Item Details

Description

The David Bohnett papers, ranging in date from 1996 to 2005, hold materials related to GeoCities as well as other web and technology ventures by David Bohnett. The collection primarily contains documentation from companies in which Bohnett was very involved either as a founder, such as GeoCities, or as an active partner, such as Xdrive and Lowermybills.com. Examples of types of materials found throughout the collection include correspondence, business plans and projections, executive summaries, merger and acquisition documentation, and board meeting minutes. The papers include a significant amount of financial and legal documentation, such as early stage fundraising materials, stock certificates and ownership information, company financial statements, IPO and stock information, contracts, and letters of understanding. There are also public-facing materials, such as media and public relations kits, promotional materials, fundraising presentations, and press clippings. Companies represented in this portion of the collection include Geocities, IFILM Corporation, LowerMyBills.com, NotNeutral, PlanetOut Partners, and Xdrive Technologies. About a quarter of the papers hold smaller amounts of documentation about numerous companies in which Bohnett invested, such as Gamesville.com, United Online Inc., and Ceiva. The David Bohnett papers are focused exclusively on Bohnett’s professional work in the technology sector and the contents do not address his extensive philanthropic work. Below is a rough, box-level inventory of the collection. For a more detailed inventory, please contact the archives directly. Box 1-3: GeoCities Box 4: iFilm Corporation Box 5: Lowermybills.com Box 6: NotNeutral Box 7-9: PlanetOut Partners Box 10-14: Xdrive, Inc. and Xdrive Technologies. Box 14 requires review by the archivist before viewing. Box 15: Access Technology Partners, L.P. Box 16: Investments (Avow; Beverly Hills Internet, Inc.; Blackfilm.com; Bold New World; C1TV; Ceiva) Box 17: Investments (Critical Path; CreSenda; Datek Online; Dri-Dek; EncrypTix; Gamesville.com) Box 18: Investments (Halo Promotional Products; Infonautics; Lear; Norman; Pink Paper; PROFITsystems; QuickBrowse.com) Box 19: Investments (United Online, Inc.; Zero Gravity Internet Group) Biographical/Historical Note David Bohnett is a technology entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded the pioneering internet portal and social media site GeoCities.com in 1994. He is also the founder of Baroda Ventures, a venture capital firm, as well as the David Bohnett Foundation, a non-profit, grant-making organization committed to improving society through social activism. Born April 2, 1956 in Chicago, Illinois, Bohnett earned a BS in business administration from the University of Southern California. He also earned an MBA in Finance from the University of Michigan in 1980. Bohnett started his career at Accenture, then Anderson Consulting, in Los Angeles, after which he held various positions in the software industry. In 1994, he and John Rezner founded GeoCities.com, a media and e-commerce company that was once ranked one of the four most trafficked sites on the Web. It was one of the first social networking sites on the Internet and was the first large internet venture built on user-generated content. GeoCities went public in 1998 and was acquired by Yahoo! Inc. in 1999. Bohnett is also an investor and is the founder and managing partner of Baroda Ventures, a Los Angeles-based venture capital firm, which he started in 1998 after the success of GeoCities. The firm is focused on pre-seed and seed stage investments in the consumer internet, e-commerce, mobile, and digital media industries. Bohnett has been an active partner in Xdrive.com, Wireimage.com, Stamps.com, and LowerMyBills.com, and he currently serves on the Board of Directors of several notable technology companies. In addition to his career in technology and entrepreneurship, Bohnett is an active philanthropist. He founded and is currently the chair of the David Bohnett Foundation, which is committed to effecting positive change through community building and social activism. He has served in philanthropic leadership positions such as Chairman of the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts and Vice Chair of the Board of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association. Bohnett has also served as Trustee of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, amfAR (The Foundation for AIDS Research), Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the University of Southern California.

Level of description

Collection

Date

1996-2005

Author

David Bohnett (Author)

Extent

23.75 linear feet in 19 record cartons

Subject

Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital

Collection title

David Bohnett papers

Credit

Gift of David Bohnett

Catalogue number

102784973

Lot number

X8061.2017