May 19, 2008 - Monday

Launching the #1 Most Popular Photo Site on the Internet - The Photobucket Story with Alex Welch and Darren Crystal, Co-Founders of Photobucket
Event Video Available
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In 2003, Denver entrepreneurs Alex Welch and Darren Crystal joined forces to launch Photobucket, what would later become the Internet's most popular site for uploading, sharing, linking and finding photos, videos, and graphics.
To give you an idea of the influential position that Photobucket has carved out on the Internet, here are some of their most recent standings:
- 20 Million unique site visitors/month in the US, and over 39 Million unique site visitors/month worldwide
- #1 most popular Photo site in the US
- #3 most popular Entertainment/Multimedia site in the US
- #7 most popular Entertainment/Multimedia site in the world
- #29 in Top 50 Sites in the US
- #45 top 100 Global Sites*
- 18th Largest Ad supported site in the US (comScore Media Metrix, January 2008)
Last year in July, Photobucket was acquired by Fox Interactive Media, a division of News Corp. but Alex and Darren have remained in their roles as CEO and CTO to guide the company through the years ahead. The company is headquartered in Denver, Colo. with offices in Palo Alto, Calif.
Join us we hear the inside story and some of the hair-pulling moments that were involved in launching this instant success story. The details will most certainly surprise you.
EVENT: Startup Junkie Underground
DATE: May 19, 2008 - Monday
TIME: 06:30am-09:00am
WEBSITE: http://www.startupjunkieunderground.com
LOCATION: MADCAP Theater, 10679 Westminster Blvd, Westminster, CO 80020
DIRECTIONS: Driving Directions
COST: $20, Members: Free, SuperMembers: Free
PHONE: 303-666-4133
TOPIC: Launching the #1 Most Popular Photo Site on the Internet - The Photobucket Story with Alex Welch and Darren Crystal, Co-Founders of Photobucket
SPEAKERS: Alex Welch, Darren Crystal

SPEAKER: Alex Welch
Co-Founder and CEO of Photobucket
Alex Welch is Co-Founder and CEO of Photobucket. As CEO, he is responsible for developing the overall vision, strategy and product roadmap for the company. In 2003, Alex and his Co-Founder Darren Crystal observed that e-commerce and social networking users were in need of an easy-to-use centralized "hub" to store and publish images. Alex and Darren have spent three years building, tuning, and enhancing the application and core infrastructure of Photobucket. Prior to founding Photobucket, Alex was a software engineer at Level 3 Communications where he was responsible for developing advanced networking software and services. Alex received his BS degree from Colorado State University, with an emphasis in Computer Information Systems.

SPEAKER: Darren Crystal
Co-Founder and CTO of Photobucket
Darren Crystal is Co-Founder and CTO of Photobucket. As CTO, Darren is responsible for developing and maintaining all architecture and technology infrastructure at Photobucket. Darren's work has led Photobucket to be one of the most reliable and dependable networks of its kind. Prior to co-founding Photobucket, Darren was a software architect for Level 3 Communications. Prior to that, Darren was a network engineer at Dell Corporation. Darren has been working in the IT industry for sixteen years; he has experience designing, developing, and maintaining large Unix and network infrastructures in companies like IBM Global Services, Maxserv, and Eaton Semiconductors. Darren studied Electrical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin.