Robert Maynard Jr.

Robert Maynard
Born 1962
Phoenix, Arizona
Nationality American
Occupation CEO
Known for Co-Founder of LifeLock & Founder of Internet America
Website RobertMaynard.me

Robert Maynard (born 1962) is an American businessman, serial entrepreneur, and sufferer from bipolar disorder. Maynard is the co-founder of LifeLock and the founder of Internet America, as well as of several smaller companies that did not succeed.

Maynard was not diagnosed with Bipolar disorder until 2001, by which time he had already been the founder of Internet America, which went public in 1998. He then went on to co-found Lifelock with Todd Davis in 2005, resigning amid controversy from his position at LifeLock in 2007 due to problems related to his condition. He relocated to Hawaii in 2008 and started a water sports company, Kandoo.

Now the CEO of SurchX, a startup in the fintech business, Maynard regularly speaks and writes about what it is like to live with bipolar disorder.

Early life

Maynard was born in 1962 in Phoenix, Arizona, enlisted in the US Marine Corps in 1981 and served until 1985. He then took a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the US Army Reserve. He served as an officer in the Army’s 12th Special Forces Group for nine years.

He attended Northern Arizona University from 1985 until 1987 where he graduated with honors that included the Wall Street Journal Award, Distinguished Military Scholar, induction into Beta Gamma Sigma and nomination for the Truman Scholarship for excellence in leadership and academics.[1]

Career

In the late 1990s Maynard had success as the founder of Internet America.[2] The company was established in early 1995,[3] as an Internet Service Provider (ISP) from his home. Within 4 years, the company had grown to over 145,000 subscribers.[4]

Shortly after selling Internet America, Maynard founded Dotsafe. It became a provider of Internet filtering for education and uncovered multiple online predators.[5] The company eventually folded in 2001 after Maynard became ill with what was later diagnosed as bipolar disorder..[6]

Following his illness, Maynard became the co-founder of LifeLock in 2005, along with Todd Davis. LifeLock specialized in identity theft protection. The system created by Maynard and Davis was intended to detect fraudulent actions for a variety of financial services.[7][8] Over the next couple of years, the company expanded quickly and was recognized by many as an upcoming company. But in 2007, two years after the company was founded, it was reported by the Phoenix New Times that Maynard had lied regarding his past.[2]

Because of effect of the allegations on the company, Maynard elected to resign from his position at LifeLock a week later.[9] Following his resignation, it was reported that Electronic Convulsive Therapy (ECT) had affected his memory of the incident in his past that led to his resignation and claimed he had no memory of the incident.[1] He moved with his family to Oahu, Hawaii, where he started a water sports business called Kandoo. The company folded a number of years later following financial problems.[6]

Maynard more recently registered the website iValidate.me, which he thought might become an online consumer-direct credit bureau when fully launched, according to Maynard's LinkedIn profile.[10]

Instead, he gathered a team of friends and former employees around him and founded SurchX back in Phoenix.

Personal life

In the late 1990s and as the CEO of Dotsafe, Maynard began to suffer from an as yet undiagnosed illness that affected his work and led to the failure of Dotsafe as a company. Maynard has said on his website that the condition affected all aspects of his life and even led him to a divorce. After Dotsafe folded in 2001, Maynard sought further medical advice on his condition and was eventually diagnosed with bipolar disorder.[1]

Maynard has suffered with the condition since then and was a major factor in him leaving LifeLock. While suffering with the condition he underwent Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT). This therapy was said to be the main reason for many of his confusing statements about his past, as the treatment affected his memory.[1]

Maynard is now a speaker and writer about Bipolar disorder.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Being Bipolar". RobertMaynard.me.
  2. 1 2 Stern, Ray (May 31, 2007). "What Happened in Vegas". Phoenix New Times.
  3. ↑ "Company Information." Internet America. Retrieved on September 25, 2009.
  4. ↑ "Article: Internet America Finalizes Acquisition of PDQ.Net; Over 145,000 Subscribers for Combined Entity." PR Newswire. November 23, 1999. Retrieved on September 25, 2009.
  5. ↑ Buyikian, Teresa (August 23, 1999). "Yet Another Dot Com Tempts Agency Contenders". Ad Week.
  6. 1 2 Dingeman, Robbie (August 30, 2009). "Kandoo CEO says boat will sail again". Honolulu Advertiser.
  7. ↑ Debbie Carlson (31 January 2014). "Protect financial information from theft". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  8. ↑ Emily Jane Fox (19 December 2013). "4 things to do after your credit card has been hacked". CNN Money. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  9. ↑ Zetter, Kim (June 11, 2007). "LifeLock Founder Resigns Amid Controversy". Wired.com. Archived from the original on May 5, 2009.
  10. ↑ "Official website". iValidate. Archived from the original on 2014-07-20.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.