Category Archives: apamonth

APA Month Day 2 – Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang

Jerry Yang, a Taiwanese native raised in San Jose, Calif., co-created the Yahoo! Internet navigational guide in April 1994 with David Filo and co-founded Yahoo! Inc. in April 1995. He was appointed chief executive officer of the company in June 2007. Jerry Yang, a leading force in the Internet media industry, has been instrumental in building Yahoo! into the world’s most highly trafficked Web site and one of the world’s most recognized brands. Since the company’s founding, Mr. Yang has been a key member of the executive management team. His focus at Yahoo! over the years has included corporate strategy, Yahoo!’s technology vision, strategic business partnerships and international joint ventures, and recruiting key talent. In addition to serving on the Yahoo! Board of Directors, Mr. Yang currently serves on the board of directors of Cisco Systems, Yahoo! Japan, and Alibaba, and is also on the Stanford University Board of Trustees. Mr. Yang holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford University and is currently on a leave of absence from Stanford’s electrical engineering Ph.D. program.

Other interesting facts:

His current compensation at Yahoo! is $1 USD.

He married his college sweetheart Akiko Yamazaki.

The Jerry Yang and Akiko Yamazaki Environment and Energy Building is setting the standard for 21st-century buildings at Stanford.

Watch a video of co-founders Jerry Yang and David Filo:

Here’s a video of the Jerry Yang and Akiko Yamazaki Environment and Energy Building:

BTW – Here’s the official Presidental Proclamation of Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month.

APA Month Day 1 – YouTube co-founder Steve Chen

May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, so every day this month we’ll try to profile Asian Americans and Asian American videos on the ‘Net.

The first person we are profiling is Steve Chen, co-founder of YouTube. According to ComScore for Janaury 2008, 78.5 million viewers watched 3.25 billion videos on YouTube.com (41.4 videos per viewer). YouTube.com also accounted for one-third of the 9.8 billion videos viewed online in the U.S. during the month. You can also watch Steve Chen’s channel.

Steve Chen is Chief Technology Officer of YouTube and co-founded the company in 2005 after he and Chad Hurley resolved to provide a more simple way to share videos online. Steve has been instrumental in building YouTube into a viral video phenomenon and helped lead YouTube through the Google acquisition for $1.65 billion less than a year after launching the site.

As the company’s key technologist, Steve is credited with developing the company’s massive data centers and helping build YouTube into a premier entertainment destination and one of the most popular Web sites on the Internet today. He oversees all areas of both engineering and product development, including managing site operations, and developing features and services that are compelling and easy to use for everyone.

Before YouTube, Steve was one of the first product engineers at PayPal. He led development efforts and served as an engineering manager on a variety of critical projects. Steve studied computer science at the University of Illinois.

Here’s a video message from co-founders Steve Chen and Chan Hurley after Google ‘s acquisition of YouTube for $1.65 billion:

Learn more about Steve from the 2007 Committee of 100 Panel: Personal Journey with Steve Chen (Part 1 of 6):

Personal Journey with Steve Chen (Part 2 of 6):

Personal Journey with Steve Chen (Part 3 of 6):

Personal Journey with Steve Chen (Part 4 of 6):

Personal Journey with Steve Chen (Part 5 of 6):

Personal Journey with Steve Chen (Part 6 of 6):