Ethan Anderson

Ethan Anderson

Former Founder and CEO of MyTime and Redbeacon (TC50 winner acquired by Home Depot), Product Mgr on Google Video and Google Image Search, Strategy Director at Buy.com and McKinsey & Co consultant.

Website: about.me/ethananderson
San Francisco, California, United States
Member since October 17, 2009
  • About
Education
2003 Harvard Business School , MBA , Master of Business Administration
1998 Duke University , BA , Bachelor of Arts, Economics, Public Policy Studies

I am a(n):

Entrepreneur

Companies I've founded or co-founded:
RedBeacon
Companies I work or worked for:
Google, Buy.com
If you're an entrepreneur or corporate innovator, why?

I want to change the world.

My favorite startups:

Redbeacon, Kayak, Dropbox, Pivotal Tracker, OpenTable

What's most frustrating and rewarding about entrepreneurship/innovation?

Nothing is so rewarding as launching something you believe in. Nothing is more frustrating than low usage of that new thing by your users.

What's the No. 1 mistake entrepreneurs/innovators make?

Believing there is a single formula for success that can be learned from copying others. Each entrepreneur and each startup must find their own path that works for them.

What are the top three lessons you've learned as an entrepreneur?

1. Try to spend your time on the things that are most meaningful to the company rather than the dozens of little distractions that come up throughout the day.

2. Time is your biggest enemy. Spend money, outsource, or create processes that will allow you to move faster and spend more time on #1.

3. Clearly communicate roles and responsibilities. Make sure people know who can ultimately make the decision in times of disagreement.

Full bio

I'm currently working on MyTime, the first destination website and mobile app where you can book appointments and purchase services from millions of local businesses ranging from hair salons to massage therapists to dentists.  MyTime was funded by UpFront Ventures and 500 Startups and recently won the Launch Mobile & Wearables Conference for best app.

I was the Founder & CEO of Redbeacon, a website enabling consumers to get price quotes and book appointments for local services.  Redbeacon won the grand prize at both the TechCrunch50 competition and Business Insider’s Startup 2010.  It went on to raise $7.4 million in VC funding from Mayfield and Venrock and was acquired by The Home Depot in January 2012.

Prior to Redbeacon, I was a Product Manager at Google where I was responsible for launching and managing the Google Video product internationally.  I was also Google’s first Product Manager for the fast growing Southeast Asian emerging markets, and a Product Manager on Google Image Search, the top image search product in the world.  Before joining Google, I worked in a number of internet strategy and marketing roles at The Clorox Company, Buy.com, and McKinsey & Company. 

I graduated with Honors from Harvard Business School and Magna Cum Laude from Duke University, where I earned a BA in Economics and Public Policy Studies.  I was honored to be named to the Silicon Valley 100 and 16 Up-and-Coming Silicon Valley Entrepreneurs You Need to Meet.