Robert LoCascio

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Robert LoCascio
Born (1968-05-15) May 15, 1968 (age 55)
Bay Shore, New York, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
EducationSt. John the Baptist Diocesan High School
Loyola University Maryland (BBA)
OccupationBusinessman
Spouse
Clarissa Weidner
​
(m. 2015)​
Children3
Parent(s)Peter LoCascio
Connie Immordino

Robert LoCascio (born May 15, 1968) is an American businessman. He is the founder and former CEO of LivePerson and is attributed with creating one of the foundational technologies for a AI, web chat. LivePerson became the worlds largest brand-consumer messaging for web, social, and mobile.[1] He was one of the founders of EqualAI in 2018, which is a non-profit focussed on providing frameworks for how AI can be delivered in a safe and equitable manner. He is a founding member of the NYC Entrepreneurs Council of the Partnership for New York City and a mentor of the NYC Venture Fellows,[2] a joint initiative formed by the 92Y and the NYCEDC which is designed to help the next generation of global entrepreneurs succeed in New York City.[3] Robert founded FeedingNYC, a volunteer-based non-profit hunger-relief project.[4] Robert also maintains a column in Huffington Post[5] that features contributions to the greater community, and a column in Inc Magazine[6] that covers best practices for innovative business leaders. LoCascio is recognized as one of the original pioneers in AI and it foundational communication protocol of chat.

Early life and education[edit]

LoCascio was born on May 15, 1968, in Bay Shore, New York, the son of Peter LoCascio and Connie LoCascio (née Immordino). LoCascio comes from a family of entrepreneurs.[7] He graduated from St. John the Baptist High School in West Islip, New York, in 1986 and graduated with a BBA from Loyola University Maryland in 1990.[8]

Professional career[edit]

After graduation, LoCascio briefly worked for Elders IXL in the international chemicals trading division[9] but after six months, the company experienced cutbacks and he got laid off, vowing to never again work for anyone but himself.[10] In 1991, LoCascio started his first company, Sybarite Media, Inc., a developer of interactive public kiosks that integrated interactive video features with advertising and commerce capabilities, by charging his initial $50,000 investment on his credit cards.[10] Due in part to the rise of the Internet, the interactive kiosk business did not succeed[9] and was subsequently shut down in 1995.[7] In 1995, LoCascio founded LivePerson.[8]

LoCascio was the inventor of web chat for customer support in 1997 which was issued US6519628B1 patent in 1999. "I started LivePerson after one of my first experiences on the Internet. I had a product question on a site, but there was no one online that I could connect with. I had to dial a number, wait, and explain my whole dilemma. It was a very disconnected and disruptive experience. I thought the Internet was created so that we could "connect" with human beings, but what I experienced was the opposite. This created that ‘light bulb’ moment for me and helped set into motion what is now LivePerson."[7]

LoCascio took LivePerson public in April 2000, with an IPO of $8 a share. As one of the last companies to go public before the crash, he took drastic measures in cutting staff and expenses to stay afloat after the market fell. "It was a terrible time, and we weren't celebrating, to say the least," LoCascio said. "But it saved us."[11] During the worst of times, LoCascio lived out of his office space, sleeping on a couch that still sits in the LivePerson office today.[12] The stock would eventually rebound, returning to its original stock price almost 10 years later, as LivePerson gained hold in the market being dubbed “the thriving alley survivor you’ve never heard of” by Crain's New York.[13]

In 2011, LivePerson was named one of Fortune's 100 Fastest Growing Companies[14] and one of Forbes’ 25 Fastest Growing Tech Companies.[15] LoCascio currently employs over 1,000 people worldwide, and credits his recruiting philosophy as a main element in the company's success. He looks for two things: skill and will. In an article for Inc Magazine, he wrote “The most valuable employees are the ones that have more than the right skills for the job. They have the will to do the job with passion.[16]

On October 1, 2015, LoCascio rang the opening bell at NASDAQ to celebrate 20 years in business, and shared his vision for LivePerson’s future: creating a world without 1-800 numbers, a world without ever being put on hold.[17]

LoCascio led the company to a major pivot in 2015 from being a chat company to becoming a asynchronous messaging company and subsequently pioneered the use of AI for customer service. LivePerson was chosen by Fast Company in 2022 as #1 Most Innovative AI Company in the World due to its work with AI with some of the largest brands in the world.[18]

LoCascio was one of the longest-standing technology founding CEOs and has been profiled in Forbes’ series of Thought Leaders Changing the Business Landscape[19] and The New York Times’ Corner Office,[20] and is the winner of the 2015 Smart CEO Circle of Excellence Award in Technology.[21] In 2020, LivePerson was named one of Fast Company's Most Innovative AI Companies in the World.[22]

LoCascio is the founder of EqualAI, a nonprofit organization focused on reducing unconscious bias in the development and use of artificial intelligence.[citation needed] LoCascio founded the organization in partnership with Arianna Huffington, Jimmy Wales, Justine Cassell, and Baroness Lane Fox. It is led by Miriam Vogel, a former White House official who led the creation and development of the Implicit Bias Training for Federal Law Enforcement.[23]

LoCascio's Bloomberg interview on November 30, 2021, entitled "Building a better listener: LivePerson’s Rob LoCascio wants to design our automated future" speaks about his desire to build a machine, an AI, that would have a foundation in trust, empathy, and tenderness.

It was reported on July 12, 2023, that LoCascio would retire and step down from CEO on December 31, 2023, and will depart from the Company's board. The company over that time had over 1,200 employees, 3,000 customers, had seen a high of over $6BN in market cap and recorded around $400MM in revenues in 2023.

Philanthropy[edit]

Beyond his business, LoCascio is the founder of the Dream Big Foundation, which started in 2001.[24] Its first program was FeedingNYC, a hunger-relief project which delivers thousands of boxed meals to sheltered families in need throughout New York City each Thanksgiving.[25] FeedingNYC was launched during the aftermath of 9/11 in the hopes of making a difference within the local community. Since 2001, over 80,000 Thanksgiving meals have been delivered to families in need.[26]

In 2014 the Dream Big Foundation expanded and launched a new program that will fund, mentor and coach budding entrepreneurs from the Brownsville, Brooklyn community. The first entrepreneurs that the foundation is funding will open the Dream Big Entrepreneur Café on 3 Belmont Ave, Brownsville, Brooklyn. In his Huffington Post column, LoCascio writes “Providing these budding entrepreneurs with those tools and resources to turn their idea into a successful business is the key to growing this community from the inside out, rather than becoming a casualty of gentrification.[27] The café is scheduled to open in Spring, 2016.[28] This work earned him the title of "Person of the Day" by Huffington Post in 2010.[25] Robert is also active in the arts and works closely with the Salon program of the Juilliard School.[29]

Personal life[edit]

LoCascio was engaged to the Brazilian soap opera actress Giovanna Anotnelli in 2007, but the engagement was broken off the same year. LoCascio married Clarissa Weidner in 2015 and has three children.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "LivePerson Solutions". LivePerson. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
  2. ^ "DLD Conference Speakers". DLD (Digital-Life-Design). Retrieved 26 March 2014.
  3. ^ Patrick Eha, Brian (March 27, 2013). "NYC Venture Fellows Program Mentors Startups on the Fast Track". Retrieved 26 March 2014.
  4. ^ Blodget, Henry (November 25, 2010). "Three Cheers For LivePerson Founder/CEO Rob LoCascio, Who's Feeding 8,000 Families This Thanksgiving". Business Insider. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
  5. ^ "Huffington Post Biography Page". Huffington Post. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
  6. ^ "Inc.com Author Biography Page". Inc.com. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  7. ^ a b c MO (22 March 2013). "The establishment of our core values is one thing that we still refer back to each and every day. They are what define LivePerson". Business Interviews. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
  8. ^ a b "Robert Locascio Profile". Live Person. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  9. ^ a b Ruehl, Mercedes (May 27, 2013). "CEO Q&A: Robert LoCascio, founder & CEO, LivePerson". Business Review Weekly. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
  10. ^ a b Bryant, Adam (February 9, 2013). "To Tear Down Walls, You Have to Move Out of Your Office". New York Times. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
  11. ^ "LivePerson returns to IPO price -- 10 years later". Market Watch. Retrieved 7 April 2010.
  12. ^ "Overheard in the Alley - Tech Tonic". Reuters. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  13. ^ "The thriving Alley survivor you've never heard of". Crains New York. 22 June 2011. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
  14. ^ "Fortune's Fastest-Growing Companies". Fortune New York. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  15. ^ "America's 25 Fastest-Growing Tech Companies". Forbes New York. Retrieved 16 February 2011.
  16. ^ "20 Lessons They Won't Teach You in Business School". Inc. Magazine. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  17. ^ "LivePerson CEO Interview, Sonic Sales on the Rise and Sector Update". Small Cap Nation. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  18. ^ "Fast Company names LivePerson the #1 Most Innovative AI Company in the World". Bloomberg. 8 March 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  19. ^ "How LivePerson enabled one to one communication for e-commerce companies". Forbes. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  20. ^ Bryant, Adam (9 February 2013). "Live Persons chief on removing organizational walls". New York Times. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  21. ^ "New York Circle Of Excellence Finalists". Smart CEO. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  22. ^ "The 10 most innovative artificial intelligence companies of 2020". Fast Company. March 10, 2020. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  23. ^ "EqualAI® to write and right the future | LivePerson". www.liveperson.com. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  24. ^ "Meet the Team". The Dream Big Foundation. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  25. ^ a b Fenton, Dominique (November 25, 2010). "HuffPost's Greatest Person Of The Day: Robert LoCascio, Who Is Feeding 8,000 Hungry Families This Thanksgiving". Retrieved 26 March 2014.
  26. ^ "About The Dream Big Foundation". The Dream Big Foundation. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  27. ^ "Big(ger) Dreams than Gentrification". Huffington Post. 9 September 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  28. ^ "The Dream Big Foundation and Neighborhood Start-Up Fund Partner to Support Local Entrepreneurship in Brownsville". Live Person. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  29. ^ Columbia, David Patrick (September 9, 2013). "It's Official". New York Social Diary. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
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