Jonathan Abrams BioJonathan Abrams is the founder and CEO of Socializr, a new web service offering free online event invitations, and innovative ways to share event and party information with your friends. Jonathan is an award-winning serial entrepreneur who was hailed as "The Social Pioneer" by Vanity Fair in June 2008 for creating the pioneering social networking service Friendster.Jonathan is the inventor of a United States Patent for a "System, method, and apparatus for connecting users in an online computer system based on their relationships within social networks." Previously, Jonathan was the founder & CEO of the social bookmarking startup HotLinks, and worked as a software engineer at companies such as Netscape and Nortel. Jonathan holds an Honors B.Sc. in Computer Science from McMaster University, which he received after flunking out of engineering school. Jonathan was named a "Breakout star of 2003" by Entertainment Weekly, and as one of Advertising Age Magazine’s "Entertainment Marketers of the year." Jonathan has also been honored as one of the world’s top young innovators by the MIT Technology Review, and nominated in the software designer category for the 2004 Wired Rave Awards. Jonathan was named as one of the ten sexiest Canadian Jewish Internet entrepreneurs in San Francisco by his friend Lenny. Jonathan is the co-owner of San Francisco nightclub Slide, an investor in the restaurant Mamacita, and has been a frequent co-host at various San Francisco and Silicon Valley events and parties in the technology, business, nightlife, fashion, and non-profit sectors. Jonathan is a member of the advisory board of the Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs, and has been extensively involved in the Silicon Valley entrepreneurial community, including past roles such as co-chair of the SDForum Venture Finance SIG, moderator of the SVASE CTO Forum, and a judge for the Stanford Entrepreneur's Challenge business plan contest, the UC Berkeley Business Plan Competition, and the Stanford-Berkeley Innovators' Challenge. Jonathan has also been a mentor for the Global Social Venture Competition, the Haas School of Business/Columbia Business School National Social Venture Competition, and the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs.
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