Alain Chuard

Alain Chuard
Born
Alain Marc Chuard

Bern, Switzerland
Alma materMacalester College
Stanford Graduate School of Business
Occupation(s)Entrepreneur
Former professional snowboarder
Spouse
​
(m. 2013)​
Children3
Websitewww.alainchuard.com

Alain Chuard is a Swiss entrepreneur and former professional snowboarder living in Palo Alto, California.[1][2][3] He is best known as the founder and Chief product officer of Wildfire Interactive, the social media marketing technology company acquired by Google in July 2012.[1]

Early life and education[edit]

Chuard was born in Bern and raised in the Swiss town of Bolligen.[2][4] His father and uncle were both entrepreneurs.[5][6]

Chuard competed on the snowboard World-Cup Pro Tour while in high school.[7] From 1994-96, he was ranked in the top 4 snowboarders in Switzerland.[2] Chuard was sponsored by Burton Snowboards and has appeared in various snowboarding publications including the cover of Transworld Snowboarding.[3][5][8]

Chuard left Switzerland at the age of 20 after completing his high school matura.[6] Chuard studied mathematics and economics at Macalester College.[5][9] He has an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.[2]

Career[edit]

After graduating from Macalester College, he spent two years working as a financial analyst for Salomon Smith Barney in New York City.[2] He then left Wall Street to start the adventure travel company, Access Trips, in 2001.[6] While getting his MBA, he also built an online booking and CRM software called IncFuel Corp.[7] In the summer of 2007, he was an Entrepreneur in Residence at Highland Capital Partners in Boston.[10]

In 2008, Chuard developed the software Promotion Builder as an online marketing tool used for promoting Access Trips through social media.[5][9] Promotion Builder became Wildfire Interactive and within four years, Wildfire grew to a company with 400 employees.[11] In 2010, Chuard sold Access Trips in order to focus on Wildfire.[4][5][9] In July 2012, Google purchased Wildfire for a reported $450 million.[1][12] Following Wildfire's incorporation, Chuard became Head of Product of Google My Business until his and Ransom's departure in 2015.[13][7] He is a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute.[14]

In 2016, Chuard, together with Christian Hirsig as host, set up the non-profit organization Swisspreneur, Switzerland’s biggest business podcast publisher, which encourages entrepreneurship in Switzerland through interviews with Swiss start-up founders.[15][16]

In August 2020, it was reported that the self−funded edtech startup Prisma, created by Chuard and his wife Victoria Ransom, would launch on 8 September 2020, for 40 U.S. students.[17] In July 2021, Chuard was named as the Founder and CEO of Prisma.[18]

Personal life[edit]

Chuard married Victoria Ransom in March 2013 and is the father of three children.[5][17] They met in December 1999 while studying at Macalester College.[6] He speaks four languages and is one of the 300 wealthiest people in Switzerland.[9][11]

Publications[edit]

  • Podcast: The Founder’s Playbook – Swisspreneur EP #200 – November 11, 2021[19]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Mathias Morgenthaler (June 6, 2014). "Der wichtigste Wendepunkt war, dass ich mit Snowboarden begann". Tages-Anzeiger. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e Jon Mettler (August 8, 2012). "Berner verkauft sein Unternehmen für 250 Millionen an Google". Bernerzeitung. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  3. ^ a b Christian Öfner (June 15, 2015). "Smartshitting For Smart People: Die Karriere Danach". Pleasure Verlags GmbH & Co. KG. Archived from the original on June 18, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  4. ^ a b "How to sell your company to Google or Twitter". startupticker.ch. June 6, 2014. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Nele Husmann (August 20, 2012). "350 Millionen: Google verpasst Schweizer den Ritterschlag". AXEL SPRINGER SCHWEIZ AG. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  6. ^ a b c d Manuel Bühlmann (August 7, 2012). "Ein Schweizer erobert das Silicon Valley". Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  7. ^ a b c "Fellow Profile: Alain Chuard". The Aspen Institute. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  8. ^ "The TWS 100 Photo List: Every Rider Who Made The Mag". The Enthusiast Network. October 31, 2001. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  9. ^ a b c d John Shinal (June 28, 2011). "The Spark That Fuels Wildfire Interactive". Entrepreneur Media Inc. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  10. ^ Mark Milian (October 4, 2012). "Running a Startup Incubator for Fun, Not Profit". Bloomberg LP. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  11. ^ a b Siegert, Manuela; Brennwald, Reto (May 29, 2014). "Alain Chuard, der Berner Google-Millionär". SRF Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  12. ^ Josh Constine (August 6, 2012). "Google Slaps $100M Golden Handcuffs On Wildfire To Retain Employees After $350M Acquisition". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  13. ^ Josh Constine (15 October 2015). "Married Founders Of Wildfire Leave Google 3 Years After $350M+ Buyout". techcrunch.com. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  14. ^ "The Aspen Institute Announces the 2015 Class of Henry Crown Fellows". Aspen Institute. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  15. ^ "About us". swisspreneur.org. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  16. ^ "What I do". silvankraehenbuehl.com. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  17. ^ a b Melody Hahm (15 August 2020). "Serial tech entrepreneur launches ambitious alternative to school: 'It's a very progressive approach to education'". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  18. ^ Eva Keiffenheim (15 July 2021). "9 Influencers Worth Following That Tweet About the Future of Learning". learntrepeneurs.com. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  19. ^ "EP #200 - Alain Chuard: The Founder's Playbook". swisspreneur.org. 11 November 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
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