Bill Gross - idealab!

Bill Gross founded idealab! in March 1996 and has served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer and as a director since that time. Bill served as President from March 1996 to March 2000. Since March 1998, he has served as a managing director of idealab! Capital Management I, LLC. Prior to idealab!, he started a number of companies. In high school, Bill started Solar Devices, a firm which sold plans and kits for solar energy products. In college at the California Institute of Technology, he patented a new loudspeaker design and formed GNP Loudspeakers Inc. After graduating from the California Institute of Technology, Bill and his brother Larry started GNP Development Inc., which made a natural language product for Lotus 1-2-3 called HAL. In 1995, Lotus Development Corporation acquired GNP. From February 1986 to March 1991, he was a software entrepreneur at Lotus Development. In 1991, Bill started Knowledge Adventure, an educational software publisher that was eventually sold to Havas Vivendi. Bill serves on the boards of directors of approximately 20 of idealab!'s public and private network companies, including GoTo.com, NetZero and Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch. He is also a member of the board of trustees of the California Institute of Technology. Bill received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology.