Hadi Partovi
Born 1972 · Age 53
Iranian‑American technologist, entrepreneur, angel investor and education advocate; co‑founder & CEO of Code.org; co‑founder of Tellme and iLike; early advisor/investor to many prominent tech startups.
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Life & Career Timeline
Family moved to Boston for parents' studies/research
At about age 2 Hadi's family moved to Boston while his mother studied at Boston University and his father did research at MIT.
Iranian Revolution / childhood during Iran–Iraq war
Returned to Tehran before the revolution; Hadi grew up during the 1979 Revolution and the subsequent Iran–Iraq war; childhood neighborhood subject to nightly bombings.
Received Commodore 64 and began programming
Hadi's father brought home a Commodore 64 and told Hadi and his twin brother Ali to 'write your own games', which jump‑started his self‑taught programming.
Immigrated from Iran to Europe then the U.S.
Partovi's family left Iran in 1984, lived briefly in Trieste, Italy, and shortly thereafter moved to the United States.
Early paid programming work during teens
By his teenage years Hadi and his twin earned money as programmers, making substantially more than typical teen jobs (reported in interviews).
Graduated Harvard University (B.A. & M.S. Computer Science)
Partovi earned both a Bachelor's and a Master's degree in Computer Science from Harvard University (class year cited as '94 in multiple bios).
Joined Microsoft (early career)
Joined Microsoft in the mid‑1990s to work on Internet Explorer and other consumer web efforts — cited as the start of his technology career.
General Manager of MSN.com (during a profitable year)
Served as General Manager of MSN.com during what has been described as MSN’s only year of profit; exact dates are not universally published.
Co‑founded Tellme Networks
After IE 5.0 release, Partovi co‑founded Tellme Networks (voice/web telephony company) with others; Tellme became a notable startup from that era.
Group Program Manager for Internet Explorer / browser‑era leadership
Worked as a Group Program Manager for Internet Explorer during the browser wars in the 1990s and after the release of Internet Explorer 5.0.
Performed multiple angel investments (Zappos, OPOWER, Flixster, BlueKai, IndieGogo etc.)
Throughout the 2000s Partovi made numerous angel investments and advised startups including Zappos, OPOWER, Flixster, BlueKai and IndieGogo (timing spans 2000s).
Early angel investor / advisor to Facebook (approx.)
Partovi is cited as an early advisor/investor to Facebook; his early backing/advice to many startups dates to mid‑2000s (exact dates vary by source).
Co‑founded iLike (music application)
Hadi and his twin brother Ali co‑founded iLike, which became a leading music application on Facebook (founding year commonly reported mid‑2000s).
Tellme Networks acquired by Microsoft (~$800M reported)
Tellme Networks was acquired by Microsoft for a reported ~$800 million; Partovi was a co‑founder of Tellme (reported acquisition value in public press).
Early advisor/investor to Dropbox (approx.)
Partovi served as an early advisor to Dropbox; multiple bios list Dropbox among startups he advised/invested in during the late 2000s.
Early investor/advisor to Airbnb (approx.)
Listed as an early investor/advisor in Airbnb in public interviews and profiles; timing is late‑2000s (company founded 2008).
iLike acquired by MySpace; Partovis joined MySpace leadership
iLike was acquired by MySpace in 2009; both Hadi and Ali worked at MySpace as Senior Vice Presidents following the acquisition.
Early advisor/investor to Uber (approx.)
Partovi is credited as an early advisor/investor to Uber in multiple profiles; these relationships are described as part of his angel investing activity.
Co‑founded Code.org (with twin brother Ali)
Hadi and Ali Partovi launched the non‑profit Code.org in 2013 to expand computer science education and create the Hour of Code movement.
Launched 'Hour of Code' and Code.org campaign during CSEdWeek
Code.org launched the Hour of Code campaign during Computer Science Education Week 2013; the campaign later reached tens of millions worldwide.
Code.org achieves broad adoption (approx. 25% of U.S. students)
By mid‑2010s Code.org reported computer science classes reaching roughly 25% of U.S. students and rapid national expansion of CS programs.
Featured in 'People of ACM' profile
ACM published a People of ACM profile on Hadi Partovi (Feb 6, 2014), highlighting his career, Tellme, iLike and Code.org work.
Professional learning program scale milestone (teacher workshops)
Code.org's teacher professional learning program expanded nationwide; nearly 100,000 elementary teachers had completed free workshops (cited in org bios).
Hour of Code / Code.org reaches over 100 million students globally (milestone)
By the late 2010s Code.org and its Hour of Code campaign had been used by over 100 million students globally (sources vary; counts continue rising).
Code.org reports CS classes reaching ~30% of U.S. students
By 2019 Code.org was reported to have computer science classes reaching ~30% of U.S. students and a widely used K‑12 curriculum platform.
Profiled in education leadership pieces and partnerships (Broward County feature)
Featured alongside district leaders (e.g., Broward County) discussing Code.org partnerships and district implementations; increased national visibility.
Joined boards: Axon and Convoy (reported)
Public bios (World Bank page) list Partovi as serving on the Boards of Axon and Convoy (timing reported in recent bios; exact appointment dates vary).
Advocated for AI and CS in K‑12; scaled Code.org during pandemic
During/after COVID disruptions Code.org scaled resources for remote learning and continued promoting CS in K‑12; Partovi emphasized policy & teacher training.
Continued leadership of Code.org (CEO)
Partovi continues to serve full‑time as CEO of Code.org, guiding policy, curriculum expansion and AI/edtech strategy.
Public advocacy on immigration, education & philanthropy
Public profiles and interviews emphasize Partovi's views on immigration policy, education reform, teaching CS to all students and founder‑led philanthropy.
Ongoing angel investor / advisor activity
Remains listed as an early advisor/investor to many major tech companies (Facebook, Dropbox, Airbnb, Uber and others) and continues angel investing/advising.
Panel speaker at CoSN 2024: 'AI Is Changing the World'
Hadi Partovi spoke at CoSN 2024 in Miami on AI's implications for education (panel April 10, 2024).
Key Achievement Ages
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