Big Think

Big Think, a multimedia web portal, was founded in 2007 with the intent to organize and connect information on the internet.[1] The website is a collection of interviews, presentations, and roundtable discussions with speakers from a range of fields. Individuals and interested companies can utilize filters and e-learning tools to find refined information.

Big Think
Type of site
 Web portal
Created by Victoria Brown and Peter Hopkins
Website BigThink.com
Launched 2007
Current status Active

Founding of Big Think

The concept for Big Think was developed by Victoria Brown and Peter Hopkins.[2] Victoria Brown is the acting CEO while Peter Hopkins maintains the role of co-founder and president of the company. Both founders envisioned “an online platform where the world’s leading experts could weigh in on current issues”.[3] Hopkins envisioned the platform as being a YouTube for intellectuals.[4]

The company began when the pair met while working with Google Video to digitize the VHS archives of the show Charlie Rose in 2006. The shared employment lead to Brown and Hopkins contemplating how to organize information into “short-form intellectual videos targeting online audiences”.[5]

Beginning with solely video content in 2008, Big Think started adding blogs and written content into Big Think in 2009, adding the first big blogger, Mr. Michio Kaku and Strangemaps, in 2010. In 2012, Big Think started live-streaming parts of company interviews, providing individual and companies with “real-time interaction with notable guests”. As of March 2012, the Big Think YouTube channel passed 20 million views, and the video archive of the website included 1200+ clips from 2000+ experts.[3]

Initial Investors

Some of the initial investors in the project were Peter Thiel from Paypal, Tom Scott of Natucket Nectars, television producer Gary David Goldberg, lead investor and venture capitalist David Frankel, and former Harvard University President Lawrence Summers.

Expansion of Big Think

Since its creation, the website has spawned several specified sites, such as Big Think Edge for Business and Floating University for Higher Education.[6][7] Big Think has stayed privately-owned and works with roughly 50 employees.[8]

References

  1. ↑ "Big Think Company Profile: Valuation & Investors | PitchBook". pitchbook.com. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  2. ↑ "About Us". Big Think. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  3. 1 2 Kanani, Rahim. "Cofounder and President of BigThink Talks Getting Smarter Faster". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  4. ↑ Arango, Tim (2008). "Ex-Harvard President Meets a Former Student, and Intellectual Sparks Fly". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  5. ↑ Melber, Ari (2008-03-31). "YouTube for Smart People". The Nation. ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  6. ↑ Edge, Big Think. "Big Think Edge | Modern Video Learning for Your Organization". www.bigthinkedge.com. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  7. ↑ Editors, Big Think. "Welcome to The Floating University: Big Think Launches E-Learning Platform". Big Think. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  8. ↑ "Big Think | Crunchbase". Crunchbase. Retrieved 2018-03-26.


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