Robert Scoble
Born 1965 · Age 60
American blogger, technical evangelist, video blogger and author; founder of the Scobleizer blog; longtime Microsoft evangelist; later worked at PodTech, Fast Company, Rackspace (Building 43), UploadVR; co-author of Naked Conversations.
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Life & Career Timeline
Grew up near Apple HQ in Silicon Valley
Grew up about one kilometer from Apple Computer's headquarters in Silicon Valley, shaping early interest in tech.
Learned to solder and helped build Apple IIs
At about 11 he learned to solder motherboards and helped his mother build several hundred Apple IIs (mother worked in an Apple IIs assembly group).
Attended Hyde Junior High School
Attended Hyde Junior High in Cupertino, California during his youth.
Summer job at Hewlett-Packard
Worked a summer job on a Hewlett-Packard production line (teenage summer job in Silicon Valley manufacturing).
Started building online communities
Began building online communities (Scoble later cites 1985 as the start of his online community work).
Helped run LZ Premiums discount camera store
In the 1980s he helped run a discount camera store in San Jose (LZ Premiums), selling cameras and accessories.
Persuaded Steve Wozniak to donate Macs to West Valley College
While studying at West Valley Community College he met Steve Wozniak and persuaded him to donate ~$40,000 worth of Macintoshes to the college journalism department; he then set them up.
Loma Prieta earthquake influenced career direction
The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake prompted Scoble to realize he preferred journalism to computer science.
Dropped out of San Jose State University
Dropped out of a journalism degree program at San Jose State University with one class left to complete.
Worked at Fawcette Technical Publications
Worked in multiple roles (design, editing, conference planning) at Fawcette Technical Publications; met future wife Maryam there.
Co-chaired Visual Basic SIG for SDForum
In the mid-90s he helped co-chair the Visual Basic Special Interest Group for SDForum and was active in local tech user groups.
Worked at Winnov supporting webcams; active in NetMeeting groups
In the late 90s he worked for Winnov (webcam manufacturer) supporting users and was active in Microsoft's NetMeeting support newsgroups.
Named a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP)
Was named a Microsoft MVP for his NetMeeting support activity and for running a NetMeeting information website. He retained MVP status until joining Microsoft as an employee.
Joined UserLand Software (blogging/content startup)
After Dave Winer told him 'blogging was hot,' he left Fawcette and joined UserLand Software, a blogging/content management startup, working for John Robb as Director of Marketing.
Started blogging at Scobleizer.com
Launched his influential technology blog 'Scobleizer' (widely cited as started in 2000).
Maintained personal phone contact policy
Became notable for the level of access he offered readers (publishing his cell phone number on his blog and encouraging direct contact).
Became early RSS and Tablet PC advocate
Prominent early advocate for RSS technology and the Tablet PC platform, topics he covered extensively on his blog and in evangelism roles.
Sales Support Manager at NEC Mobile Solutions
After UserLand ran out of money he worked (via a Craigslist hire) at NEC Mobile Solutions as Sales Support Manager for Tablet PC, using blogging for customer support.
Co-founded / helped build Channel 9
Was one of five people who built Microsoft's Channel 9 video blog/community within MSDN.
Joined Microsoft as Technical Evangelist
Joined Microsoft in May 2003, part of Channel 9 MSDN Video team producing videos showcasing employees and products.
Published frequent, open-access evangelism and controversy
Gained notoriety for publishing contact details, accepting comments, praising competitors and criticizing Microsoft publicly while employed there.
Labeled the first 'spokesblogger'
Around Feb 2005 Scoble became known as the first person referred to as a 'spokesblogger' because of his blog's corporate influence.
Profiled by The Economist
The Economist described Scoble as helping to humanize Microsoft and called him influential among developers (Feb 15, 2005 issue referenced).
Alexa measured record traffic spike
Alexa reported the day he announced leaving Microsoft (June 10, 2006) had the biggest traffic to Scobleizer blog and PodTech.net to date.
Joined PodTech as VP Media Development
Joined PodTech.net in 2006 as Vice President Media Development; offered a higher salary and significant stock options.
Co-authored 'Naked Conversations' published
Co-author (with Shel Israel) of Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers (published January 2006 by Wiley, ISBN 978-0471747192).
Announced departure from Microsoft
Announced on June 10, 2006 that he was leaving Microsoft to join PodTech.net as Vice President of Media Development; that announcement drove record traffic to his blog and PodTech.
Last day at Microsoft
Officially left Microsoft on June 28, 2006.
Released first episode of 'Scoble Show'
Released the first episode of the 'Scoble Show' on PodTech.net (listed as Monday, September 25).
Panelist at CSPA event
Appeared as a panelist on a CSPA event called 'The New Age of Influence: The Impact of Social Computing on Media and Marketing'.
Leased studio space from Revision3
Leased studio space from Revision3 while transitioning to Fast Company video work.
Leased studio space and ramped video production
During transition to Fast Company he leased studio space from Revision3 and increased video production quality.
Featured in a song 'The Ballad of Robert Scoble'
Subject of the song 'The Ballad of Robert Scoble' by Scott O'Raw, reflecting cultural presence among tech community.
Contestant at NewTeeVee Live game show
Appeared as a contestant on a game show at NewTeeVee Live alongside other internet celebrities.
Leaked move from PodTech to Fast Company at LeWeb3
While on a LeWeb3 panel he inadvertently leaked (via loading a TechCrunch post) that he'd be leaving PodTech on Jan 14, 2008 and likely joining Fast Company.
Acknowledged Fast Company news on his blog
Acknowledged the leak on his blog but noted he had not yet signed with Fast Company.
Public persona and 'egoblogger' meme widespread
Across blogs (notably Valleywag/Gawker) he gained notoriety as an 'egoblogger' — a meme and label used widely in his biographies.
Left PodTech (reported move to Fast Company)
Left PodTech around Jan 14, 2008 and was expected to join Fast Company as video blogger.
Dedicated all photos to the public domain
Announced he dedicated all his photos to the public domain (Jan 31, 2008).
Launched FastCompany.tv
Launched FastCompany.tv with two shows: FastCompany Live and ScobleizerTV (recorded in 720p HD).
April Fool's IBM bot spoof
The Register ran an April Fool's spoof claiming Robert Scoble was an IBM bot.
Milliscoble unit invented
followcost.com defined the milliscoble as 1/1000th of Robert Scoble's average daily Twitter updates (measured Sept 25, 2008).
Became Rackspace futurist / Startup Liaison Officer (start)
Took on a futurist/startup liaison role at Rackspace, interviewing technologists and promoting startups (role evolved into Startup Liaison Officer).
Joined Rackspace and Building 43 project
Announced on March 14, 2009 he was joining Rackspace to help create Building 43, a Rackspace-sponsored content and social networking site to promote breakthrough tech and startups.
CXOTalk interview as Rackspace Startup Liaison Officer
Appeared on CXOTalk (July 11, 2014) identified as Startup Liaison Officer, Rackspace.
Approximately concluded six-year Rackspace tenure
Scoble served roughly six years as Rackspace's futurist/startup liaison (joining 2009; six-year period referenced in bios), implying a transition around 2015.
Speaker at global conferences (Bloomberg, SXSW, Next Web, TechCrunch)
Delivered speeches around the world at conferences including Bloomberg Summit, SXSW Interactive, Next Web Europe and TechCrunch (years vary; cited in Pubcon bio).
Entrepreneur in Residence at UploadVR
Served as Entrepreneur in Residence at UploadVR (position referenced in Pubcon 2016 materials).
Keynote at Pubcon Las Vegas 2016
Delivered keynote 'Beyond Mobile' at Pubcon Las Vegas (Oct 10–13, 2016), listed as Entrepreneur in Residence at UploadVR in promotional material.
Partner at Transformation Group, LLC (reported)
Appeared on CXOTalk (Apr 21, 2017) identified as Partner, Transformation Group, LLC; active as futurist interviewing technologists and focusing on AR/AI trends.
Key Achievement Ages
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