Jon Oringer is an American businessman who is known for starting Shutterstock, a company that sells stock media and editing tools. He is a programmer, photographer, and billionaire businessman.
He discovered “one of the Web’s first pop-up blockers” while studying in college during the 1990s. He assiduously found ten more startups that were used to sell his own software products through the subscription method. He has received a number of business awards.
In 2012, he received Ernst & Young New York’s Technology Entrepreneur of the Year award. He has been a member of the Partnership for New York City’s Board of Directors since December 2013. As of December 1st, 2021, his net worth is estimated to be $1.5 billion USD.
Personal Life:– Jon was born and raised in Scarsdale, New York. At age 5, he started learning computer programming and started coding. He used to code “simple games and plug-ins for bulletin board systems” on his Apple IIe. He developed a hobby of clicking pictures in his early teens.
He resides in the West Village, in Manhattan. He became a certified commercial helicopter pilot in 2012. His Miami Beach mansion costs around $42 million, which is a record.
Education:— Jon completed his formal education at Scarsdale High School (1988–1992). In 1993, he enrolled at Stony Brook University to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Mathematics. He received his graduate degree in 1996. He then pursued a Master’s of Science in Computer Science from Columbia University (1996–1998).
Professional Life:– He began earning money at a young age by taking guitar lessons. He ultimately went directly to restoration computer systems outside his mother’s and father’s residences and discovered them to be more lucrative. Even while still in college, he began selling his own software products on the Internet. He found and offered hundreds of copies of what Forbes describes as “one of the Web’s first pop-up blockers.”
While studying for his master’s degree at Columbia University, he continued to develop products to supplement the pop-up blocker through a subscription model. The increase in revenue for “private firewalls, trademark managers, accounting software, cookie blockers,” and other small programs began with the subscription-based total approach.
Startups:— He asserts that he was the sole employee at those ten startups that he founded initially. He released new online tools and projects like Spectrum, a new image discovery tool, in March 2013. In June 2013, he launched a subscription-based online marketplace for instructional videos named Skillfeed.
Shutterstock also launched Offset, a marketplace emphasizing high-end curated photos, and a few months later, the company launched its first Android app. He also founded SurfSecret Software, a privacy and security software company, where he served as founder and CEO for 5 years (January 1998–January 2003).
Founder of Shutterstock: Jon serves as the Founder and Executive Chairman of Shutterstock, headquartered in New York. He served as CEO at Shutterstock. However, he announced in February 2020 that he would resign as CEO and serve as Executive Chairman beginning in April 2020. Jon Oringer is now the Executive Chairman of Shutterstock. Stan Pavlovsky has been the new CEO since April 2020. The company operates in more than 150 countries and 20 languages.
He started Shutterstock in 2003 to sell microstock images. Since 2012, these images have been traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Following that, in 2013, he became New York’s first tech billionaire. As of March 2016, Shutterstock had over 100,000 participants and 1.nine million active purchasers in one hundred and fifty countries.
As of 2006, the company had grown to become the world’s largest subscription-primarily based, entirely stock image corporation, with 570,000 images in its collection, led by Jon. In 2009, Shutterstock received its rival credit score, Bigstock, which was primarily based on Microsoft Images Corporation. In 2011, the employer debuted Shutterstock for iPad, which may be accessed for free.
On October 17, 2012, Jon took Shutterstock public by issuing an initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange. After that, he owned 55 percent of Shutterstock, in large part via the non-public investments that he made for the employer.
Business idea:— Jon thought of establishing Shutterstock when he realized that emails with photos were received better than without. The idea emerged while he was going through a mailing list to market his software. It was getting difficult for him to find affordable generic stock photos online.
He then came up with the idea of microstock photography, with the goal of selling images on the internet at lower prices. He funded his startup entirely with his own savings and handled all roles solely, including customer service. He advertised Shutterstock on major platforms like Google AdWords.
Microstock Photography:— He was a passionate photographer as well. Thus, he purchased a Canon Rebel camera to take pictures for a new stock-photo marketplace that offered its services to advertisers and microstock photography. Within six months, he took approximately 100,000 photographs.
He then released a collection of 30,000 photos through a new website called Shutterstock. He made those photographs available via a subscription model, which allowed for unlimited downloads and a monthly starting fee of $49.
Initially, he used his friends as models for the inventory photos. Gradually, he employed an image director to prepare shoots for the company. However, due to an increase in demand, he outgrew his image supply. He eventually became an agent and hired additional members and reviewers to ensure thorough examination and editorial consistency.