Jonathan Lacoste

Jonathan Lacoste (born September 2, 1993) is an American internet entrepreneur currently living in Boston, Massachusetts. In 2011, Lacoste along with classmate and friend Tom Coburn, co-founded Jebbit, an enterprise software company in the mobile marketing and consumer data space.[1] Lacoste currently serves as the company's President and sits on the Board of Directors.[2]

Jonathan Lacoste
Born (1993-09-02) September 2, 1993
Columbus, Ohio
Alma materBoston College (dropped out)
OccupationEntrepreneur

Early life and education

Lacoste was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio to Jean and Jane Lacoste along with two younger brothers, Joshua and Joel. He is the grandson of Réné Lacoste. He received his high school diploma from St. Edward High School, a private, all-male Catholic, college-preparatory high school located in Cleveland, Ohio.[3] Growing up, Lacoste was a nationally ranked ice hockey goaltender. At the World Hockey Cup, Lacoste was awarded the "Bästa Målvakt" or "Best Goaltender" Award in Stockholm, Sweden.[4][5] He also became the youngest goaltender to win a game in the North American Hockey League (NAHL) at the age of 16 years, 3 months for the Alpena IceDiggers.[6] Lacoste started his academic career at Boston College, however, ended up dropping out of school after his third semester.[7] While at Boston College, Lacoste launched Jebbit with classmates Tom Coburn and Chase McAleese.[8][9]

Jebbit

Lacoste's co-founder, Tom Coburn, received the initial inspiration for Jebbit in an airport as he observed a Hulu TV show on his laptop and realized how infrequently he paid attention to online advertising.[1] Coburn began tinkering around with the idea on his own and eventually entered it into the Boston College Venture Competition under the working name, Additupp.[10] After tying for first place, Coburn teamed up with Lacoste, and together they renamed the company Jebbit and built out a team of Boston College students before ultimately leaving school early.[11] Jebbit customers have included Dell, eBay, Cathay Pacific, Volkswagen, NFL, Live Nation, Keurig, Harvard University and many more.[12]

By mid-2013, Jebbit had raised more than $1.8 million of venture capital from firms such as Data Point Capital and Boston Seed Capital, as well as entrepreneurs including HubSpot Founder Dharmesh Shah and Acquia Founder Jay Batson.[13] Jebbit was recognized by CNBC as one of the "Top 25 Most Promising Companies in the World" as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week in 2013.[14] In addition, Jebbit has received industry awards at the Marketer's Choice Awards and by the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council for innovation in the digital marketing and advertising industry.[15][16][17]

Recognition

In 2013, Lacoste became one of the youngest entrepreneurs to ever receive funding from a venture capital firm, at the age of 19. In addition, Lacoste and the Jebbit team have been profiled in such publications and shows as Forbes, CNBC, The Boston Globe, The Boston Business Journal and others. Following his inclusion in the 2015 edition of Forbes 30 Under 30, Lacoste appeared on CNBC's Squawk Box to discuss Jebbit and the challenges of being a millennial entrepreneur.[18]

Awards
  • Massachusetts "Emerging Executive of the Year" Award
  • Forbes 30 Under 30[19]
  • Boston Globe's 25 Under 25[20]

References
  1. Nanos, Janelle (Winter 2014). "Ad venture". Boston College Magazine.
  2. "Jonathan Lacoste: Executive Profile & Biography". Bloomberg.
  3. Hitch, John (2012-08-19). "Business Sense". Cleveland Magazine.
  4. "Jonathan Alexander Lacoste Ice Hockey Recruiting Profile". new.berecruited.com.
  5. "Jonathan Lacoste - Boys Ice Hockey Statistics". highschoolsports.cleveland.com.
  6. "More NAPHL players earn recognition". North American Prospects Hockey League (NAPHL). 2010-01-12.
  7. "Boston's Jebbit was founded by two college undergrads and grown big - Uncubed". Uncubed. 2014-12-18.
  8. Alspach, Kyle (2013-01-15). "BC students raise $229K for startup Jebbit, plan hiatus from school". Boston Business Journal.
  9. Alspach, Kyle (2012-06-01). "School or startup? 3 BC students behind Jebbit weigh staying in college". Boston Business Journal.
  10. Bitonte, Kendall (2011-05-01). "A Deeper Look at the 2011 Boston College Venture Competition Winning Teams". BostInno.
  11. Keohane, Dennis (2014-01-08). "2014 is Going to Be a Very Good Year for ... Jebbit". VentureFizz.
  12. "Interactive Ad Tech Startup, Jebbit, Raises Additional $1.25 Million in Funding". Yahoo! Finance. 2013-08-01.
  13. Alspach, Kyle (2013-08-01). "Ad tech startup Jebbit raises $1.25M led by Data Point Capital". Boston Business Journal.
  14. "The World's Most Promising New Companies". CNBC. 2012-11-09.
  15. Landry, Lauren (2014-09-11). "Meet the 20 Overall Winners of MassTLC's 17th Annual Leadership Awards". BostInno.
  16. "Mass Technology Leadership Council Fetes 17th Annual Technology Leadership Award Winners at Gala Celebration". www.mobilitytechzone.com. 2014-09-12.
  17. Castellanos, Sara (2014-09-11). "Entrepreneurs, tech companies honored at annual MassTLC Leadership Awards Gala". Boston Business Journal.
  18. Jebbit turning ads into opportunities. CNBC Squawk Box. February 19, 2015.
  19. Rooney, Jenny. "2015 30 Under 30: Marketing and Advertising: Tom Coburn, 23, Jonathan Lacoste, 21". Forbes.
  20. "Hive 25 under 25 winners". Boston.com. 2013-10-04.
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