Peter Rojas (born March 18, 1975) is the co-founder of technology blogs Gizmodo and Engadget, as well as the video gaming blog Joystiq (2004).

Peter Rojas
Peter Rojas at CES 2007
Born (1975-03-18) March 18, 1975 (age 49)
EducationHarvard University (BA)
University of Sussex (MA)
Known forCo-founder of Gizmodo, Engadget, RCRD LBL, gdgt
SpouseJill Fehrenbacher
Websitehttp://roj.as/

Education

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Rojas attended Harvard University from 1993 to 1997 where he managed the school's radio station WHRB and was a disk jockey on the Record Hospital program. After graduating magna cum laude with a B.A. in Social Studies, Rojas received an M.A. in English Literature from the University of Sussex in 1998.[1][2]

Career

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Rojas worked at Red Herring magazine from June 1999 to May 2001.[3] He was co-founder and Editorial Director of Gizmodo from July 2002 until March 2004, leaving to co-found Engadget.[3][4][5] Two months later he also founded the video game blog Joystiq. Both were part of Weblogs Inc., a blog network that was purchased by AOL in 2005.[1][2]

Along with Josh Deutsch of Downtown Records, Rojas launched the online record label RCRD LBL in 2007.[6]

In July 2008 Rojas left Engadget to start the consumer electronics social networking site GDGT.[2] The site premiered in 2009 and was co-founded with Ryan Block, Rojas' successor as Engadget editor-in-chief.[7]

In February 2013 GDGT was purchased by AOL.[8]

As of July 2018, he is a partner at Betaworks Ventures.[9]

Personal life

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In July 2007, Rojas married Jill Fehrenbacher, the founder of the blog Inhabitat.[10] The couple had a son in 2008, shortly after Fehrenbacher founded a new site named Inhabitots.[11]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Peter Rojas: CV". roj.as. Archived from the original on June 28, 2012. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
  2. ^ a b c Peter Rojas at linkedin.com
  3. ^ a b Gillin, Paul (2007). "Influencer Profile: The Gadget King". The New Influencers: A Marketer's Guide to the New Social Media. Linden Publishing. pp. 57–61. ISBN 9781610351102.
  4. ^ "This Is How Gizmodo Started". Gizmodo. August 1, 2022. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
  5. ^ "10 Years In: The birth of Engadget". Engadget. 2014-03-03. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
  6. ^ Van Buskirk, Eliot (November 15, 2007). "Interview: Peter Rojas of RCRD LBL". Wired. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  7. ^ Boutin, Paul (July 1, 2009). "GDGT: A Social Site for Gadget Maniacs". New York Times.
  8. ^ "Aol acquires gdgt: get those engdgt puns out of your system today". Engadget. February 13, 2013. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  9. ^ "Peter Rojas". AAE Speakers Bureau. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
  10. ^ Belmont, Veronica (July 30, 2007). "Congrats to Pete and Jill!". VeronicaBelmont.com.
  11. ^ "About". Inhabitots.
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