Gary Mekikian
Gary Mekikian | |
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![]() Mekikian in 2015 | |
Born | Garo Mekikian Yerevan, Armenia |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Stanford University University of Southern California |
Occupation(s) | CEO of M&M Media, Inc. |
Years active | 1993 — present |
Known for | Technology and software entrepreneurship |
Board member of |
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Website | la2dc |
Gary Mekikian is an American businewsman who is the co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of M&M Media Inc, a Los Angeles–based media technology company. Prior to M&M Media, Mekikian co-founded International Integration, also known as i-Cube; answerfriend, which became Inquira; and GATeIC.
Mekikian is a co-organizer of LA2DC.org, a Los Angeles–based organization whose mission is to raise awareness of modern-day genocides and the Holocaust, and to eliminate genocide as a war tactic.
Mekikian has a BS in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California and an MS from Stanford University, and he holds patents in media technologies[1][2] and medical devices.[3] Mekikian is a member of Stanford University's Graduate School of Business MSx Alumni Advisory Board. He collaborates with Stanford University professors Dr. William Barnett[4] and Dr. John Roberts to write and teach case studies on entrepreneurship, information technology, semiconductor industry, and the mobile internet.
Education
[edit]After attending Hollywood High School for two years, Mekikian earned an electrical engineering degree from University of Southern California and an MS from Stanford University.
Career
[edit]Early ventures
[edit]In 1993, after working at Hewlett-Packard Company as a sales engineer, Mekikian joined the founding team at International Integration Inc., also known as i-Cube, which went public in 1998.[5] i-Cube was acquired by Razorfish, Inc. in 1999.[6]
Mekikian began working with Dr. Deniz Yuret, a researcher in Natural Language Processing at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Sundar Subramaniam, a co-founder of i-Cube, to found answerFriend, Inc., which developed commercialized web based question-answering technologies.[7][8] In 2002, answerFriend merged with another natural language processing technology company, Electric Knowledge, to form InQuira. In 2011, Oracle Corporation acquired Inquira.[9]
In 2006, Mekikian co-founded GATeIC[10] a semiconductor IP company.
M&M Media / TREBEL Music
[edit]In 2014, after a patent was issued on a new method of delivering and monetizing digital media on mobile and desktop devices,[1] Mekikian co-founded M&M Media, Inc.,[11] a digital music distribution company that released the TREBEL Music app to reduce digital media piracy by specifically targeting a demographic which uses piracy as a form of digital media consumption.[12][13]
TREBEL Music operates in Indonesia, Mexico, Colombia,[14] and the US, and its investors include fashion mogul, Chris Burch, global pop star Maluma,[15][16] NBA basketball star, Thaddeus Young,[17] soccer star Memo Ochoa,[18][19] and Indonesian media mogul, Hary Tanoesoedibjo.[20]
Genocide Awareness and Prevention
[edit]In 2015, the descendants of the survivors of the Armenian genocide commemorated the 100th anniversary of the first genocide of the 20th century around the world.[21] Mekikian, along with a group of Armenian Americans, organized an event which was titled LA2DC,[22] a coast-to-coast, running and cycling, relay marathon. The purpose of the event is to increase awareness of modern-day genocides, and prevent genocides from being used as a war tactic. Over a thousand athletes ran and cycled non-stop, from Los Angeles to Washington DC, to deliver a petition to Congress - a message of gratitude to Americans and others who worked to prevent genocides, and rescued the survivors. Mekikian and colleagues authored the petition[23] which was delivered in a relay baton to Congressman Adam Schiff who read it on the floor of the House of Representatives on May 20, 2015.[24]
Bibliography
[edit]- Prof. William Barnett and Gary Mekikian, (2013) Mercado Libre, Leadership and Managing People, Stanford Graduate School of Business[25]
- Gary Mekikian and Prof. John Roberts, (2009) Note on IT Services Industry, Economics, Stanford Graduate School of Business[26]
- Gary Mekikian and Prof. John Roberts, (2009) Tata Consultancy Services, Globalization of IT Services, Economics,[27]
- Prof. William Barnett and Gary Mekikian, (2008) Creating Qualcomm, Organizational Behavior, Entrepreneurship, Stanford Graduate School of Business[28]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Electronic Media Download and Distribution Using Real-Time Message Matching and Concatenation".
- ^ "Answering natural language queries".
- ^ "Method and apparatus to prevent esophageal damage".
- ^ "William P. Barnett". Stanford Graduate School of Business.
- ^ "International Integration Inc. S1". SEC Report.
- ^ Journal, Andrea PetersenStaff Reporter of The Wall Street (August 11, 1999). "Razorfish Is Set to Acquire i-Cube In Stock Deal Worth $677 Million". Wall Street Journal – via www.wsj.com.
- ^ "AnswerFriend Seeks to Sell Question-Answering Software". Wall Street Journal. 24 August 2000.
- ^ "The Innovators MEET THE 65 COMPANIES AND THEIR OWNERS WHO HAVE CONJURED UP THE LATEST WAVE OF PRODUCTS, SERVICES, AND TECHNOLOGIES. - May 1, 2001". money.cnn.com.
- ^ "Oracle and InQuira". www.oracle.com. Retrieved 2020-03-02.
- ^ "Gary Mekikian". Stanford Graduate School of Business.
- ^ Prosser, David. "Trebel Hopes Going Public Will Take It To The Top Of The Charts". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-04-22.
- ^ Braa, Megan (September 23, 2015). "Trebel Music app provides free music downloads, campus charts tailored to students". The Rocky Mountain Collegian.
- ^ "Trebel Music app aims to bring free tunes to college students". September 21, 2015.
- ^ Hernández, Enrique (2022-03-02). "Trebel, una app fondeada por industriales regios y colombianos para abatir la piratería musical". Forbes México (in Mexican Spanish). Retrieved 2023-04-22.
- ^ Vega, Lina Vargas (2023-03-15). "Trebel es la aplicación que permite escuchar música de forma legal y gratuita sin gastar datos". Forbes Colombia (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-04-22.
- ^ "Colombian Star Maluma Invests in Trebel Music-Streaming Platform (1)". news.bloomberglaw.com. Retrieved 2023-04-22.
- ^ "'Felices sin wifi': Maluma invierte app con socios mexicanos, de descarga de música". El Financiero (in Spanish). 30 March 2022. Retrieved 2023-04-22.
- ^ Hernández, Enrique (2022-11-17). "Estas son las marcas, empresas e inversiones de Memo Ochoa y Alfredo Talavera". Forbes México (in Mexican Spanish). Retrieved 2023-04-22.
- ^ Univision. "Guillermo Ochoa se suma a TREBEL como inversionista". TUDN (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-04-22.
- ^ Pradipta, Vega Aulia. "MNC Studios Investasi di TREBEL Music, Bakal Punya 1 Direktur". CNBC Indonesia (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2023-04-22.
- ^ Herszenhorn, David M. (2015-04-24). "Armenia, on Day of Rain and Sorrow, Observes 100th Anniversary of Genocide". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-01-01.
- ^ "Cyclists, Marchers Commemorate Armenian Genocide". NBC Southern California. Retrieved 2016-12-31.
- ^ "Congressional Record". www.congress.gov. Retrieved 2016-12-31.
- ^ AdamSchiff (2015-05-20), Rep. Schiff Speech on House Floor Honoring LA2DC Participants, retrieved 2016-12-31
- ^ "Mercado Libre". Stanford Graduate School of Business.
- ^ "Note on the IT Services Industry". Stanford Graduate School of Business.
- ^ "Tata Consultancy Services, Globalization of IT Services". Stanford Graduate School of Business.
- ^ "Creating Qualcomm (A)". Stanford Graduate School of Business.