Drew Houston
Drew Houston | |
|---|---|
 Drew Houston (2011) | |
| Born | March 4, 1983 |
| Nationality | United States |
| Alma mater | B.S. Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Occupation(s) | Co-founder and CEO of Dropbox |
Andrew W. "Drew" Houston (pronounced "HOUS-ton"; born March 4, 1983) is an American Internet entrepreneur who is best known for being the founder and CEO of Dropbox, an online backup and storage service. According to Forbes magazine, his net worth is $1.39 billion.[1]
Early life
Drew Houston was born in Acton, Massachusetts in 1983. He attended Acton-Boxborough Regional High School in the 1990s. He later graduated with a degree in Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity.[2] It was there that he met Arash Ferdowsi who would later go on to be co-founder and CTO of Dropbox.
Early startups
Before working on Dropbox, Drew Houston worked on a number of other startups which include Bit9, Accolade and Hubspot.[3]
Accolades
Drew Houston was named one of the most promising players aged 30 and under by Business Week[4] and Dropbox has been touted as Y Combinator's most successful investment to date.[5] Drew was also named among the top 30 under-30 entrepreneurs by inc.com,[6][7] and Dropbox has been called one of the 20 best startups of Silicon Valley.[8]
In June 2013, MIT invited Houston to serve as speaker at its annual commencement ceremonies. In his remarks, Houston gave this advice: "They say that you're the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. Think about that for a minute: who would be in your circle of 5? I have some good news: MIT is one of the best places in the world to start building that circle. If I hadn't come here, I wouldn't have met Adam, I wouldn't have met my amazing cofounder, Arash, and there would be no Dropbox. One thing I've learned is surrounding yourself with inspiring people is now just as important as being talented or working hard. Can you imagine if Michael Jordan hadn’t been in the NBA, if his circle of 5 had been a bunch of guys in Italy? Your circle pushes you to be better, just as Adam pushed me." [9]
Politics
In April 2013, a lobbying group called FWD.us (aimed at lobbying for immigration reform and improvements to education) was launched, with Drew Houston listed as one of the founders.[10]
References
- ^ "Forbes: The World's Billionaires 2014". Forbes.
- ^ phideltatheta.org
- ^ crunchbase.com
- ^ "Drew Houston". Retrieved 2010-04-15.
- ^ techcrunch.com
- ^ inc.com
- ^ inc.com
- ^ "Silicon Valley Startups". Retrieved 2010-04-15.
- ^ "Drew Houston commencement remarks". Retrieved 2013-06-11.
- ^ "Our supporters". FWD.us. Retrieved 2013-04-17.