Chris Gladwin (engineer)

Chris Gladwin is an American inventor,[2] computer engineer and technology entrepreneur,[3][4][5] who has founded or co-founded a series of tech related companies[6] including MusicNow, Cleversafe and Ocient.[3][7][8]

This article is about engineer and entrepreneur. For the cricketer, see Chris Gladwin.
Chris Gladwin
Born1964[1]
NationalityAmerican
Alma materMassachusetts Institute of Technology
OccupationTechnology entrepreneur, inventor, computer engineer
Years active1996 - Present
Known forCleversafe
Websitewww.ocient.com

Biography

Chris Gladwin was brought up to a middle-class family of medical professionals in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio.[3][4] Gladwin attended Upper Arlington High School in Columbus, Ohio and received a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering[7] from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1986.[9][10][11]

Entrepreneurship

Gladwin started his career as emerging technologies manager at Martin Marietta, a defense contractor which in 1995 merged with Lockheed Corporation.[9][10] He later created the first "workgroup storage server" while working for Zenith Data Systems.[12] In June 1996, Gladwin founded Cruise Technologies, a developer and maker of wireless tablet computers.[13] The company was later acquired by NEC Corporation of America.[14] MusicNow, (formerly FullAudio), founded in 1999, was among the first internet music firms to launch a music subscription business with both composition and recording licenses from major music labels including EMI, Sony/BMG, Universal Music Group, and the Warner Music Group.[15][16][17] The company reached 100,000 customers before being sold to Circuit City. Details of the sale were not disclosed.[3][18][19]

In 2016, Gladwin and Jeremie Bacon co-founded The Forge: Lemont Quarries, a 300-acre outdoor adventure park located 22 miles from Chicago. A number of sources describe the park as "the largest in North America with hundreds of possible routes".[20][21] The park was set to open May 25, 2020[22] but the plans were postponed to a later date due to the coronavirus quarantine restrictions.[23]

Cleversafe
Main article: Cleversafe Inc.

Gladwin formed his next technology startup company, Chicago-based, Cleversafe, an object storage software and systems developer,[24][5] which he founded in 2004 and served as CEO and President up through the company's sale in 2015.[25] The company was originally based in IIT's technology incubator. The initial funding was provided by OCA Ventures.[26] In 2011, it was also supported by In-Q-Tel, a venture capital firm related to the Central Intelligence Agency[27][28]

In November 2015, Cleversafe was acquired by IBM[29] for $1.3 billion and became a part of its IBM Cloud Object Storage division. The offering was originally introduced by Cleversafe. Cleversafe sold an object storage system, which it called the Dispersed Storage Network or dsNet. As Jim Comfort, a general manager of IBM Cloud, admitted: "...the object storage offered by Cleversafe represented a gap in IBM's portfolio."[30][3] IBM has since rebranded the company's products as IBM Cloud Object Storage.[31]

Ocient

Ocient was co-founded in 2016 by Chris Gladwin, George Kondiles[32][33] and Joe Jablonski,[34] who was on Cleversafe's technical advisory board.[35][36] According to Crunchbase News, the company's business focus has been to develop "a rational database and analytics platform capable of handling datasets in the petabyte to exabyte scale." It initially raised $10 million in series A funding [37] In June 2020, Ocient raised additional $15 million with the help of OCA Ventures and In-Q-Tel.[32][38][39]

Patents and awards

He is the inventor of more than 200 issued patents.[2][40] He has also been the recipient of at least 16 industry awards for his work including the 2017 Peter Lisagor Award for best podcast single episode, "Cleversafe and the whale (How to survive being right)".[18][41]

Philanthropy

In 2015, Gladwin donated $7.6 million to Illinois Institute of Technology with the main purpose to develop computer science program in Chicago. He also sits on the board of trustees of the institution.[42][43] He serves as co-chair of P33, a technology nonprofit founded to bolster Chicago's high-tech industry[44][45] and is on the board of a number of other organizations including SmartBet Charities and the Chicago Innovation Awards.[46] In 2020, Gladwin helped to create and accomplish the concept for launching Illinois Tech College of Computing for further development of Chicago's tech industry. The college launched in March 2020 with classes beginning in June 2020[47][48]

See also

References
  1. Chicago Business: Gladwin's $1.3 billion Cleversafe win could change the face of Chicago tech
  2. "Patents by Inventor S. Christopher Gladwin". Justia Patents.
  3. Rogers, Bruce (2014-03-19). "Chris Gladwin's Cleversafe Seeks To Lead the 100+ Petabyte Storage Market". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
  4. Sramanamitra: Building a Fat Startup with a Massive Patent Portfolio: Cleversafe Founder Chris Gladwin (Part 1)
  5. The New York Times: A move to secure the data by scattering the pieces
  6. GrowWire: Start Me Up! Ocient Co-Founder Chris Gladwin's Multi-Startup Journey Never Stops, Never Stops, Never Stops
  7. SmartBusiness: How Chris Gladwin founded a new storage process with Cleversafe
  8. Harvard Business School Club of Chicago - Entrepreneurship Council: Chris Gladwin, founder and CEO, Cleversafe
  9. "What Is Chris Gladwin up to After Selling Cleversafe for $1.3 Billion? Building Ocient to Revolutionize Big Data Analytics". Tech in Chicago. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  10. Chris Gladwin: CEO and Co-Founder at Ocient
  11. TiltFactor: Gladwin's honorary degree
  12. "Big Data: A Workshop Report. Appendix CSpeaker Biographies". National Center for Biotechnology Information. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  13. ComputerWorld Archives (May 12, 1997)
  14. MacArthur, Kate. "Chris Gladwin: Why starting a tech company might be a marathon instead of a sprint". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  15. The New York Times: Internet Music Start-Up to Obtain Licenses
  16. The Wall Street Journal: Clear Channel to Sell Music Online In Challenge to Major Record Labels
  17. Wired: FullAudio to Offer Subscriptions
  18. "S. Christopher Gladwin". Kellogg School of Management. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  19. Fritz, Ben (April 4, 2004). "Circuit City buys MusicNow". Variety. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  20. NBC Chicago: Largest Aerial Adventure Course in North America to Open in Lemont This Summer
  21. Chicago Business: A tech giant's next big adventure
  22. Forbes: Exclusive First Look: The Biggest Adventure Park In North America Is Coming To The Chicago Area This Summer
  23. Patch: The Forge: Lemont Quarries Opening Delayed
  24. Smart Business: How Chris Gladwin founded a new storage process with Cleversafe
  25. VIDEO: Cleversafe Founder Chris Gladwin
  26. Batterson, Leonard A.; Freeman, Kenneth M. (2017-07-05). Building Wealth Through Venture Capital: A Practical Guide for Investors and the Entrepreneurs They Fund. John Wiley & Sons. pp. vii. ISBN 9781119409359.
  27. Wired: SpyCloud: Intel Agencies Look to Keep Secrets in the Ether
  28. http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20150328/ISSUE01/150329837/at-these-companies-its-patents-before-product
  29. IBM Completes Acquisition of Cleversafe
  30. Chicago Tribune: IBM to acquire Chicago cloud-storage firm Cleversafe (October 5, 2015)
  31. "IBM Completes Acquisition of Cleversafe". www-03.ibm.com. November 6, 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  32. Pulse 2.0: Data Analytics Solutions Company Ocient Closes $15 Million In Funding
  33. Ocient: Management Team
  34. Chicago Business: How one Chicago tech firm is out-recruiting the Big Four
  35. Graham, Meg (2016-06-27). "His last company sold for more than $1B. Now Chris Gladwin is hiring again". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
  36. Rekdal, Andreas (2018-01-25). "Loyalty, talent, ambition: Why Chris Gladwin is doubling down on Chicago". Built In Chicago. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
  37. "Chicago Tech Veterans Close $10 Million Series A For Big Data Startup Ocient - Crunchbase News". Crunchbase News. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
  38. BuiltIn: Data Analytics Startup Ocient Raises $15M, Plans to Double Headcount
  39. VB: Ocient raises $15 million more for 'exabyte-scale' database tech
  40. Jordan, Robert (2012-11-12). "The New Patent Law: End of Entrepreneurship?". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
  41. CHC: These are the 2017 Peter Lisagor Award finalists
  42. Chicago Business Journal: Illinois Tech receives big donation from a company founder
  43. Marotti, Ally (December 10, 2015). "Cleversafe founder Chris Gladwin donates $7.6M to IIT". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  44. WTTW: Crain's Headlines: Chicago Among Best-Paying Cities in US
  45. PBS: P33: A Burnham Plan for Chicago's Tech Future
  46. "Chris Gladwin Founder and Vice Chairman of Cleversafe". Illinois Institute of Technology. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  47. Built-in-Chicago: Illinois Tech Launching College of Computing to Foster Local Talent
  48. Chicago Business Journal: Illinois Tech launches College of Computing to boost local tech talent
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