Six Apart
Encyclopedia
Six Apart Ltd., sometimes abbreviated 6A, is a software company known for creating the Movable Type
blogware, TypePad
blog hosting service, and Vox
. The company also is the former owner of LiveJournal
. Six Apart is headquartered in Tokyo and is planning to open a new, U.S.-based office in New York. The name is a reference to the six-day age difference between its married co-founders, Ben
and Mena Trott
.
to allow Mena to easily produce her weblog. When version 1.0 was put on the web, it was downloaded over 100 times in the first hour.
funding from a group led by Joi Ito
and his Neoteny Co., something which allowed the company to hire additional employees, acquire a French weblog publishing company, and unveil plans for what was to become its hosted weblog publishing system, TypePad. In 2004, Six Apart completed a second round of funding with August Capital, a move which allowed it to make acquisitions of other companies. In January 2005, Six Apart purchased Danga Interactive
, parent company of LiveJournal
, from owner Brad Fitzpatrick
, who was named Six Apart's chief architect. In March 2006, Six Apart announced the acquisition of the SplashBlog camera phone blogging service. June 2006 saw the release of their new Web 2.0
blogging platform, Vox
.
Its CEO is Chris Alden
. Prominent weblogger Anil Dash
joined the company in 2003, as did the former head of Wired Digital Andrew Anker. Six Apart's Board of Directors consists of Barak Berkowitz, Mena Trott, David Marquardt
, David Hornik, Reid Hoffman
, and Jun Makihara.
On September 6, 2006 Six Apart bought Rojo.com. President Chris Alden became executive vice president of Six Apart and general manager of Movable Type
. CTO
Aaron Emigh became executive vice president and general manager of core technologies.
On December 2, 2007, Six Apart announced it was selling LiveJournal to SUP Fabrik
, a Russian media
company which had previously licensed the LiveJournal brand and software for use in Russia.
. Just as in an advertising network, bloggers will be able to sign up and participate in advertising campaigns managed by Six Apart.
On December 1, 2008, Six Apart announced the acquisition of micro blogging website Pownce
. The Pownce website was shut down on December 15. The key developers of Pownce (Leah Culver
and Mike Malone) stayed on at Six Apart through early 2010, with Pownce technology being integrated into TypePad
and TypePad Conversations.
with a final termination date set for September 30th, 2010.
Beginning from September 15, 2010 Vox users would not be able to post new blog posts.
On September 22nd, Six Apart announced its intention to join forces with VideoEgg to create a modern media company called SAY Media.
The combined entity, which will capitalize on the massive changes in how people consume media in the social age, will offer advertisers the influence of a blog, the reach of a portal and the efficiency of a network, and will continue to embrace the Six Apart mission to make publishers successful by helping them share their passions and grow and monetize their online audiences.
Nobuhiro Seki
, who was the General Manager of Six Apart, K.K. prior to this announcement, became President and CEO of Six Apart.
Movable Type
Movable Type is a weblog publishing system developed by the company Six Apart. It was publicly announced on September 3, 2001; version 1.0 was publicly released on October 8, 2001. On 12 December 2007, Movable Type was relicensed as free software under the GNU General Public License...
blogware, TypePad
TypePad
TypePad is a blogging service from company Say Media . Originally launched in October 2003, TypePad is based on Six Apart's Movable Type platform, and shares technology with Movable Type such as templates and APIs, but is marketed to non-technical users and includes additional features like...
blog hosting service, and Vox
Vox (blogging platform)
Vox was an Internet blogging service run by Six Apart, which ran from October 26, 2006 to September 30, 2010. Before launching, it had the codename "Project Comet"....
. The company also is the former owner of LiveJournal
LiveJournal
LiveJournal is a virtual community where Internet users can keep a blog, journal or diary. LiveJournal is also the name of the free and open source server software that was designed to run the LiveJournal virtual community....
. Six Apart is headquartered in Tokyo and is planning to open a new, U.S.-based office in New York. The name is a reference to the six-day age difference between its married co-founders, Ben
Benjamin Trott
Benjamin Trott, born , is a co-founder of Six Apart, creator of Movable Type and TypePad. In November 2010, he became Chief Technical Officer of , a new online advertising and software company formed by a merger of ad network VideoEgg with Six Apart.Before joining SAY Media, Trott was also CTO of...
and Mena Trott
Mena Grabowski Trott
Mena Grabowski Trott Mena Grabowski Trott Mena Grabowski Trott (born Mena Grabowski on is a co-founder of Six Apart, creator of Movable Type and TypePad. The company name originates from the fact that Trott and co-founder/husband Benjamin Trott were born six days apart....
.
History
The company was founded in September 2001 after Ben, during a period of unemployment, wrote what became Movable TypeMovable Type
Movable Type is a weblog publishing system developed by the company Six Apart. It was publicly announced on September 3, 2001; version 1.0 was publicly released on October 8, 2001. On 12 December 2007, Movable Type was relicensed as free software under the GNU General Public License...
to allow Mena to easily produce her weblog. When version 1.0 was put on the web, it was downloaded over 100 times in the first hour.
2003-2006
In 2003, Six Apart received initial venture capitalVenture capital
Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...
funding from a group led by Joi Ito
Joi Ito
is a Japanese activist, entrepreneur, venture capitalist and Director of the MIT Media Lab.Ito has received recognition for his role as an entrepreneur focused on Internet and technology companies and has founded, among other companies, PSINet Japan, Digital Garage and Infoseek Japan. He maintains...
and his Neoteny Co., something which allowed the company to hire additional employees, acquire a French weblog publishing company, and unveil plans for what was to become its hosted weblog publishing system, TypePad. In 2004, Six Apart completed a second round of funding with August Capital, a move which allowed it to make acquisitions of other companies. In January 2005, Six Apart purchased Danga Interactive
Danga Interactive
Danga Interactive is a software and Internet company most widely known for its LiveJournal service. The company's slogan is "We make cool stuff." The company was founded under the name Bradfitz, Inc., on August 27, 1999, by Brad Fitzpatrick, who also created LiveJournal...
, parent company of LiveJournal
LiveJournal
LiveJournal is a virtual community where Internet users can keep a blog, journal or diary. LiveJournal is also the name of the free and open source server software that was designed to run the LiveJournal virtual community....
, from owner Brad Fitzpatrick
Brad Fitzpatrick
Bradley Joseph "Brad" Fitzpatrick , is an American programmer. He is best known as the creator of LiveJournal and is the author of a variety of free software projects such as memcached....
, who was named Six Apart's chief architect. In March 2006, Six Apart announced the acquisition of the SplashBlog camera phone blogging service. June 2006 saw the release of their new Web 2.0
Web 2.0
The term Web 2.0 is associated with web applications that facilitate participatory information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design, and collaboration on the World Wide Web...
blogging platform, Vox
Vox (blogging platform)
Vox was an Internet blogging service run by Six Apart, which ran from October 26, 2006 to September 30, 2010. Before launching, it had the codename "Project Comet"....
.
Its CEO is Chris Alden
Chris Alden
Christopher J. Alden is an American entrepreneur best known as a co-founder of Red Herring, a magazine focused on the business of technology, and Rojo.com, an early web-based RSS reader.-Career:...
. Prominent weblogger Anil Dash
Anil Dash
Anil Dash is a blogger, entrepreneur and technologist. He is currently the Director of Public Technology Incubator Expert Labs and a partner at ACTIVATE.com, a media & technology consulting firm....
joined the company in 2003, as did the former head of Wired Digital Andrew Anker. Six Apart's Board of Directors consists of Barak Berkowitz, Mena Trott, David Marquardt
David Marquardt
David F. Marquardt is a co-founder of venture capital firm August Capital. Marquardt has served on more than 25 boards of directors during his 20 year venture capital career including Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, Seagate , Adaptec, and Grand Junction Networks .Prior to August Capital, Marquardt...
, David Hornik, Reid Hoffman
Reid Hoffman
Reid G. Hoffman is an American entrepreneur and venture capitalist. Hoffman is best known as the co-founder of LinkedIn, a social network used primarily for business connections and job searching.-Early education and career:...
, and Jun Makihara.
On September 6, 2006 Six Apart bought Rojo.com. President Chris Alden became executive vice president of Six Apart and general manager of Movable Type
Movable Type
Movable Type is a weblog publishing system developed by the company Six Apart. It was publicly announced on September 3, 2001; version 1.0 was publicly released on October 8, 2001. On 12 December 2007, Movable Type was relicensed as free software under the GNU General Public License...
. CTO
Chief technical officer
A chief technology officer is an executive-level position in a company or other entity whose occupant is focused on scientific and technological issues within an organization....
Aaron Emigh became executive vice president and general manager of core technologies.
2007
On Sept 15, 2007, Chairman and Chief Executive Barak Berkowitz stepped aside and was replaced by Chris Alden, who had run the company's professional software unit.On December 2, 2007, Six Apart announced it was selling LiveJournal to SUP Fabrik
SUP Fabrik
SUP is an international online media company, founded in Moscow in mid-2006 by Andrew Paulson and Alexander Mamut...
, a Russian media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
company which had previously licensed the LiveJournal brand and software for use in Russia.
2008
On April 21, 2008, Six Apart said it acquired Apperceptive, a New York social media agency, as part of its new strategy. It declined to disclose financial terms of the deal. It is also partnering with advertising agency AdifyAdify
Adify provides a number of online advertising-related products and services to website owners, ad network operators, advertisers and agencies. Adify is an indirectly- and wholly owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises.-Products and services:...
. Just as in an advertising network, bloggers will be able to sign up and participate in advertising campaigns managed by Six Apart.
On December 1, 2008, Six Apart announced the acquisition of micro blogging website Pownce
Pownce
Pownce was a free social networking and micro-blogging site started by Internet entrepreneurs Kevin Rose, Leah Culver, and Daniel Burka. Pownce was centered on sharing messages, files, events, and links with friends. The site launched on June 27, 2007, and was opened to the public on January 22, 2008...
. The Pownce website was shut down on December 15. The key developers of Pownce (Leah Culver
Leah Culver
-External Links:* *...
and Mike Malone) stayed on at Six Apart through early 2010, with Pownce technology being integrated into TypePad
TypePad
TypePad is a blogging service from company Say Media . Originally launched in October 2003, TypePad is based on Six Apart's Movable Type platform, and shares technology with Movable Type such as templates and APIs, but is marketed to non-technical users and includes additional features like...
and TypePad Conversations.
2010
On September 2, 2010 Six Apart announced that they would be shutting down their blogging/social networking site VoxVox (blogging platform)
Vox was an Internet blogging service run by Six Apart, which ran from October 26, 2006 to September 30, 2010. Before launching, it had the codename "Project Comet"....
with a final termination date set for September 30th, 2010.
Beginning from September 15, 2010 Vox users would not be able to post new blog posts.
On September 22nd, Six Apart announced its intention to join forces with VideoEgg to create a modern media company called SAY Media.
The combined entity, which will capitalize on the massive changes in how people consume media in the social age, will offer advertisers the influence of a blog, the reach of a portal and the efficiency of a network, and will continue to embrace the Six Apart mission to make publishers successful by helping them share their passions and grow and monetize their online audiences.
2011
On January 21, 2011, SAY Media announced that it was selling the Six Apart brand and the worldwide Movable Type business to Infocom, a Japanese information technology company. As a result of this transaction, the headquarters of Six Apart is now Tokyo, Japan.Nobuhiro Seki
Nobuhiro Seki
Nobuhiro Seki is a Japanese businessman and entrepreneur.Seki received a B.S. degree in engineering from the University of Tokyo and an MBA from Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University. He served as Executive Vice President and General Manager of Japan at Six Apart from December...
, who was the General Manager of Six Apart, K.K. prior to this announcement, became President and CEO of Six Apart.