Yagan holds a bachelor's degree in Applied Mathematics and Economics from Harvard University and an MBA from Stanford University, where he earned distinction as a Siebel Scholar, an Arjay Miller Scholar, and the Henry Ford Scholar, the award granted to each class's valedictorian.[6] His brother Danny Yagan is an economics professor at the University of California, Berkeley.[7] His wife Jessica Droste Yagan is the CEO of Impact Engine, an impact investing fund.[8]
Career
In 1999, during his senior year at Harvard, Yagan and his classmates, Chris Coyne, Max Krohn, and Christian Rudder started TheSpark.com,[9][10] which would later be known as SparkNotes.[11] In 2000, Yagan and partners sold SparkNotes to iTurf for $30 million,[12][13] the partners then helped iTurf sell the site again to Barnes & Noble. in 2001.[13][14] After the sale, Yagan then stayed at Barnes & Noble for a year.[15]
eDonkey was a part of MetaMachine Inc and was a peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing network. Yagan was the CEO of MetaMachine Inc.[16] As the developer of eDonkey, Yagan testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee expressing a need for balance between innovation and intellectual property.[17]
In 2006, MetaMachine, Yagan, and founder Jed McCaleb agreed to pay $30 million to avoid potential copyright infringement lawsuits brought by the RIAA.[16] In accordance with the agreement, MetaMachine, Yagan and McCaleb agreed to discontinue distribution of its software as well as to deprecate previous copies of its software.[18]
In 2003, Yagan again teamed up with his Harvard classmates Chris Coyne, Max Krohn, and Christian Rudder to found online dating website OkCupid.[13] Yagan and partners designed OkCupid with a question-and-answer-based system.[19][20] In 2011, Yagan led the sale of OkCupid to Match Group, a subsidiary of IAC, for $90 million.[21] Yagan was the CEO of Match Group for three years and left at the end of 2015 before joining the company's public board as vice chairman.[22] While Yagan was CEO, Match Group started Tinder.[23]
In 2009, Yagan, Kelli Rhee, and Kapil Chaudhary co-founded Excelerate Labs with the financial backing from Sandbox Industries.[24] Excelerate Labs merged with Techstars in 2013.[25]
In 2014, Yagan co-founded Corazon Capital with Steve Farsht.[26]
In 2016, Yagan became the CEO of ShopRunner, an e-commerce network that provides two-day shipping across multiple merchants that was founded by Michael Rubin.[27][28] He led the sale of the company to FedEx in December 2020.[29] Yagan shut down ShopRunner's office in San Mateo, California, and established its headquarters in Chicago.[30] He attributed this move to the labor market and ability to recruit.[31]
Sam Yagan is married to his high school sweetheart, Jessica Droste Yagan.[38][39] They have three children.[40][41] Yagan and his wife started the Yagan Family Foundation.[42]
^Martin, Stacy (5 September 2004). "SITE SPECIFIC-www.sparknotes.com". San Francisco Chronicle. San Francisco: Hearst Communications Inc. Archived from the original on 31 January 2005. Retrieved 19 March 2006.
^Roberts, Daniel (September 25, 2013). "The nerd king of online dating". Fortune. Retrieved March 1, 2024. Before they created OkCupid, he and the same friends started SparkNotes, an online alternative to CliffsNotes study guides, in 1999. It sold to iTurf, Inc. for $30 million.
^Helm, Burt (October 23, 2005). "A Hard Ride For eDonkey". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved March 13, 2024. Yagan sold the business to Barnes & Noble Inc. (BKS ) for $3.75 million in 2001.
^Elahi, Amina (December 22, 2015). "Sam Yagan set to join Match Group board after IPO". Business Insider. Retrieved March 1, 2024. OkCupid and SparkNotes co-founder Yagan is a prominent figure in Chicago's technology scene. He sold the dating company to Match Group parent IAC in 2011 for $90 million and went on to co-found local accelerator Excelerate Labs, now Techstars Chicago.
^Roberts, Daniel (September 25, 2013). "The nerd king of online dating". Fortune. Retrieved March 1, 2024. Many of Tinder's users don't realize that it is owned by Match; the app came from its R&D lab and launched under Yagan's guidance.
^Harris, Melissa (February 1, 2013). "City's top tech-startup incubator to merge with national competitor". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 1, 2024. Excelerate Labs, Chicago's first and most prominent tech startup incubator, is joining TechStars, a Boulder, Colo.-based competitor
^Moore, Galen (October 5, 2016). "OkCupid Founder Sam Yagan's Corazon Capital Is Back With a Bigger Fund II". Chicago Inno. Retrieved March 1, 2024. The $13 million Corazon I, also led by Yagan and Farsht, was known for bringing in local entrepreneurs as limited partners, including Inventables founder CEO Zach Kaplan...The firm has participated in Series A-sized rounds for several Chicago startups.
^Pletz, John (April 26, 2017). "Yagan moves ShopRunner's Silicon Valley ops to Chicago". Crain’s Chicago Business. Retrieved March 1, 2024. The e-commerce software company is shutting down its Silicon Valley office and moving about 30 jobs to Chicago…Employees in San Mateo, Calif., have been offered the chance to relocate to Chicago, and some will continue to work remotely from the West Coast.
^Pletz, John (April 26, 2017). "Yagan moves ShopRunner's Silicon Valley ops to Chicago". Crain’s Chicago Business. Retrieved March 1, 2024. "It's become clear our place in this labor market is so strong and our ability to recruit is more advantageous than in San Mateo," said Yagan, who got his MBA from Stanford University.
^ abcdElahi, Amina (December 22, 2015). "Sam Yagan set to join Match Group board after IPO". Business Insider. Retrieved March 1, 2024. Yagan also sits on the board of Tinder, another Match Group-owned dating app, as well as on the boards of local startups including Shiftgig and SpotHero.
