- ^ Luxology Announces New Board Members
- ^ a b VideoEgg Video Publishing Receives Venture Funding | Search Engine Journal
- ^ VideoEgg Introduces “Pay for Engagement” Model to Video Advertising
- ^ VideoEgg Profiles, Brand Logos and Top Lists – Juggle.com
- ^ Who are the company directors of VideoEgg? - True Knowledge
- ^ Clifford Boro | CrunchBase Profile
- ^ Cliff Boro
- ^ SmartReply acquires mSnap to expand SMS advertising - Mobile Marketer - Advertising
- ^ Bill Wardell Welcomes you to his World!
- ^ Cliff Boro, Co-Founder and CEO, KidZui | Engage Conference and Expo
- ^ Clifford T. Boro - Patent application
- ^ Clifford Boro's Kidzui Gets Funded
- ^ Comcast Launches Award-Winning KidZui, a Safe, Comprehensive Internet Portal for Kids | Business Wire
- ^ KidZui on Comcast.net | A fun and safe Internet for Kids
- ^ Linux desktop gains kid-friendly browser
- ^ Designing an Internet for kids - CNN
- ^ Kids and Media - How to guide and guard your child in a digital world
- ^ Browser-For-Kids Maker KidZui Scores $4M, Deals With Best Buy, DreamWorks
- ^ KidZui Caps Significant Progress in Difficult Year with $4M in Fresh Funding | Xconomy
- ^ Kidzui Launches “KidClicks™” Advertising Platform for - Bloomberg
- ^ Kidzui Launches “KidClicks™” Advertising Platform for Family-Friendly Brands at Engage 2011 - Yahoo! Finance
External links
- Kidzui (company website)
- CVT Ventures
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