Steve Kirsch

Founder of Infoseek Corporation

• Born: December 24, 1956
• Place of Birth: Los Angeles, California

Primary Company/Organization: Infoseek

Introduction

For more than thirty years, Steve Kirsch has offered innovation to the information technology industry. As an entrepreneur who constantly strives to create cutting-edge technology, he has provided new devices and software that have assisted both individual users and companies. Furthermore, Kirsch's deep commitment to philanthropy has set an example for others inside and outside the industry.

Early Life

Steve Kirsch was born in Los Angeles, California, on December 24, 1956. He first became interested in computers and technology after receiving a calculator in the sixth grade. He subsequently enrolled in a computer class at a museum and later registered for an advanced course at a local computer center. The instructor deemed him to be too young for the class but offered to teach Kirsch individually the intricacies of the IBM 360 computer model. Kirsch soon began to spend time around the engineering facilities at the University of California (UCLA), particularly the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). There, he caught the attention of Vinton Cerf, a researcher at ARPA. Cerf was impressed with Kirsch's burgeoning knowledge and desire to learn more about the agency's computer, the Sigma 7. Kirsch was subsequently given an account with DARPA and as a teenager became responsible for creating a program that would send and receive electronic mail through the various computers in the agency. At this time, Kirsch complemented his growing knowledge of computers with a job at the local arcade that involved fixing pinball machines. Making $30 an hour, Kirsch was able to hone his developing mechanical and electronic skills with this job.

Kirsch's early passion for computers and technology offered a clear indication of his future goals. Seeking a university where he could develop his skills and create a clear platform for a professional life, he applied for and was accepted into the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). As an undergraduate and graduate student at MIT, he studied electrical engineering and computer science. He subsequently developed a deep interest in optics, a major topic in his master's thesis. His enthusiasm for this dimension of physics was complemented with summer work at Bell Laboratories in New Jersey.

While enrolled at MIT, Kirsch developed the protocol for the optical mouse. At the time, all computers were equipped with an affixed mechanical mouse, a device that could occasionally cause problems for the user, especially if it became obstructed or its cord became entangled as a result of the individual's desk configuration. Kirsch attempted to market the optical mouse and even organized a meeting with Steve Jobs at Apple Computer. Although Jobs decided against incorporating the new device into Apple's hardware, Kirsch, undeterred, secured a patent for his invention. The initial license for the optical mouse was granted to Summagraphics in Danbury, Connecticut.

Life's Work

Upon graduating from MIT with both bachelor's and master's degrees in computer science in 1980, Kirsch quickly found a job with ROLM Corporation in California. Working in the systems software department for this large Silicon Valley technology company exposed Kirsch to the intense corporate lifestyle. For Kirsch, the work was monotonous and rigid. He quickly became dissatisfied with the job and resigned after nine months.

While contemplating his future, Kirsch returned his attention to the optical mouse. Frustrated that Summagraphics had not begun manufacturing his invention, Kirsch reacquired the license and in 1982 used his nearly $40,000 in savings to start Mouse Systems Corporation. The start-up company moved steadily along, and in the first year nearly forty-eight hundred devices were sold at $300 each. One year later, sales had doubled. In 1986, Kirsch stepped away from the daily operations of the company. Two years later, it was sold to Kye System Corporation for around $12 million.

Kirsch continued to seek new entrepreneurial opportunities and in 1986 started Frame Technology Corporation with engineer Charles Corfield. The company, which focused mainly on developing desktop publishing software for businesses, became highly successful after its major product, FrameMaker, was introduced to the professional market. The company expanded rapidly before being sold to Adobe Systems in 1995 for $500 million. Kirsch's initial investment of $300,000 in the company had proven extremely fruitful, evident in the $30 million garnered by the sale.

By the late 1980s, Kirsch had become deeply interested in the rapid expansion of the Internet. As the networks associated with this new medium began to be established, Kirsch envisioned the need for an efficient search engine that could rapidly retrieve information. In 1993, he organized Infoseek Corporation. What Kirsch offered through Infoseek was a dynamic product that could provide full-texting searches that encompassed the entire spectrum of the internet. In fact, Infoseek focused on speed and accuracy and was the first search engine to count the total number of hits on accompanying advertisements. By 1998, Infoseek had become an internet portal and had expanded to include other features, including topical channels.

Realizing that Infoseek would have difficulty in surpassing the popularity of Yahoo! and other search engines, Kirsch began considering outside bids for the company. In 1998, Walt Disney Company, under the leadership of Michael Eisner, had begun to incorporate the internet medium by purchasing the portal Go.com. In 1998, Disney reached out to Kirsch and bought a partial stake in Infoseek. The deal opened the door to future negotiations, and one year later, Infoseek was sold to Disney and merged with Disney's Go Network. The sale of the company was finalized for around $1.7 billion, $100 million of which was appropriated directly to Kirsch. Kirsch remained with the new company for four weeks before departing at the end of 1999.

After the success of Infoseek, Kirsch was one of the most recognizable figures in the information technology industry. He remained committed to creating new products and enhancing the ever-evolving technology. Soon after the sale of Infoseek, he set his sights on creating software that would make the internet easier to use. In 1999, he enticed a number of investors and started Propel Software Corporation. Propel focused initially on providing e-commerce with web acceleration by eliminating pop-up blocking and improving connection techniques with dial-up services. Propel has continued to evolve.

Kirsch is constantly seeking methods to create efficiency for customers. During the early 2000s, he sought to contain and prevent the unwanted messages that would suddenly appear in the physical and electronic domains of offices. In 2003, he filed a lawsuit against Fax.com, a company that sent out unsolicited faxes to offices across the United States. The efforts on the part of Kirsch and others led to the Junk Fax Prevention Act of 2005. In 2007, Kirsch founded Abaca Technology Corporation, which blocks spam e-mail. Two years later, Yahoo! signed a deal with Abaca to assist in their efforts to eliminate spam from personal e-mail accounts. In 2011, Kirsch founded OneID, a company that creates a single sign-on password and ultimate security for the internet. Around four years later, he founded and began serving as chief executive officer of Token, a company aimed at creating and licensing fast-payment technology. In 2019, he transitioned to the role of chief innovation officer. He also founded M10 Networks, a startup that sells digital money technology for banks, in 2019.

During the global coronavirus pandemic in 2020, Kirsch turned his attention to the medical field, founding the COVID-19 Early Treatment Fund (CETF) to support the testing of existing drugs and treatments to combat the disease through the use of clinical trials on patients with COVID-19. However, Kirsch came under fire in 2021 when he became a vocal proponent of the anti-vaccination movement and was accused of spreading misleading information to the American public on the efficacy and safety of the COVID-19 vaccines. His anti-vax stance led him to be pressured to step down from the boards of two of the companies he founded: M10 and Token.

Personal Life

Kirsch lives in California with his wife, Michelle; they have three daughters, Julia, Alexandra, and Katherine. For more than two decades, he has been one of the leading philanthropists in the United States. Beginning in 1990, he began to donate much of his wealth to charitable organizations and programs. He has contributed money to projects that he believes will create a better world. He has also contributed significantly to his alma mater, MIT. He provided funds for a new computer science building at the university, assisted in the redevelopment of the school's Technology Review magazine, and has assisted in the creation of interpersonal courses for computer science students. Kirsch is committed to providing MIT students with the resources to become better business leaders.

In 1999, Kirsch and his wife established a charitable foundation to fund environmental, community, and political projects. They are committed to investing in a wide variety of programs that range from nonproliferation programs to campaign finance reforms. The foundation aspires to contribute to causes that can make a difference in local, national, and international environments, has set a precedent for philanthropists, and has been honored with various community awards.

Since 2007, the Kirsch Foundation has focused a great deal of attention and money on health-related issues. This direction began after Kirsch was diagnosed with Waldenström macroglobulinemia, a non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He dedicated his financial resources to finding a cure for this cancer.

Bibliography

Bredderman, William. "Tech Tycoon Dangled a COVID Cure—Then Went Full Anti-Vaxxer." The Daily Beast, 1 Oct. 2021, www.thedailybeast.com/tech-tycoon-steve-kirsch-dangled-a-covid-cure-and-then-went-full-anti-vaxxer. Accessed 8 Mar. 2024.

"Founder and Current CEO, Steve Kirsch, to Assume Chief Innovation Officer Role." Financial IT, 27 Aug. 2019, financialit.net/news/platform-technology/founder-and-current-ceo-steve-kirsch-assume-chief-innovation-officer-role. Accessed 28 Oct. 2019.

Green, Lelia. The Internet: An Introduction to New Media. New York: Berg, 2010. Print.

Kirsch, Steven. “Infoseek's Experiences Searching the Internet.” SIGIR Forum 32.2 (1998): n. pag. Web. 12 Aug. 2012. Kirsch provides a firsthand look at the data that Infoseek gathered from 1994 to 1998.

Perry, Tekla S. “Steve Kirsch.” IEEE Spectrum Aug. 2000. Web. 20 Aug. 2012.

Price, Christopher. Internet Entrepreneurs: Business Rules Are Good; Break Them. Harlow: Pearson Education, 2000. Print.

Steinbock, Dan. The Birth of Internet Marketing Communications. Westport: Quorum, 2000. Print.