Jeffrey Peterson (born October 11, 1972, in Santa Barbara, California) is an American technology entrepreneur and California born millionaire who is considered the pioneer of Hispanic internet in the United States. He is best known as the founder of Quepasa, the first Latin American online community to go public and trade on a stock exchange in the early dot-com internet era of the late 1990s. In 2012, Quepasa changed its corporate name to MeetMe and continued trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market under ticker symbol . MeetMe subsequently acquired the Skout, if(we), Tagged, and hi5 social networks and internet brands. As of mid 2018, renamed parent company the Meet Group had a market value of about U.S. $300 million.
Early life and education Peterson grew up in Santa Barbara, California. As a son of British mother and an American father, his paternal ancestors emigrated to Santa Barbara from Spain. Peterson was educated at public schools in the Santa Barbara area. He was raised next door to the director of the University of California, Santa Barbara computer laboratory, who introduced him to computer programming at an early age in 1978."Death of a dot-com", by Jane Larson, The Arizona Republic, September 9, 2001, cover story
In 2017, Peterson's life story was featured in a book written by motivational speaker Brian Tracy about entrepreneurs. Peterson spent much of his early childhood remotely connecting to the UCSB mainframe computers via terminal and modem. Through early access to technology, Peterson learned to make his own Unix and VMS–based software applications on the campus PDP-11 and DEC VAX computer systems. In the early years of computing, the largely technical science of programming was a pastime overrun by the likes of college professors and engineers. To fit in, Peterson reportedly maintained an identity for login on the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory PDP-10, where he was known by his peers as "Dr. Jeffrey Peterson", at the age of eleven."California Public Schools Forum" Volume 2: Microcomputers Graduate School of Education, UCSB, June 1987 (98 pgs.)
In 1981, Peterson landed his first job, as a troubleshooter for a software company focused on Commodore computers. In 1983, he worked as a product tester for vintage hardware manufacturer LOBO Systems. During the mid-1980s, Peterson focused on the development of software for freely distributed bulletin board system and multi-user dungeon gaming applications. He was known among his colleagues as an expert at implementing customized kernel-level multitasking solutions, who regularly pushed early hardware beyond traditional limits. Peterson, already a seasoned assembly and C language developer in his early years, contributed heavily to the emerging F/OSS programming communities of the 1980s. He has published numerous texts, including articles on multiprocessing, quasi-empirical methods, and artificial intelligence.
Peterson was ridiculed about his early programming years in a satirical article published by TheStreet.com in 2004. The article, which highlights Peterson's public biography as filled in a Quepasa proxy statement on April 23, 2004, was suspicious about believing that he was programming computers when he was ten years old. Nonetheless, Peterson is credited at this age as a contributor on the inside cover of a best selling microcomputer software book in 1983.
Well acquainted with the college scene from his earlier programming years, Peterson worked as a disc jockey at UCSB college radio station KCSB-FM from 1986 to 1990."La Cumbre" Yearbook, Volumes 67–68, Copyright 1987, 1988 ASUCSB During the late 1980s, Peterson held the position of "traffic manager" on the sixteen-member executive committee at college radio station KCSB-FM that gave both Jim Rome and Sean Hannity their first radio broadcasting jobs.
Peterson dropped out of high school in 1988 at age 16, to pursue his career in investments. He continued postliminary studies in the areas of law and history.
Career Wall Street years In 1989, Peterson started his first job at a Wall Street investment firm, Lehman Brothers, where he learned about the stock market. He would later pass the industry exams, becoming a stockbroker at age nineteen. After working for several Wall Street firms, he landed in the field of investment banking, where he gained experience in corporate finance. Peterson would go on to work with investment groups that financed hundreds of companies primarily through initial public offering transactions during the strong stock market conditions of the early 1990s.
Quepasa.com
In 1997, Peterson founded Quepasa.com, Inc."Hispanic market one to lure" by Greg Farrell, USA Today, August 6, 1999https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1078099/0000950134-99-005667.txt Form S-1/A, quepasa.com, inc., June 24, 1999 The website was the first major online community to focus on United States Hispanic Internet users. A year later, he successfully persuaded Arizona sports mogul Jerry Colangelo to help raise in excess of $20 million of seed capital to launch the company. Phoenix Suns star Jason Kidd signed on as an investor as well as the former Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway, investing $500,000."tumult in top ranks key in Quepasa's downfall", by Jane Larson, The Arizona Republic, September 10, 2001"Quepasa: helpless to stop fall Hispanic dot.com" by Jane Larson, The Arizona Republic, September 11, 2001
Within months, Costa Rican President José María Figueres joined the Quepasa board of directors. Peterson went on to sell a stake in the Spanish language website to Sony Pictures Entertainment and Telemundo LLC.https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1078099/0000889812-99-002064.txt Form SC-13D, quepasa.com, inc., July 6, 1999 CNBC chief business commentator and former FDIC chairman L. William Seidman joined Quepasa's board of directors. After meeting with Peterson during an online interview at the offices of the Miami Herald, seven-time GRAMMY award-winning Latina recording artist Gloria Estefan signed a contract to become Quepasa's official spokesperson and investor. Quepasa billboards were a frequent sight in Hispanic cities across the United States, encouraging millions of Latinos to join "El Mundo Nuevo" (Spanish: The New World) online.
On June 24, 1999, Quepasa went public on the Nasdaq stock market."Reception hot for Quepasa.com: Investors bid up web site IPO in heavy trading", Russ Wiles, The Arizona Republic, June 25, 1999 By the end of the day, Quepasa was worth $272 million. The young company founder was featured in live interviews on CNN and CNBC."Quepasa.com CEO", Jan Hopkins, CNN: Capital Ideas, June 24, 1999"Moneyline News Hour", Lou Dobbs, CNNfn, June 24, 1999 At age 26, Peterson had seen his net worth rise by $36 million.http://www.hispanicmagazine.com/1999/julaug/CoverStory/ "Rocketing to Cyberspace", Hispanic Magazine (Cover Story), July–August 1999.
A year later, Quepasa was named the most popular online destination for United States Hispanics, ahead of competitors Starmedia and Yahoo! Espanol.
Vayala Corporation In July 2001, Peterson founded an Internet search company called Vayala Corporation, together with Brian Long Lu, son of Asian technology mogul Hong Liang Lu, and Mike Marriott. Vayala, a developer of large scale dynamic search technologies, was successful in securing venture capital financing with executives of Softbank Corp. In 2002, Vayala was acquired by Quepasa.
During this time, The Arizona Republic ran a photo of Peterson on the front cover of the Sunday edition, in a three-part feature about his career. The series ran on September 9–10, 2001, concluding on September 11, 2001.
Quepasa takeover and resurrection By 2002, Quepasa shares had declined in value under the leadership of Trujillo. In media reports, Trujillo blamed the decline in Quepasa's market value on unfavorable market conditions and the ".com bubble".https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1078099/000091205701532473/0000912057-01-532473.txt Shareholder Letter on Form 425, Quepasa.com, Inc., September 17, 2001 The Chicago Tribune wrote that "even with Internet Winter blowing cold wind across the digital landscape, many experts were surprised to hear the death rattle of America's once successful hispanic-centered Web operation, Quepasa.com." Later that year, Peterson led a group of investors through a proxy fight and hostile takeover of Quepasa, reportedly investing millions of his own money.https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1055407/000109230602000028/0001092306-02-000028.txt Schedule 14A"Quepasa's board to step aside: liquidation option abandoned", by Jane Larson, The Arizona Republic, February 15, 2002 Shortly after the takeover, Peterson was again named chairman and chief executive of Quepasa.https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1078099/000091205702017457/a2078126z8-k.txt Form 8-K, Quepasa.com, Inc., April 26, 2002
In January 2004, the Business Journal of Phoenix reported that Quepasa was in the midst of a revival led by Jeffrey himself. By 2006, Quepasa shares had increased in value by $150 million.
On November 5, 2006, Peterson again left the company, after selling 30% of Quepasa to then-multimillionaire investor Richard Scott,"Quepasa corp. lands major Fla. investor", by Jane Larson, The Arizona Republic, March 23, 2006https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1078099/000118143106062189/rrd135291.htm Form 8-K, Quepasa Corporation, November 7, 2006 who would later become Governor of Florida.http://www.wpbf.com/r-video/24612057/detail.html "Video: wpbf.com. Rick Scott Defends Investment In Quepasa Corporation", ABC 25, "West Palm Beach News", August 12, 2010
Mobile Corporation In April 2013, Peterson and Quepasa cofounder Michael Silberman launched Mobile Corporation. The company was a start-up venture focused on developing a freelancing platform for Mobile technology.
According to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, notable board members of Mobile Corporation included Univision Online CEO Javier Saralegui, son of Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, Brent Bushnell, former U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke and Senior Advisor to Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, Marco A. López Jr.
Notable investors in Mobile Corporation included the venture fund of the Silicon Valley–based Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati law firm, Salt Lake City businessman Phil Marriott, Texas land Commissioner George P. Bush, and Prorsus Capital.
Mobile established a headquarters office in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Shortly thereafter, the company began developing branch offices at Plaza Carso in Mexico City, in Nogales, Sonora Mexico, and in the Philippines.
In August 2014, Mobile Corporation announced that "working together with its investor and intellectual property partner" it had acquired the internet domain name Mobile.co, at $239,000, the second largest ".co" domain sale in history at the time, after Overstock.com (o.co) at $350,000. The Mobile.co domain acquisition, performed by Peterson's investment company, gave rise to complex litigation including a highly publicized UDRP dispute. In an interview, Peterson stated that the original purchase price of the Mobile.co internet domain was $50,000, but the domain seller refused to complete the transfer after he learned who Peterson was, and instead demanded more money. When the UDRP dispute failed, Peterson initiated litigation in federal court and several international venues to secure the domain transfer. The litigation was followed by technology press and domain industry blogs. Shortly after the successful acquisition of Mobile.co, Peterson announced "we have acquired over 30 mobile related [internet domain] names over the last six months."
On October 10, 2014, Mobile Corporation named former U.S. Presidential Candidate and Democratic National Committee Chairman Governor Howard Dean as its Global Advocate. Dean, the previous Governor of Vermont, also joined the Advisory Board.