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Gary Mekikian

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Gary Mekikian
Mekikian in 2015
Born
Garo Mekikian

Yerevan, Armenia
NationalityAmerican
Alma materStanford University
University of Southern California
Occupation(s)CEO of M&M Media, Inc.
Years active1993 — present
Known forTechnology and software entrepreneurship
Board member of
Websitela2dc.org

Gary Mekikian is an American businessman who is the co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of M&M Media Inc, a Los Angeles–based media technology company. Prior to M&M Media, Mekikian co-founded International Integration, also known as i-Cube; answerfriend, which became Inquira; and GATeIC.

Mekikian is a co-organizer of LA2DC.org, a Los Angeles–based organization whose mission is to raise awareness of modern-day genocides and the Holocaust, and to eliminate genocide as a war tactic.

Mekikian has a BS in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California and an MS from Stanford University, and he holds patents in media technologies[1][2] and medical devices.[3] Mekikian is a member of Stanford University's Graduate School of Business MSx Alumni Advisory Board. He collaborates with Stanford University professors Dr. William Barnett[4] and Dr. John Roberts to write and teach case studies on entrepreneurship, information technology, semiconductor industry, and the mobile internet.

Education

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After attending Hollywood High School for two years, Mekikian earned an electrical engineering degree from University of Southern California and an MS from Stanford University.

Career

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Early ventures

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In 1993, after working at Hewlett-Packard Company as a sales engineer, Mekikian joined the founding team at International Integration Inc., also known as i-Cube, which went public in 1998.[5] i-Cube was acquired by Razorfish, Inc. in 1999.[6]

Mekikian began working with Dr. Deniz Yuret, a researcher in Natural Language Processing at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Sundar Subramaniam, a co-founder of i-Cube, to found answerFriend, Inc., which developed commercialized web based question-answering technologies.[7][8] In 2002, answerFriend merged with another natural language processing technology company, Electric Knowledge, to form InQuira. In 2011, Oracle Corporation acquired Inquira.[9]

In 2006, Mekikian co-founded GATeIC[10] a semiconductor IP company.

M&M Media / TREBEL Music

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In 2014, after a patent was issued on a new method of delivering and monetizing digital media on mobile and desktop devices,[1] Mekikian co-founded M&M Media, Inc.,[11] a digital music distribution company that released the TREBEL Music app to reduce digital media piracy by specifically targeting a demographic which uses piracy as a form of digital media consumption.[12][13]

TREBEL Music operates in Indonesia, Mexico, Colombia,[14] and the US, and its investors include fashion mogul, Chris Burch, global pop star Maluma,[15][16] NBA basketball star, Thaddeus Young,[17] soccer star Memo Ochoa,[18][19] and Indonesian media mogul, Hary Tanoesoedibjo.[20]

Genocide Awareness and Prevention

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In 2015, the descendants of the survivors of the Armenian genocide commemorated the 100th anniversary of the first genocide of the 20th century around the world.[21] Mekikian, along with a group of Armenian Americans, organized an event which was titled LA2DC,[22] a coast-to-coast, running and cycling, relay marathon. The purpose of the event is to increase awareness of modern-day genocides, and prevent genocides from being used as a war tactic. Over a thousand athletes ran and cycled non-stop, from Los Angeles to Washington DC, to deliver a petition to Congress - a message of gratitude to Americans and others who worked to prevent genocides, and rescued the survivors. Mekikian and colleagues authored the petition[23] which was delivered in a relay baton to Congressman Adam Schiff who read it on the floor of the House of Representatives on May 20, 2015.[24]

Bibliography

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  • Prof. William Barnett and Gary Mekikian, (2013) Mercado Libre, Leadership and Managing People, Stanford Graduate School of Business[25]
  • Gary Mekikian and Prof. John Roberts, (2009) Note on IT Services Industry, Economics, Stanford Graduate School of Business[26]
  • Gary Mekikian and Prof. John Roberts, (2009) Tata Consultancy Services, Globalization of IT Services, Economics,[27]
  • Prof. William Barnett and Gary Mekikian, (2008) Creating Qualcomm, Organizational Behavior, Entrepreneurship, Stanford Graduate School of Business[28]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Electronic Media Download and Distribution Using Real-Time Message Matching and Concatenation".
  2. ^ "Answering natural language queries".
  3. ^ "Method and apparatus to prevent esophageal damage".
  4. ^ "William P. Barnett". Stanford Graduate School of Business.
  5. ^ "International Integration Inc. S1". SEC Report.
  6. ^ Journal, Andrea PetersenStaff Reporter of The Wall Street (August 11, 1999). "Razorfish Is Set to Acquire i-Cube In Stock Deal Worth $677 Million". Wall Street Journal – via www.wsj.com.
  7. ^ "AnswerFriend Seeks to Sell Question-Answering Software". Wall Street Journal. 24 August 2000.
  8. ^ "The Innovators MEET THE 65 COMPANIES AND THEIR OWNERS WHO HAVE CONJURED UP THE LATEST WAVE OF PRODUCTS, SERVICES, AND TECHNOLOGIES. - May 1, 2001". money.cnn.com.
  9. ^ "Oracle and InQuira". www.oracle.com. Retrieved 2020-03-02.
  10. ^ "Gary Mekikian". Stanford Graduate School of Business.
  11. ^ Prosser, David. "Trebel Hopes Going Public Will Take It To The Top Of The Charts". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-04-22.
  12. ^ Braa, Megan (September 23, 2015). "Trebel Music app provides free music downloads, campus charts tailored to students". The Rocky Mountain Collegian.
  13. ^ "Trebel Music app aims to bring free tunes to college students". September 21, 2015.
  14. ^ Hernández, Enrique (2022-03-02). "Trebel, una app fondeada por industriales regios y colombianos para abatir la piratería musical". Forbes México (in Mexican Spanish). Retrieved 2023-04-22.
  15. ^ Vega, Lina Vargas (2023-03-15). "Trebel es la aplicación que permite escuchar música de forma legal y gratuita sin gastar datos". Forbes Colombia (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-04-22.
  16. ^ "Colombian Star Maluma Invests in Trebel Music-Streaming Platform (1)". news.bloomberglaw.com. Retrieved 2023-04-22.
  17. ^ "'Felices sin wifi': Maluma invierte app con socios mexicanos, de descarga de música". El Financiero (in Spanish). 30 March 2022. Retrieved 2023-04-22.
  18. ^ Hernández, Enrique (2022-11-17). "Estas son las marcas, empresas e inversiones de Memo Ochoa y Alfredo Talavera". Forbes México (in Mexican Spanish). Retrieved 2023-04-22.
  19. ^ Univision. "Guillermo Ochoa se suma a TREBEL como inversionista". TUDN (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-04-22.
  20. ^ Pradipta, Vega Aulia. "MNC Studios Investasi di TREBEL Music, Bakal Punya 1 Direktur". CNBC Indonesia (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2023-04-22.
  21. ^ Herszenhorn, David M. (2015-04-24). "Armenia, on Day of Rain and Sorrow, Observes 100th Anniversary of Genocide". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-01-01.
  22. ^ "Cyclists, Marchers Commemorate Armenian Genocide". NBC Southern California. Retrieved 2016-12-31.
  23. ^ "Congressional Record". www.congress.gov. Retrieved 2016-12-31.
  24. ^ AdamSchiff (2015-05-20), Rep. Schiff Speech on House Floor Honoring LA2DC Participants, retrieved 2016-12-31
  25. ^ "Mercado Libre". Stanford Graduate School of Business.
  26. ^ "Note on the IT Services Industry". Stanford Graduate School of Business.
  27. ^ "Tata Consultancy Services, Globalization of IT Services". Stanford Graduate School of Business.
  28. ^ "Creating Qualcomm (A)". Stanford Graduate School of Business.
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