Todd Marks

Marks was born in Syracuse, New York. He grew up in Howard County, Maryland, graduated high school in Columbia[7] and studied at Loyola College, where he graduated in 1998 with a Bachelors of Science in Math.[8] He taught Math and Computer Science and was an Adobe Flash developer during the dot-com boom of the 1990s.[9] He went into entrepreneurship in 1999, when he helped launch a digital agency. After struggling for several years, he gave up and started working for different companies.[10]

He founded his current company, Mindgrub Technologies, in 2002. The company began in "the greater Oella incubator," as Marks dubbed his basement, where he started working as an independent consultant.[11] When Apple unveiled the iPhone in 2007, Marks decided to focus on that. He hired a full-time employee and quit his job as an IT consultant the next year.[12]

As his company grew, Marks moved his office to Catonsville and finally to Locust Point, where he established a Google-style relaxed office, complete with an event space, a ping pong table and a climbing wall.[3] The opening was attended by Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, the mayor of Baltimore.[11] From 2013 to 2015, the company hired about a dozen people each year,[13] growing to 60 full-time employees.[10][14]

To build his team, Marks recruited computer science interns from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, where he was an adjunct professor of Instructional Technology.[12] He interviewed them while playing Rock Band or Wii Golf together for an hour, deducing their abilities from the way they played.[1] He also employed former Big Huge Games developers when that company went under.[9]

Mindgrub engineers mobile and interactive web apps, integrates social media and gaming. It also develops websites, marketing campaigns, and interactive media.[1] Marks expanded Mindgrub by founding three ancillary companies: Mindgrub Games, which uses Mindgrub software in gaming; viaPlace, which manages augmented reality; and Mindgrub Robotics, which develops autonomous indoor point-to-point delivery robots. Mindgrub has become a tech market leader,[1] working with big clients like Exelon, Pierce Atwood, Wendy’s, AOL, and Yamaha.[3][15][16]

In 2015, Marks acquired 4Thought, a web design and online marketing firm.[3] Mindgrub expanded its web management by becoming a Fast Track partner with Pantheon, migrating all of its clients' websites to the platform.[17]

Marks has held lectures, tech workshops, and public discussions at different venues, such as Mid-Atlantic Developer Conference,[18] TEDxBaltimore,[19] the NET/WORK fair,[20][21] South by Southwest, the Emerging Technology Forum (held at Mindgrub),[22] and hosted the Education Technology Innovation Summit.[23]

Marks has written and contributed to several books on Flash and Dreamweaver.[24][25] He sits on the advisory board for Loyola University's MBA program and is vice president of the Chesapeake Regional Tech Council.[26]

In 2013, Marks was a Baltimore Business Journal's honoree of 40 Under 40, an award spotlighting the business leaders under the age of 40 who excel in their industry.[4]

He was a two-time nominee for the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award, in 2013 and 2014.[27] Marks was also named to the Daily Record’s list of Most Admired CEOs, an award identifying Maryland business executives for their accomplishments throughout their career.[28]

In 2018, Baltimore Magazine recognized Todd as a Baltimore Visionary in its list of 30 change-makers who are shaping the future of the city.[5] He was also elected to the Board of Directors for the Northeastern Maryland Tech Council (NMTC).[6]

His company Mindgrub has won more than 30 awards and prizes for its products, growth, and company culture.[2]

• Personal page at Mindgrub