Scott Dorsey (born July 1, 1967) is an American entrepreneur, investor, and startup advisor. He is a co-founder and managing partner at High Alpha, a venture studio that conceives, launches and scales enterprise technology companies.[1] In late 2000, Dorsey, Chris Baggott, and Peter McCormick co-founded ExactTarget, a provider of digital marketing automation and analytics software and services.[2] ExactTarget raised $161.5 million in an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in 2012 and was acquired by salesforce.com for $2.5 billion in 2013.[2][3] During his career at ExactTarget, Dorsey held the positions of chairman and CEO. Dorsey stepped down as chief executive officer of Salesforce ExactTarget Marketing Cloud in May 2014.[4]

Scott D. Dorsey
BornJuly 1, 1967
Ohio
Alma mater
OccupationManaging Partner at High Alpha
OrganizationHigh Alpha
Known forentrepreneur, investor, co-founder and former CEO and Chairman of ExactTarget

Early life and education edit

Dorsey was born in Northeast Ohio and grew up in Naperville, Illinois. He attended Indiana University Bloomington and received a Bachelor's in Marketing from the Kelley School of Business.[5]

He later went on to receive his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in 1999.[6]

Career edit

Dorsey, Baggott, and McCormick co-founded ExactTarget in late 2000.[2] In 2004, ExactTarget raised $10.5 million from Insight Venture Partners and grew to $31.2 million in revenues by 2006 before filing to go public in December 2007.[7][8] In May 2009, ExactTarget withdrew its IPO application and instead raised $70 million in equity financing from Battery Ventures, Scale Venture Partners, and Greenspring Associates, followed by another $75 million later that year led by Technology Crossover Ventures.[7][9][10]

Scott plays golf at Crooked Stick in Indianapolis, Indiana. Over the next two years, ExactTarget acquired Keymail Marketing, a UK-based ExactTarget reseller, CoTweet, a social media management tool, mPath Global, an Australian-based reseller, and Frontier Digital, a Brazilian-based reseller.[11][12][13][14] These acquisitions began ExactTarget's international and product line expansions.

In March 2012, ExactTarget raised $161.5 million in its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange.[15] ExactTarget went on to acquire marketing automation vendor, Pardot, and product recommendations and intelligence engine, iGoDigital, later in 2012.[16] Salesforce.com acquired ExactTarget for $2.5 billion in June 2013 at a 50% premium.[17][18] Dorsey stepped down as chief executive officer of Salesforce ExactTarget Marketing Cloud in May 2014.[4]

In 2015, Dorsey co-founded the venture studio, High Alpha, alongside Kristian Andersen and former ExactTarget executives Mike Fitzgerald and Eric Tobias.[19] High Alpha raised $35 million in initial funding in June 2015 from Emergence Capital, Greenspring Associates, and Hyde Park Venture Partners.[20]

Dorsey has also played a prominent role in the Indianapolis sports community, serving as a board member for Indiana Sports Corp since 2009 and being elected Chairman of the Indiana Sports Corp board of directors in 2013. Dorsey also served as the Chair for the Marketing and Communications Division for the 2012 Indianapolis Super Bowl Host Committee.[21]

The ExactTarget Foundation was founded in 2011.[22] After the Salesforce acquisition in 2013, the ExactTarget Foundation was reorganized under a new name and mission as Nextech with Dorsey as its chairman. Nextech's mission is to connect educators, innovative nonprofits, and entrepreneurs to deliver programs that inspire and enable young people from all backgrounds to pursue careers in technology.[23]

Honors and awards edit

Dorsey was named the Indiana 2003 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2003.[24]

In 2004, Dorsey was recognized by Indianapolis Business Journal as one of their 40 Under 40.[5]

In 2011, Dorsey was named an American Business Awards Executive of the Year[25] and Techpoint Trailblazer in Technology.[26]

Dorsey was named to the Laureate Central Indiana Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame[27] and the Indiana Chamber of commerce Business Leader of the Year in 2012.[28]

In 2014, Dorsey was presented the Distinguished Entrepreneur Award by Indiana University's Kelley School of Business.[29]

Dorsey was awarded a Sagamore of the Wabash award, the highest honor which the Governor of Indiana bestows, from Governor Daniels in 2012 and from Governor Pence in 2014.[30][31][32]

Dorsey also serves on a number of boards, including Indiana Sports Corp, Nextech,[33] Techpoint,[34] Tinderbox,[35] Dean's Advisory Board at Indiana University School of Informatics and Computing, and Global Advisory Board at Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University[36]

References edit

  1. ^ "Scott Dorsey and friends have $35M to spend on tech startups". Indianapolis Star. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c "Digital marketer ExactTarget splashed onto NYSE". www.ibj.com. December 27, 2012. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  3. ^ Jones, Steven D. "Salesforce.com Lands Deal for Online-Marketing Race". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  4. ^ a b "ExactTarget CEO Dorsey leaving company". www.ibj.com. May 30, 2014. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  5. ^ a b "Office of Development & Alumni Relations : Kelley School of Business : Indiana University Bloomington". kelley.iu.edu. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  6. ^ "Kellogg Magazine Winter 2013 | Brave Thinkers". www.kellogg.northwestern.edu. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  7. ^ a b Barry, David (February 10, 2010). "The $100 Million Revenue Club: ExactTarget". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  8. ^ "SEC Info – ExactTarget, Inc. – IPO: 'S-1' on 12/14/07". www.secinfo.com. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  9. ^ "E-Mail Marketer ExactTarget Raises $70 Million From Venture Firms; Delays IPO". www.cbsnews.com. May 7, 2009. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  10. ^ "DigitalGlobe Shares Advance After $279.3 Million IPO (Update1) – Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  11. ^ "ExactTarget acquires Frontier Digital". adage.com. September 14, 2011. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
  12. ^ "ExactTarget acquires Keymail Marketing to expand into UK market". Direct Marketing News. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  13. ^ Ingram, Mathew (March 2, 2010). "Worlds of Email Marketing and Twitter Collide". Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  14. ^ "Email marketer ExactTarget acquires former reseller in bid to expand in Asia Pacific". VentureBeat. August 24, 2010. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  15. ^ "Venture-backed IPOs raised $1.5 billion last quarter". Reuters. April 2, 2012. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  16. ^ "Rob Brosnan's Blog". blogs.forrester.com. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  17. ^ "Salesforce.com Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire ExactTarget - salesforce.com". www.salesforce.com. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  18. ^ "Salesforce To Buy ExactTarget For $2.5 Billion". Forbes. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  19. ^ "High Alpha Raises $35M to Improve The Enterprise Cloud". tech.co. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  20. ^ "Dorsey, Gravity investors raise $35M to launch High Alpha". www.ibj.com. June 10, 2015. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  21. ^ "Scott Dorsey – Indiana Sports Corp". www.indianasportscorp.org. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  22. ^ "ExactTarget Foundation Awards First Grant to Fund Programs at Indianapolis Charter School | Business Wire". www.businesswire.com (Press release). April 5, 2013. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
  23. ^ "Dorsey launches not-for-profit focused on tech jobs". www.ibj.com. April 13, 2015. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
  24. ^ "ExactTarget's Scott Dorsey Wins Indiana Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Award". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  25. ^ "The American Business Awards: Management Awards Finalists". www.stevieawards.com. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  26. ^ "Scott Dorsey is TechPoint's 2011 Trailblazer in Technology - PR.com". www.pr.com. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  27. ^ "BUSINESS HALL OF FAME LAUREATES". Junior Achievement of Central Indiana.
  28. ^ "Chamber Presents Top Honors at 2012 Celebration of Business – Indiana Chamber of Commerce". www.indianachamber.com. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  29. ^ "Six alumni of IU's Kelley School of Business being honored at awards gala: IUB Newsroom: Indiana University". news.indiana.edu. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  30. ^ "Six alumni of IU's Kelley School of Business being honored at awards gala: IUB Newsroom: Indiana University". news.indiana.edu. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
  31. ^ "Keynotes – Private Equity and Venture Capital Conference 2015 | CampusGroups at Kellogg School of Management". kellogg.campusgroups.com. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
  32. ^ "TinderBox Names ExactTarget Co-Founder Scott Dorsey Chairman". Reuters. January 28, 2015. Retrieved February 15, 2016.[dead link]
  33. ^ "Nextech". nextech.org. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  34. ^ "Techpoint". techpoint.org. May 2015. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  35. ^ "TinderBox". gettinderbox.com. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  36. ^ "Global Advisory Board | Kellogg School of Management | Northwestern University". www.kellogg.northwestern.edu. Retrieved December 3, 2015.