Seth Godin
{{Short description|American author and dot com business executive}}
{{use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Seth Godin
| image = Seth Godin in 2009.jpg
| image_size = 200px
| caption = Godin in 2009
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| birth_place =
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| alma_mater = Stanford University
Tufts University
| occupation = Author, entrepreneur
| spouse =
| website = {{URL|sethgodin.com}}
}}
Seth W. Godin, also known under his pen name as "F. X. Nine", is an American author, marketing expert, entrepreneur, and a former dot-com business executive.{{cite news|last1=Trachtenberg|first1=Jeffrey|title=Giving Book Readers a Say|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304441404577483192246426550|access-date=18 July 2017|work=Wall Street Journal|date=June 24, 2012}}{{cite news|last1=Walker|first1=Rob|title=Self-Promotion, but With Self-Respect|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/16/business/self-promotion-but-with-self-respect.html?mcubz=2|access-date=18 July 2017|work=New York Times|date=November 14, 2014}}{{cite news|last1=Adams|first1=Bryan|title=The 3 Rules of Successful Business as Taught by Seth Godin (and Your Mother)|url=https://www.inc.com/bryan-adams/the-3-rules-of-successful-business-as-taught-by-seth-godin.html|access-date=18 July 2017|work=Inc.|date=April 28, 2016}}{{Cite web |last=Ruggeri |first=Christine |title=Seth Godin |url=https://leaders.com/rankings/person/seth-godin/ |access-date=2024-05-20 |website=Leaders.com |language=en-us}}
Early life and education
Seth W. Godin graduated from Williamsville East High School in Williamsville, New York in 1978.{{cite web | url=http://www.williamsvilleeducationfoundation.org/bio-godin-seth | title=Seth Godin Biography, Williamsville Education Foundation Wall of Fame | date=25 July 2024}}
He attended in Tufts University, graduating with a degree in computer science and philosophy. He also earned an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.{{cite web | title=Seth Godin | website=Thinkers50 | date=September 9, 2022 | url=https://thinkers50.com/biographies/seth-godin/ | access-date=May 15, 2025| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20250515073434/https://thinkers50.com/biographies/seth-godin/| archive-date= 15 May 2025| url-status=live}}
Career
After leaving Spinnaker in 1998, Godin self-funded Seth Godin Productions with $20,000 as a book packaging business. He operated this venture out of a studio apartment in New York City.{{cite news |title=Entrepreneur Profiles: Point, Click--And Here's The Pitch: Yoyodyne uses prizes to get you to read those online ads |url=http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/news/columns/98-06/e3564029.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000304013538/http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/news/columns/98-06/e3564029.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 4, 2000 |first=Mary |last=Kuntz |newspaper=BusinessWeek |date=September 9, 1998 |access-date=December 20, 2014}} He and Mark Hurst co-founded Yoyodyne, a permission marketing company named after the fictional Yoyodyne in The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension.{{cite magazine|last=Yee|first=Bernard |title=Joyriding: Play Games on the Internet and Win Big Prizes |magazine=Next Generation|issue=21 |publisher=Imagine Media|date=September 1996|page=27}}{{Cite news |last=Taylor |first=William C. |date=March 31, 1998 |title=Permission Marketing |work=Fast Company |url=https://www.fastcompany.com/34360/permission-marketing}}
=Business ventures=
Yoyodyne, launched in 1995, used contests, online games, and scavenger hunts to market companies to participating users. In August 1996, Flatiron Partners invested $4 million in Yoyodyne in return for a 20% stake.{{citation|url=http://news.earthweb.com/bus-news/article.php/22911 |title=Yahoo! to Acquire Yoyodyne|publisher=Earthweb News|date=October 12, 1998|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050214154346/http://news.earthweb.com/bus-news/article.php/22911|archive-date=2005-02-14}} In 1998, he sold Yoyodyne to Yahoo! for $29.6 million{{cite web |last=Junnarkar |first=Sandeep |title=Yahoo to buy Yoyodyne |url=http://news.cnet.com/2100-1001-216555.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219221212/http://news.cnet.com/2100-1001-216555.html |archive-date=December 19, 2013 |access-date=19 December 2013 |work=CNET News}}[https://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/1998/10/15555 Yahoo Acquiring Yoyodyne] Wired.com. October 12, 1998. and became Yahoo's vice president of direct marketing.{{cite web |url=http://www.sla.org/content/Events/conference/ac2008/Conference/keynoters/godin.cfm |title=Speaker: Seth Godin |publisher=Special Libraries Association |work=Business Week's "Ultimate Entrepreneur for the Information Age" |date=June 18, 2008 |access-date=December 20, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704085401/http://www.sla.org/content/Events/conference/ac2008/Conference/keynoters/godin.cfm |archive-date=July 4, 2008 |url-status=dead}}
In March 2006, Godin launched Squidoo.[http://www.stonetemple.com/articles/interview-seth-godin.shtml Eric Enge Interviews Seth Godin] on Stone Temple Consulting. June 20, 2007 By July 2008, Squidoo had become one of the 500 most visited sites in the world.[http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details/squidoo.com Traffic Details: Squidoo.com] on Alexa.com. Retrieved July 18, 2008 In 2014, it was sold to HubPages.{{cite news|url=http://searchenginewatch.com/sew/news/2361066/seth-godin-s-squidoo-acquired-by-hubpages|title=Seth Godin's Squidoo Acquired by HubPages|work=SearchEngineWatch|date=August 19, 2014}}
Godin founded altMBA, a 4-week online workshop, in 2015.{{Cite web |last=Caprino |first=Kathy |title=Seth Godin: What Is Strategy And Why We So Often Get It Wrong |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kathycaprino/2024/10/16/seth-godin-strategy-why-most-get-it-wrong/ |access-date=2025-01-30 |website=Forbes |language=en}} He also runs a podcast called Akimbo.{{Cite web |date=2023-04-28 |title=Top 15 Marketing Podcasts in 2024 |url=https://explodingtopics.com/blog/marketing-podcasts |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=Exploding Topics |language=en}}
Awards
Godin received the following awards:
- Forbes Business Book of the Year, 2004{{Cite web |title=Forbes.com's Business Books Of The Year |url=https://www.forbes.com/2004/12/08/cx_da_1208bizbooks.html |access-date=2024-05-20 |website=Forbes |language=en}} for Free Prize Inside
- New York Times, USA Today & Wall Street Journal bestseller, The Dip{{Cite web |title=The Dip by Seth Godin: 9781591841661 {{!}} PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books |url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/300938/the-dip-by-seth-godin/ |access-date=2024-05-20 |website=PenguinRandomhouse.com |language=en-US}}
- Business Week bestseller, The Dip{{Cite web |date=2007-10-15 |title=The BusinessWeek Best Seller List |url=http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_41/b4053113.htm |access-date=2024-05-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071015035923/http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_41/b4053113.htm |archive-date=2007-10-15 }}
- Business Week named Linchpin among its "20 of the best books by the most influential thinkers in business" on November 13, 2015.{{cite web|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/20-books-by-the-most-influential-thinkers-in-business-2015-11 |title=20 of the best books by the most influential thinkers in business |date=November 13, 2015 |first=Richard |last=Feloni |work=Business Week |access-date=October 8, 2017}}
- American Marketing Association's Marketing Hall of Fame, 2018{{cite web |last1=Richards |first1=Katie |title=Meet the 3 Newest Members to The American Marketing Association's Marketing Hall of Fame |url=https://www.adweek.com/agencies/meet-the-3-newest-members-to-the-american-marketing-associations-marketing-hall-of-fame/ |website=Adweek.com |date=2 April 2018 |access-date=4 June 2018}}
- Time 25 best blogs of 2009{{cite magazine|url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1879276_1879279_1879068,00.html |title=Seth Godin's Blog |magazine=Time |access-date=October 8, 2017}}
- The 2018 Jack Covert Award for Contribution to the Business Book Industry Winner [https://global.penguinrandomhouse.com/announcements/portfolios-seth-godin-to-receive-jack-covert-award/]
Personal life
Godin and his wife Helene live in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, with their two sons.[https://web.archive.org/web/20170522125028/http://rainmakerplatform.com/audio/seth-godin-interview/ Seth Godin on Stepping Up and Making it Happen]
References
{{Reflist|2}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote|Seth Godin}}
- {{Official website}}
- [https://www.spotlightonpodcast.com/seth-godin-and-the-song-of-significance/ Spotlight On Interview]
{{Authority control}}
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Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:American male bloggers
Category:American business theorists
Category:Advertising theorists
Category:American marketing people
Category:People from Hastings-on-Hudson, New York
Category:People from Williamsville, New York
Category:Writers from Mount Vernon, New York
Category:Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni
Category:Tufts University alumni