Russel Simmons
Russel Simmons is a prominent entrepreneur best known for co-founding Yelp, a popular social media and review platform, alongside Jeremy Stoppelman. Before his venture into Yelp, Simmons played a significant role as the lead software architect at PayPal, where he contributed to the design and development of its online payment system. His journey in technology began at a young age, demonstrating a strong interest in mathematics and computer science, which led him to graduate with honors from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
After leaving Yelp, Simmons continued his entrepreneurial pursuits by launching Learnirvana, an educational technology platform aimed at transforming traditional learning methods. This initiative reflects his criticism of standardized education and his goal to create flexible, engaging learning experiences. Simmons remains actively involved in supporting budding entrepreneurs through investments and initiatives like Upstart.com. His contributions to technology and education illustrate his commitment to innovation and improving user experiences in both fields.
Subject Terms
Russel Simmons
Cofounder of Yelp and Learnirvana
- Born: 1979
- Place of Birth: place unknown
Primary Company/Organization: Yelp
Introduction
Russel Simmons (not to be confused with hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons) is best known as the cofounder, along with Jeremy Stoppelman, of the social media and review site Yelp. Simmons worked as lead software architect at PayPal during its early days; he also worked at an incubator started by the company's cofounder, Max Levchin. Simmons is interested not only in computer entrepreneurship but also in exploiting the flexibility of the computer and the Internet for educational applications. He cofounded the ed-tech start-up Learnirvana.
Early Life
Russel Simmons was always interested in mathematics and science, and from the moment he had his Apple II computer, he had some project in the works, whether creating a computer game or working on an algorithm. He attended the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy from 1992 to 1995, then entered the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, from which he graduated with honors and a bachelor of science degree in computer science in 1998. The Urbana campus was the alma mater of many of Web 2.0 top engineers and designers. While at school there, Simmons befriended Jeremy Stoppelman, with whom he would found the review and social media website Yelp.
Life's Work
Most Internet followers associate Simmons with Yelp, but he has been instrumental in several other websites and projects as well. After graduating from the University of Illinois, Simmons went to work with PayPal, the online payment-processing service. He was PayPal's first computer engineer and its lead software architect, ultimately becoming its chief technical officer (CTO). Simmons says in his own online biography that he “helped design and develop [the] PayPal system from scratch.” Between 1999 and 2003, he headed a team of senior engineers in developing “software aspects of site scalability, security, availability, internationalization, management of codebase, mentoring engineers, technology decisions.”
Stoppelman was working at PayPal at the same time that Simmons was there. PayPal had revolutionized the ease and security with which people could do business over the Internet, and it grew increasingly linked to eBay. When eBay bought PayPal, both Simmons and Stoppelman took advantage of cash-out offers, and they left PayPal. Stoppelman entered Harvard Business School, studying there for a brief time, and Simmons traveled.
Simmons also worked for five months in 2004 at Max Levchin's MRL Ventures in California. MRL was known among computer engineers and designers as an incubator for new Internet and software ideas. Levchin often contributed seed money to help develop ideas.
In 2004, Simmons and Stoppelman teamed again to create Yelp. Internet lore holds that Yelp—a combination customer-review and social media site—began when Stoppelman was looking for recommendations for a doctor in San Francisco. However, both men are aficionados of San Francisco food and entertainment, and both wanted an easily referenced, Internet-based index of reviews for personal use. They envisioned using reviews e-mailed to a common account, then linked to review categories. The men admittedly spent only a little time developing the idea, and Levchin spotted them $1 million to develop the idea.
Within three months, Simmons and Stoppelman had the nexus of Yelp online. Although the results were not initially to their liking, Stoppelman noted that people seemed to love writing reviews about consumer experiences. It remained for Simmons and Stoppelman to channel that energy into readable, reliable, searchable reviews. In 2005, Simmons and Stoppelman relaunched Yelp. This time it included a “review filter”—an algorithm that weeds out suspicious reviews, such as those created by business owners themselves or favorable reviews that business owners have purchased. The filter also targets critical reviews written by one competitor against another. Yelp quickly gained popularity around San Francisco, becoming the “go-to” site for information not only about food and entertainment but also all types of other businesses, including doctors, veterinarians, and plumbers. By 2019 Yelp canvassed the entire United States, much of Europe, Australia, and parts of South America and Asia. Chief executive officer (CEO) Stoppelman took the company through several rounds of venture capitalization, and in early 2012 he took the company public.
By then, Simmons had left Yelp. His departure was preceded by little fanfare and no hint of acrimony. Stoppelman said Simmons was transitioning to an advisory role with Yelp and that he would remain a significant shareholder in the company.
Simmons did not sit idle. In 2011, he rolled out the educational web company Learnirvana. Also based in San Francisco, Learnirvana is Simmons's attempt to match the flexibility of the Internet with the educational needs of users. The impetus for the site may have come from its founder's opinions about traditional American educational systems, of which he has been a staunch critic. A donor to the Bay Area's nontraditional Brightworks school, Simmons told San Francisco magazine writer Diana Kapp, “Education is one of the most talked-about things in the Valley right now. . . . The first wave of Internet entrepreneurs have kids who are school age. They're like [referring to standardized education], ‘Screw this.’”
Simmons used that attitude to create Learnirvana. Its site designers have said, “Learnirvana is reimagining the experience of learning. Breaking from traditional models of education, we build streamlined products for students to explore the subjects of their curiosity.” The site links to various “sources of inspiration” that are also critical of standardized education, especially curricula that stifle creativity. Learnirvana rolled out its first product hub, Lentil, in 2012. Lentil endeavors to teach users languages such as Japanese and Korean, as well as geography through online, "learning by doing" lessons. In 2024, Simmons remained its chief executive.
Personal Life
Little is known of Simmons's private life. He has indicated that he hopes to do for younger entrepreneurs the same service Levchin performed for him and Stoppelman. Simmons is one of the lead financial backers of Upstart.com, which collects donations for venture capital to help people develop their own business ideas.
Bibliography
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