The .CO Icons & Innovators Series showcases interviews with the big thinkers, crazy dreamers, rule breakers and risk takers who spend their days breaking through boundaries, creating new possibilities, and transforming current realities to build the future online – on .CO, of course!
Meet John Battelle of NewCo.co
John is Co-founder and Chair of NewCo, Inc., a disruptive conference model and media platform where the networked economy is showcased. Also a Board Director of Acxiom, Inc., a NYSE-listed public company, John Battelle maintains Searchblog, a regularly updated site, which covers the intersection of media, technology, and culture at http://battellemedia.com. He has invested in close to 20 startups over the past few years and has an upcoming book due out next year. John Battelle is an inspiring entrepreneur, author and journalist – we hope you enjoy learning more about him!
Who is John Battelle?
Best known for his work creating media properties, John founded Federated Media Publishing in 2005 and served as CEO and Executive Chairman until the company was acquired by LIN Media in early 2014. In addition to Federated Media Publishing, John was the Co-Founder, Executive Producer and Program Chair of the Web 2 Summit, the Chairman and CEO of Standard Media International (SMI), publisher of The Industry Standard and TheStandard.com. He was also Co-Founding Editor of Wired magazine and Wired Ventures.
John occupied the Bloomberg chair in Business Journalism for the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley. He is an expert in the field of media and technology, and has appeared on national and international news channels including CBS, BBC, CNN, PBS, Discovery, Bloomberg TV and CNBC. John was a founding Board member of the Online Publishers Association and served on the board of the Interactive Advertising Bureau. He also was active for nine years on the Board of his childrens’ school.
John’s honors and awards include: “Global Leader for Tomorrow” and “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland; finalist rank in the “Entrepreneur of the Year” competition by Ernst & Young; “Innovator – One of Ten Best Marketers in the Business” by Advertising Age; The Hal Riney Award, min’s Digital Hall of Fame, and one of the “Most Important People on The Web” by PC World. He holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and a master’s degree in Journalism from the University of California, Berkeley.
In 2005 John authored ‘The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture’ (Penguin/Portfolio), an international bestseller published in more than 25 languages. His new book entitled ‘If/Then’ is due out in 2015.
What are you trying to do in your work?
The past 30 years of work have been mainly about one narrative: The impact of technology on culture. My work continues to be about exploring that story, whether through writing, conferences, or companies, I’m most interested in exploring the intersection of technology and society.
What does innovation mean to you?
Innovation is rarely understood until well after its impact has begun. We often mistake novelty for innovation, but true innovation drives fundamental change in society.
Why .CO?
We loved the ability to make Newco.co part of our brand, because we are all about the “CO” – the new kind of company driving innovation across the globe.
What’s next for you?
Stay tuned. Many things afoot.