Seth Godin
Born 1960 · Age 66
American author, marketing expert, entrepreneur, and former dot-com executive; author of many bestselling marketing books; founder/co-founder of Yoyodyne, Squidoo, altMBA and creator/host of the Akimbo podcast.
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Life & Career Timeline
Born in Mount Vernon, New York
Seth W. Godin was born in Mount Vernon, New York.
Graduated Williamsville East High School
Graduated from Williamsville East High School in Williamsville, New York.
Active with Tufts Student Resources (TSR)
Led/expanded student-run businesses (TSR) at Tufts; launched many student ventures—key formative entrepreneurial experience (year approximate, during college).
Graduated Tufts University (CS & Philosophy)
Completed undergraduate degree in computer science and philosophy at Tufts University (year estimated based on HS graduation).
Earned MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business
Completed an MBA at Stanford GSB (year estimated from public bios putting MBA mid-1980s).
Left Spinnaker Software and founded Seth Godin Productions
Departed Spinnaker and self-funded Seth Godin Productions (a book-packaging business) with $20,000, operating from a NYC studio apartment.
Married Helene Aronson
Married Helene Aronson (per public biographies); they later had two sons and live in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY.
Co-founded Yoyodyne (permission marketing company)
Co-founded Yoyodyne with Mark Hurst; company specialized in contests, online games and scavenger-hunt style marketing (credited with pioneering permission marketing online).
Pioneered ethical online permission marketing
Yoyodyne and Godin's work credited with pioneering 'permission marketing' and early online direct marketing methods, later described as a multibillion-dollar industry.
Flatiron Partners invested in Yoyodyne
Flatiron Partners invested $4 million in Yoyodyne in return for a 20% stake (August 1996).
Became Yahoo! Vice President of Direct Marketing
After the acquisition of Yoyodyne, Godin accepted a role as VP of Direct Marketing at Yahoo! (position held following the 1998 acquisition).
Yahoo! acquired Yoyodyne
Yahoo! purchased Yoyodyne in October 1998 for approximately $29.6 million (often reported ~ $30M).
Published 'Free Prize Inside' — Business Book recognition (Forbes)
Godin's 'Free Prize Inside' received recognition as a Forbes Business Book of the Year in 2004; the book itself was published earlier (publication timeline tied to early 2000s marketing books).
Delivered multiple TED talks (cumulative milestone)
Seth Godin has given five TED talks over his career (milestone noted cumulatively). Specific talk years vary; this event records the accumulated status as a public milestone.
Forbes Business Book of the Year (Free Prize Inside)
'Free Prize Inside' honored as a Forbes Business Book of the Year in 2004.
Launched Squidoo
Launched Squidoo, a community-driven content platform (launched March 2006).
Published 'The Dip' becomes bestseller
'The Dip' became a New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestseller (circa 2007).
Multiple major-media bestsellers and publicity
By the mid-2000s Godin had several breakout books (e.g., 'Purple Cow','Tribes','Linchpin','The Dip') translated into many languages and achieving bestseller status across major lists.
Interview with Eric Enge (Stone Temple Consulting)
Public interview discussing marketing and SEO topics (Eric Enge interview, June 20, 2007).
Spoke at BusinessWeek 'Ultimate Entrepreneur for the Information Age'
Listed as a speaker for BusinessWeek's 'Ultimate Entrepreneur for the Information Age' (June 18, 2008).
Squidoo became a top-500 site globally
By July 2008 Squidoo was among the 500 most visited sites in the world (Alexa ranking milestone).
Named among Time's 25 best blogs
Seth Godin's blog was recognized by Time as one of the 25 best blogs (2009).
Inducted into the Direct Marketing Hall of Fame
Recognized for contributions to direct marketing (year reported by multiple biographies; exact induction year commonly cited as 2013).
Named to Guerrilla & Direct Marketing Halls of Fame (cumulative recognition)
Godin is listed in multiple marketing halls of fame (Direct Marketing, Guerrilla Marketing, and later the AMA Marketing Hall of Fame); this event records cumulative hall-of-fame recognitions (one cited year: AMA in 2018).
Continued publishing and teaching activities
Throughout the 2010s and early 2020s Godin continued to publish books, run workshops (altMBA), produce online courses, and run his daily blog—sustaining influence rather than a single discrete event.
Sold Squidoo to HubPages
Squidoo was acquired by HubPages (announced August 19, 2014).
Founded the altMBA (online workshop)
Launched altMBA, a 4-week online workshop designed to accelerate leadership and creative skills (founded 2015).
Linchpin listed among BusinessWeek's 20 best books
BusinessWeek named 'Linchpin' among its '20 of the best books by the most influential thinkers in business' (Nov 13, 2015).
Inducted into the American Marketing Association's Marketing Hall of Fame
Named to the AMA Marketing Hall of Fame (2018), recognizing lifetime contributions to marketing.
Won the Jack Covert Award for Contribution to the Business Book Industry
Recipient of the 2018 Jack Covert Award for contribution to the business book industry.
Launched/hosted the Akimbo podcast (company: Akimbo)
Operates the Akimbo podcast and Akimbo learning projects (Akimbo is home to altMBA and other programs); exact founding/year of Akimbo as an entity around late 2010s.
Reached multi-course enrollment milestone
More than 60,000 people had taken his online courses (including The Marketing Seminar and Udemy courses) — reported on his about page (date context circa late 2010s / early 2020s).
Akimbo and altMBA spun out and sunset by new leaders
altMBA and Akimbo were spun out as an independent B Corp and the leaders of these projects sunsetted them as of 2024 (per seths.blog).
Coordinator/Founding editor of The Carbon Almanac
Listed as founding editor/coordinator of the all-volunteer Carbon Almanac, described on his official site as 'the most important project of my career.'
Published 'The Song of Significance' (newest book)
Listed on his about page as the newest book, 'The Song of Significance' (release cited in personal site copy; year reported on his site contextually around 2024).
Approaching 10,000 blog posts (daily blog)
His daily blog has been publishing for more than a decade and was described as 'approaching 10,000 posts' on his About page (status noted circa 2024–2025).
Quoted turning down large stock compensation
In a September 2024 SRBA interview/blog, Godin referenced turning down a very large compensation package (~$1B in stock options) earlier in his career because he had other ideas (anecdotal/reflective).
Interview / conversation on CXOTalk
Participated in a long-form CXOTalk conversation ('Strategy with Seth Godin: Hard Talk and Painful Truths'), published Nov 4, 2024 (appearance referenced).
Public net worth estimate reported
Multiple online biographies (aggregated) list Seth Godin's net worth in the ~USD 50 million range (estimate reported Jan 2025 by some outlets).
Key Achievement Ages
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