Scott Kurnit

Scott P. Kurnit (born March 25, 1954) is a serial entrepreneur and angel investor in media and technology.

Scott Kurnit
Born
Scott P. Kurnit

(1954-03-25) March 25, 1954
New York, NY, U.S.
OccupationEntrepreneur
Years active1974–present

Career

Early career

After graduating from Hampshire College with a BA in Communications, Kurnit became a Program Director at WGBY-TV (WGBH) He was the youngest program director in the PBS system and served as program director for QUBE, the world's first fully interactive cable television system.[1] [2]

Showtime

He started the first pay-per-view cable network and co-led the team that implemented the first use of national caller ID. Subsequently, he was president of Showtime Event Television[3]

Prodigy and MCI

Kurnit led the team that put the first web browser into an online service at the Prodigy network. Following Prodigy, Kurnit joined MCI to oversee MCI's attempts to grow its business in the Internet market.[4]

About.com

Kurnit founded About.com and served as its CEO[5] during its growth to a public market value of $1.5 billion.[6]

About.com was acquired by PRIMEDIA in 2001, and later sold again to the New York Times Company in 2005. Kurnit left the CEO position in 2001 after the sale to Primedia. In 2002 a class action suit was brought against About.com, Primedia, (About's former owner) Kurnit and others.[7] The court dismissed all claims against Kurnit from the suit in August 2007.[8]

Keep Holdings

Kurnit founded AdKeeper.com in early 2010. He was the Chairman & CEO of Keep Holdings.com, the parent company of Keep.com (which allowed keeping, discussion and sharing of favorite products), TheSwizzle.com (a product for managing commercial offers in user email boxes), and AdKeeper.com (a means by which users could save online advertisements for viewing at a time of their choosing).

Investor and advisor

Kurnit is either an investor or Board Member of the following companies: Mashlogic, Brightcove, Goodmail, Dotomi,[9] OpenSky.

Personal interests

Kurnit serves on the boards or is active with Paley Center for Media.[10]

Awards and honors

Kurnit was inducted into the American Advertising Federation's Hall of Achievement,[11] received the Vanguard Award from the National Cable Television Association,[12] and won an Emmy Award as producer of a weekly television news magazine. Upside magazine named him one of the “Elite 100” leading the digital revolution. He was listed as one of the Silicon Alley 100 by The Business Insider for 2008.[13]

References
  1. "About Paley Center". Paley Center. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
  2. citybizlist Staff (May 3, 2010). "Open Sky, with Scott Kurnit on Board, Clears $6M". citybizlist. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
  3. "Scott Kurnit. (moves from Showtime Networks to Prodigy online service)". HighBeam Research. Broadcasting & Cable. August 1, 1994. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  4. "MCI Hires Prodigy Executive To Run New Internet Project; Kurnit Will Head Information Services Unit". HighBeam Research. The Washington Post. March 30, 1995. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  5. Ragas, Matt (August 2, 2000). "On the Record with Scott Kurnit". InternetNews.com. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  6. "About.Face". Forbes. January 3, 2002. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  7. "About.com Guide Lawsuit: Levinson et al. v. Primedia, Inc". Europe for Visitors. January 2011. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  8. "Levinson et al. v. About.com memorandum and order" (PDF). Europe for Visitors. April 13, 2009. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  9. "Board Members". Dotomi. Archived from the original on February 12, 2010. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  10. "Donor Wall". The Paley Center for Media. Archived from the original on September 23, 2010. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  11. "All Members of AAF's Hall of Achievement". American Advertising Federation. 1994. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  12. "Vanguard Award Winners". 1993.
  13. "Silicon Alley 100". Business Insider. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
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