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Gabriel Shaoolian
Born (1972-04-21) April 21, 1972 (age 52)
Known fordigital trends expertize
founder and CEO of Blue Fountain Media, Digital Silk and OysterLink

Gabriel Shaoolian (born April 21, 1972) is a serial entrepreneur known for founding and growing digital agencies and online businesses. He is the founder and CEO of Digital Silk, a global digital agency growing brands online, OysterLink, a restaurant and hospitality job platform, and DesignRush, a B2B marketplace for brands to select agencies.

Career

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Shaoolian began his career as a graphic designer in 1995, working out of his small apartment in New York City.[1] From there, he moved on to positions with various digital start-ups, including Zeborg, where he was head of Interactive Design from 1998 to 2000.

In 2001, he started an independent career, as a freelance web designer. Shaoolian founded in 2003 his own website development and online marketing company, under the name Gabriel Productions, later re-branded in 2005 as Blue Fountain Media. At first, the company functioned as Shaoolian's self-employed freelancer business.[2] He focused on the effectiveness of brand marketing, studying user behavior, website bounce rate, individual pages performance. Based on these observations, he created marketing strategies identifying the specific audience and the value offered to this audience through a clear message, both on the business website and on social platforms.[3]

After building a portfolio of successful projects, the effectiveness of his approach became better known and the company expanded. Shaoolian managed to expand the company without taking loans or investment money.[4] Blue Fountain Media developed websites and online strategies for clients like Procter & Gamble, NASA, HarperCollins Publishers, AT&T, Nike, the United Nations, Canon, and the National Football League.[5]

In 2017, after selling Blue Fountain Media to Blackstone, Gabriel started DesignRush as an agency director.[6] Seeing that agencies required leads to maintain and grow, Gabriel focused on a lead generation platform for agencies and within a 3-year period grew it to organically generate over 800,000 monthly B2B visitors seeking agencies for various services from branding to marketing to software.[7][8][9] After growing the company to a profitable status, Gabriel took on investors and remains on the board.[10][11]

In 2019, Shaoolian founded Digital Silk, a full-service web design agency to enhance brands' online presence.[12]

The company offers digital experiences through strategic branding, web design and development, and digital marketing services. In 2024, Digital Silk was named one of the best web design companies by Forbes.[13]

In 2024, Shaoolian founded OysterLink, a job platform in the restaurant and hospitality industry. The platform provides top-paying jobs, market insights, tips, real-time data, expert advice, and interviews with industry leaders to help businesses and candidates stay competitive.[14][15][16] 

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Shaoolian is a regular contributor to The New York Times,[17] Huffington Post,[18] and Forbes[19] on digital business topics. He is also featured in other media coverage on similar topics (like The Washington Post,[20] CNN Tech,[21] Reuters[22][23] or Bloomberg TV).[3]

Personal life

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Gabriel Shaoolian is a graduate of New York University, and lives in New York City with his wife and children. His hobbies include scuba diving and tracking.

Biowars

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He enjoys working on his digital comic book project, Biowars.[24] It's an online platform that teaches kids about biology in a fun way, helping them explore the human body.[25]

Publication history

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The first issue of Biowars, titled "Infection", appeared in November 2013. Written by Mark Powers, who also worked at Marvel Comics and Devil's Due, the comic introduced a number of human characters living in New York, in addition to heroes and villains who possess both curative and virulent qualities.[26]

Subsequent issues have since been released on a monthly or bimonthly basis, with its twelfth and latest issue, named "Cosmic Will", released in March 2016.

Storyline

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The story of Biowars centers on Alex Hawking, a student living in Manhattan who is inadvertently passed the Z-Kron pathogen by his father, who then dies from exposure to the biological agent. After receiving the germ, Alex joins up with a reporter who is writing a story on the deadly germ's creators, known as The Combine.

The virus, which Nerd Reactor says is "designed to annihilate the human immune system: a far more efficient and untraceable version of an assassin's bullet,"[27] then takes readers inside Alex's immune system, or BioCosmos.

Moving between New York and inside Alex Hawking's body, readers are introduced to characters from The Combine who are searching for Alex, as well as heroes, biological mutants and microbes in humanoid form living inside of Alex.

Reception

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Since its publication, writers at comic-related websites have published numerous critical reviews of Biowars. Recognizing its scientific angle and concept, Wired wrote this of the comic, "Anthropomorphized immune and nervous system cells in mortal combat? Yes please! Perfect for converting kids from comic nerds to science nerds."[28]

In the Burning Blogger of Bedlam, the author wrote of Biowars' concept, "It is a fascinating concept right from the get-go and one with rich potential. To my knowledge, the inner world of the biological landscape isn't something that has been explored much in comic books (if at all). So right away, I felt like I was experiencing something fresh and new."[29]

Pirate Jenny, of the site Black Girl Nerds, said of the art and themes in Biowars, "With gorgeously detailed illustrations and a creative take on well-known themes including humanity and justice, Biowars delivers an interesting and entertaining story."[30]

In September 2015, Biowars reported to have gained a following of 126,000 Facebook fans and readers leading up to its second year of publication.[31]

Games

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In 2015 the digital comic released a Facebook game and series of mobile gaming apps that allow fans to interact with characters and storylines from the series.

Biowars: Blastor's Saga is a side-scrolling shooter where players become the Biowarrior Blastor and use the character's Antibody Cannons and cyto-skeletal armor to attack enemies.

Biowars: Invisible War is a side-scrolling shooter that allows users to play as a Biowars hero against invading pathogens with the help of another BioWarrior while avoiding in-game terrain.

Biowars: Phagien's Quest is a side-scrolling shooter where users play as the Macrophage Commander Phagien against viruses and microbes inside the human body.

Biowars: Swipe 'N Slash is a game similar to Fruit Ninja, where users select different BioWarriors to defeat microbial threats inside the human body.

References

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  1. ^ Lewis Schiff, Inc.com, (New York: Mansueto Ventures, 2012).
  2. ^ "How One Freelancer Used Google AdWords To Build A Multimillion Dollar Business". $200k Freelancer. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
  3. ^ a b "Making Money Through Your Company Website". Bloomberg TV. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
  4. ^ Matthew Toren, Adam Toren (August 2011). Small Business, Big Vision. ISBN 9781118098585. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
  5. ^ "No. 23 Blue Fountain Media - 2013 Fast 50 Gallery". Crain's New York. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
  6. ^ Shaoolian, Gabriel. "A New Year, A New Company: The Trials And Tribulations Of Building A New Business". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-09-12.
  7. ^ "Lead Generation from Clutch, GoodFirms, and Designrush with the help of Google Ads". Panem Digital Agency. Retrieved 2024-09-12.
  8. ^ "Markivis recognized as "Top Lead Generation Company of the Year 2022" by DesignRush". Markivis. Retrieved 2024-09-12.
  9. ^ Shaoolian, Gabriel. "4 Tips To Add New Web Features Without Disrupting User Experience". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-09-12.
  10. ^ "Gabriel Shaoolian". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-09-12.
  11. ^ Shaoolian, Gabriel (2019-06-12). "How To Sell Your Company In Five Steps". ChiefExecutive.net. Retrieved 2024-09-12.
  12. ^ "The Climb Podcast Ep. 4 w/Gabe Shaoolian". Digital Mastermind Group. January 24, 2020.
  13. ^ "Best Web Design Companies Of 2024 – Forbes Advisor". www.forbes.com. Retrieved 2024-09-12.
  14. ^ "OysterLink survey shows: Restaurant employees feel pressured to work despite illness - Gottagopestcontrol". 2024-08-22. Retrieved 2024-09-12.
  15. ^ Team, Digital (2024-02-12). "Introducing the Future of Hospitality Recruitment: A New Job Portal Launch". Fingerlakes1.com. Retrieved 2024-09-12.
  16. ^ "OysterLink Poll Reveals Restaurant Workers Feel Pressured to Work While Sick". Yahoo Finance. 2024-08-22. Retrieved 2024-09-12.
  17. ^ "Articles by Gabriel Shaoolian on The New York Times". The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
  18. ^ "Articles by Gabriel Shaoolian on Huffington Post". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
  19. ^ "Articles by Gabriel Shaoolian on Forbes". Forbes. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
  20. ^ Gabriel Shaoolian (2011-03-02). "The fine art of polishing your online persona". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on September 2, 2014. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
  21. ^ Todd Leopold (2013-08-01). "When one image is worth a thousand tweets". CNN. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
  22. ^ "Today's Feature". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2011-12-29. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
  23. ^ "Groupon -- is the stock a good one?". Reuters. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
  24. ^ "Biowars - The Battle Rages Within". Retrieved 2013-12-12.
  25. ^ Franco, Michael. "The coolest comic about your body you’re not reading". June 07, 2014. CNET. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  26. ^ "Review: BIOWARS #1 and #2". December 02, 2013. Comics Grinder. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
  27. ^ Sirikul, Laura. "BIOWARS webcomic issue 1 & 2 review". June 11, 2015. Nerd Reactor. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
  28. ^ Wired Staff (2015-08-18). "14 Essential Sources for Getting Up to Speed in Science". WIRED. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
  29. ^ "Review: ‘BIO-WARS’ #1 & 2: Because There’s a War Going On Inside Your Body…!". July 18, 2015. The Burning Blogger of Bedlam. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  30. ^ Pirate Jenny. "Biowars – Comic Book Review". June 02, 2015. Black Girl Nerds. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  31. ^ Shaul, Brandy. "Biowars Games, Comics Make Immunology Accessible (Exclusive)". September 28, 2015. SocialTimes. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
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