David B. Pakman
Encyclopedia
David B. Pakman is an internet entrepreneur and venture capitalist. As a Partner in Venrock’s New York City
office, David focuses on early stage venture investing in internet and digital media
companies. His active investments include Media6Degrees, Smartling and Crunchyroll
.
’s School of Engineering
and Applied Science
with a BSE (1991) degree in Computer Science Engineering and is an avid musician
and songwriter
.
At Penn, Pakman's Senior Design Project advisor was David J. Farber
. He was the co-founder of Penn Engineering's Dining Philosophers, the computer science club that, at the time, was Penn's chapter of the Association from Computing Machinery or the ACM.
He is married with three children.
In 2003, Pakman joined Dimensional Associates, a private equity firm focused on acquiring distressed digital media companies. The firm bought eMusic
from Vivendi Universal and Pakman became the COO
. In 2005, Pakman became the CEO and grew eMusic to become the world’s leading digital retailer of independent music, second only to iTunes
in number of downloads sold. In the three years that Pakman ran it, he grew the business by more than 850%, from $7M in revenues to more than $68M. Pakman transformed the business from an obscure also-ran with 50,000 subscribers to the second largest digital music retailer in the world, with more than 400,000 subscribers and more than 12% market share (according to the NPD Group).
Prior to joining eMusic, Pakman was Co-Founder and President of Business Development and Public Policy at Myplay, Inc., the company he co-founded in 1999 in Redwood City, California
with Doug Camplejohn that introduced the “digital music locker” and pioneered the locker category. In 2001, Myplay was sold to Bertelsmann
’s ecommerce Group where Pakman became the SVP of Corporate Development and Public Policy. Before Myplay, he was Vice President at N2K Entertainment, which created the first digital music download service
Pakman served on the Board of NARM (National Association of Recording Merchandisers). He was formerly a board member of DiMA (Digital Media Association) in Washington, D.C. and co-chair of its Music Licensing Committee. He has testified before Congress and the NTIA about the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), guest-lectured at The Wharton School and the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, Columbia and MIT, and has spoken at hundreds of conferences and public events. In May 2007 he delivered the Commencement Address at Penn Engineering’s 251st Commencement
Pakman also serves on the Board of Trustees of ITHAKA, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping the academic community take full advantage of rapidly advancing information and networking technologies (see JSTOR
) and holds a board seat with the New York Venture Capital Association.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
office, David focuses on early stage venture investing in internet and digital media
Digital media
Digital media is a form of electronic media where data is stored in digital form. It can refer to the technical aspect of storage and transmission Digital media is a form of electronic media where data is stored in digital (as opposed to analog) form. It can refer to the technical aspect of...
companies. His active investments include Media6Degrees, Smartling and Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll is an American website and international online community focused on streaming East Asian media including anime, manga, drama, music, electronic entertainment, and auto racing content...
.
Education & Personal Life
Pakman is a graduate of and a member of the Board of Overseers at University of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
’s School of Engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
and Applied Science
Applied science
Applied science is the application of scientific knowledge transferred into a physical environment. Examples include testing a theoretical model through the use of formal science or solving a practical problem through the use of natural science....
with a BSE (1991) degree in Computer Science Engineering and is an avid musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
.
At Penn, Pakman's Senior Design Project advisor was David J. Farber
David J. Farber
David J. "Dave" Farber is a professor of Computer Science, noted for his major contributions to programming languages and computer networking. He is currently Distinguished Career Professor of Computer Science and Public Policy at the School of Computer Science, Heinz College, and Department of...
. He was the co-founder of Penn Engineering's Dining Philosophers, the computer science club that, at the time, was Penn's chapter of the Association from Computing Machinery or the ACM.
He is married with three children.
Career
In 1991, Pakman joined Apple Inc.’s System Software Product Marketing group and later co-created Apple’s Music Group. There he co-founded the Macintosh New York Music Festival and co-produced the then-largest industry webcast to-date, the 1997 GRAMMY Awards.In 2003, Pakman joined Dimensional Associates, a private equity firm focused on acquiring distressed digital media companies. The firm bought eMusic
EMusic
eMusic is an online music and audiobook store that operates by subscription. It is headquartered in New York City with an office in London and owned by Dimensional Associates. As of September 2008 eMusic has over 400,000 subscribers....
from Vivendi Universal and Pakman became the COO
Chief operating officer
A Chief Operating Officer or Director of Operations can be one of the highest-ranking executives in an organization and comprises part of the "C-Suite"...
. In 2005, Pakman became the CEO and grew eMusic to become the world’s leading digital retailer of independent music, second only to iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
in number of downloads sold. In the three years that Pakman ran it, he grew the business by more than 850%, from $7M in revenues to more than $68M. Pakman transformed the business from an obscure also-ran with 50,000 subscribers to the second largest digital music retailer in the world, with more than 400,000 subscribers and more than 12% market share (according to the NPD Group).
Prior to joining eMusic, Pakman was Co-Founder and President of Business Development and Public Policy at Myplay, Inc., the company he co-founded in 1999 in Redwood City, California
Redwood City, California
Redwood City is a California charter city located on the San Francisco Peninsula in Northern California, approximately 27 miles south of San Francisco, and 24 miles north of San Jose. Redwood City's history spans from its earliest inhabitation by the Ohlone people, to its tradition as a port for...
with Doug Camplejohn that introduced the “digital music locker” and pioneered the locker category. In 2001, Myplay was sold to Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann AG is a multinational media corporation founded in 1835, based in Gütersloh, Germany. The company operates in 63 countries and employs 102,983 workers , which makes it the most international media corporation in the world. In 2008 the company reported a €16.118 billion consolidated...
’s ecommerce Group where Pakman became the SVP of Corporate Development and Public Policy. Before Myplay, he was Vice President at N2K Entertainment, which created the first digital music download service
Pakman served on the Board of NARM (National Association of Recording Merchandisers). He was formerly a board member of DiMA (Digital Media Association) in Washington, D.C. and co-chair of its Music Licensing Committee. He has testified before Congress and the NTIA about the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), guest-lectured at The Wharton School and the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, Columbia and MIT, and has spoken at hundreds of conferences and public events. In May 2007 he delivered the Commencement Address at Penn Engineering’s 251st Commencement
Pakman also serves on the Board of Trustees of ITHAKA, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping the academic community take full advantage of rapidly advancing information and networking technologies (see JSTOR
JSTOR
JSTOR is an online system for archiving academic journals, founded in 1995. It provides its member institutions full-text searches of digitized back issues of several hundred well-known journals, dating back to 1665 in the case of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society...
) and holds a board seat with the New York Venture Capital Association.