Meet David Eckoff

“David Eckoff is a cannonball of energy, delivering passion and engagement.” - Chris Brogan

My name is David Eckoff, and I specialize in developing and launching game-changing online consumer media businesses. My goal is to develop consumer products that are important to the daily lives of millions of people.

My passions:

* My passion is bringing innovative ideas from the drawing board to market, then growing those businesses. I’ve defined go-to-market strategies and led teams in companies ranging from startup to Fortune 500.

* I love discovering untapped opportunities through data analysis, listening to customers, and building business through the best uses of social media.

* My product philosophy: it’s great to care about user experience, and it’s even better to care about your users.

* Am known for evangelizing the concept: “You don’t make money from your ideas, you make money from the execution of your ideas.” Execution is everything.

* As a professional journalist, I love talking with entrepreneurs and writing about technology.

Currently, I am co-founder of a social game development studio, with our first game in early stage Alpha. Stay tuned…

I am Executive Chairman of SportsCrunch (formerly known as Xsporture), an Atlanta-based startup that is developing a social media platform for athletes, coaches and fans. Like LinkedIn for sports.

I’m also an advisor to media and technology companies, helping take revolutionary ideas from the drawing board to market, through my company Revolutionary Ventures. I’ve worked with companies included Kleiner Perkins backed Zazzle.com, live interactive broadcasting platform Ustream.TV, 3D Virtual World innovator Kaneva, and more.

I co-founded Spitter, Inc. an early stage company dedicated to aggregating the explosion of news and discussion on the web and filtering and organizing that content by niche topics of interest to passionate fans.

I serve on the board of advisors for companies including: Competitive Sports Analysis, a software company that provides highly accurate predictive data analysis for fantasy sports players; Digital Strength Training, an exciting new company developiong innovative strength training exercise machines; YourSports.com; and the Representative Journalism Network.

I’ve been a professional technology journalist, writing a regular column “Business Edge, with David Eckoff“ for hyper-local website Patch, about how companies use social media and technology to connect with their customers and grow their businesses. I love talking with entrepreneurs and writing about technology.

Previously, I was Vice President, New Product Development & Innovation at Turner Broadcasting (CNN, TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network) responsible for overseeing the development, evaluation and launch of new products across the Turner entertainment, news and animation divisions. While in Turner’s New Products Group, I developed and launched PlayOn Sports, an innovative technology platform that enables rights holders to economically produce live video webcasts for games not on TV. I also evaluated and developed a variety of new product concepts, including an online entertainment network for producers of original shows created for the Internet.

Before joining Turner, I was Senior Director at RealNetworks Inc., overseeing product management, business development, and strategy. While at Real, I led the live online hit show “CBS Big Brother 24/7″ (doubling revenue year over year); invented an online network for the long tail of video, a forerunner of YouTube; developed product plans revitalizing and repositioning the company’s flagship consumer online product from a cable TV-like business to a broader media and services business; developed live online sports audio-cast products; and negotiated deals with CBS television, FOX Sports, Primedia, ESPN, CSTV, Conde Nast, Rolling Stone, McAfee and more.

Before joining Real, I was Senior Vice-President at Rivals.com, a 180-employee start-up private company funded by Intel, Softbank, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners and News Corporation (Fox). While at Rivals, I developed the Rivals.com sports news network destination, grew its audience from startup to 1.5 million users per month with minimal marketing budget, and led the company’s transition to a “freemium” business model.

Prior to joining Rivals, I was at IBM Corporation in various financial management positions.

I have a passion for innovation, new product development, customer experience, fitness & nutrition, technology, media, music and sports. I hold an MBA from the University of North Carolina.

Additionally, in 1993 I founded InsideCarolina, a print magazine and paid subscription website covering University of North Carolina basketball and football. I developed what was in 1993 an innovative business model for “open source news reporting”, a key to the longevity of the publication. Notably, the November 27, 2000 edition of ESPN Magazine named InsideCarolina as the top college basketball website. In 2000, I successfully sold the business and today Inside Carolina remains one of the top college sports publications in the nation, now associated with FOX. You can read a short history of Inside Carolina on Wikipedia.

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(Photo: stevegarfield)

About my blog: the views expressed here are my own and not those of my employer or clients. The comments on my weblog do not include personal opinion or factual information concerning business discussions where I work. None of my editorial and/or commentary on this weblog should be interpreted as endorsements, promotions or advertisements.