Bio for Andrew Conru

I grew up in northern Indiana on a small farm where I learned the value of hard work and patience. I moved to the bay area in 1991 and love the climate, people, food, and the sense of entrepreneurial adventure which is so common here. I'm a big fan of movies (from old classics to new releases), keeping fit, hiking in the local woods with my dog, and road trips.

I hold a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering design from Stanford University (1997), a MS in mechanical engineering from the University of Minnesota (1991), and BS degrees in economics and engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (1990). I have taught control systems as an adjunct professor at Santa Clara University and recently a Robotics course at San Jose State University.

Professionally, I've spent over 15 years building Internet-based companies including founding the Friend Finder Network (world's largest personals network site with more than 260 million members over 12 years), Dine.com (online restaurant reviews), and dozens of others including one of the first social networking sites, ConfirmID.com (3rd-party personal info verification service), free etests and ecard sites, roommate and school alumni locators, spam-free email services, GuanXi.com (Chinese business networking), photo review sites, free homepage sites and remote customer service. These companies have employed over 1,500 people.

Previously, I started the first Internet website development company (Internet Media Services - 1993), the first company to centralize Internet advertising (Focalink Communications/AdKnowledge - 1995, sold to Engage and CMGi in 2000), the first online personals site (WebPersonals.com - 1994), and the first commercial website personalization software company (W3, Inc - 1995). I've enjoyed finding new ways to use emerging technologies to solve real-world problems.

I'm always interested in a wide range of investment opportunities as well as helping people succeed in business. Feel free to contact me anytime.