Robert McGovern is an American businessperson and entrepreneur, currently the chief executive officer at PreciseTarget. He previously founded and led (as chief executive officer) CareerBuilder and JobFox.[1]
Career
editMcGovern began his career at Hewlett Packard Company (1983 to 1993), before serving as president and general manager of a division of Legent Corporation (1993 to 1995).
McGovern founded CareerBuilder in 1995 as NetStart Inc.[2] The company went public in 1999 before going private again in 2000 when it was acquired for $200 million by publishers Knight Ridder and the Tribune Company.[3][4] McGovern continued serving as the company's chief executive officer through 2002, overseeing CareerBuilder's acquisition of Headhunter (in 2001, for $200 million).[5]
In 2004, McGovern founded a second online job site, Jobfox. Jobfox differed from CareerBuilder, which brought the job search process online, by focusing on making it easier for job seekers to find a job.[6]
In June 2009, McGovern was in a car accident and suffered severe brain injury. The Glasgow Coma Scale evaluation indicated (with a score of "3") that he probably would not survive in anything other than a vegetative state. [7][8] However, he recovered and returned to Jobfox in March 2010, overseeing the sale of the company in two private transactions: selling the assets in 2012 to Beyond.com and the domain name in 2013 to Doostang.[9]
In 2013, McGovern launched Cobrain, which uses a database of consumer preferences to help brands activate customers and sell more products online.[10]
In 2014 the MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital gave him a Victory Gala Award, honoring individuals who have overcome physical adversity and inspired others.[11]
In 2016, Cobrain was rebranded as PreciseTarget.[12] In July 2019, PreciseTarget launched its first retail data products.[13] The company is based in Bethesda, Md., and as of February 2021 has 20 employees.[14]
He also served as a board member with Heads Up, a Washington D.C. nonprofit that sponsored after-school programs (1999 to 2001), and as a venture partner in the information technology practice of New Enterprise Associates (NEA) (2004 to 2005).[15]
Publications
editMcGovern is the author of Bring Your A-Game, The 10 Secrets of The Career Achiever (Sourcebooks, 2005) ISBN 1402205163. He holds a total of six patents, focused in the areas of computerized job search and recruitment.[16]
External links
editReferences
edit- ^ Ghosh, Sudipto (September 10, 2019). "MarTech Interview with Robert McGovern, CEO at PreciseTarget". MarTechSeries. Marketing Technology Insights. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
- ^ Ch, Rajiv (December 30, 1996). "Tapping Into a Web of Aspirations". Washington Post. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
- ^ "How I Did It: Rob McGovern of Jobfox". Inc.com. July 5, 2011. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
- ^ Webb, Cynthia (March 5, 2002). "CareerBuilder Under New Management". Washington Post. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
- ^ "CareerBuilder Acquires HeadHunter.NET". Mergr. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
- ^ Mirabella, Lorraine (December 19, 2010). "Jobfox founder Rob McGovern strives to match candidates and companies". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
- ^ Waldman, Tyler (August 6, 2014). "CareerBuilder founder Rob McGovern on Cobrain, recovery". Technical.ly. Technical.ly Baltimore. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
- ^ Buchanan, Leigh. "Out of the Coma. Back to the Office. Rob McGovern is the same driven entrepreneur he was before his horrific car accident. Except that now his brain works differently". Inc. Magazine. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
- ^ McColgan, Chris. "People Are Patenting Social Media Recruiting". Recruitment Buzz. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
- ^ Overly, Steven (December 2, 2013). "Robert McGovern's new venture, Cobrain, aims to be the personal stylist in your pocket". Washington Post. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
- ^ "Gala Victory Awards Past Honorees". MedStar NRH. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
- ^ "PRECISETARGET Trademark of Cobrain Company - Registration Number 5556303 - Serial Number 87132067 :: Justia Trademarks". trademarks.justia.com. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
- ^ Hercher, James (July 19, 2019). "PreciseTarget Exits Stealth Mode With Aggregated Retail Data Solutions". AdExchanger. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
- ^ Medici, Andy. "CareerBuilder founder's data firm rides Covid-fueled migration to online shopping". Washington Business Journal. bizjournals.com. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
- ^ "Robert McGovern Named Venture Partner of New Enterprise Associates; Area Entrepreneur Joins Venture Firm". Business Wire (Press release). Business Wire. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
- ^ "Patents by Inventor Robert J. McGovern". Justia Patents. Justia. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
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