| Eric M. Jackson | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1976 (age 40–41) |
| Education | Stanford University (1998) |
| Occupation | CEO/co-founder of CapLinked |
| Known for | Former VP of marketing at PayPal |
Eric M. Jackson is the co-founder of CapLinked, focused on linking companies and investors.[1] He was founder and former CEO of WND Books (formerly World Ahead Publishing) and a former vice president of marketing at PayPal. He is one of the PayPal Mafia, a growing number of PayPal alumni who have started new ventures after eBay bought the online payments firm.[2]
In 1998, Jackson received a B.A. in Economics with honors from Stanford University.[3] He served on the board of directors of The Stanford Review.[4] Jackson maintains the book publishing industry blog called Conservative Publisher.[5]
As a publisher, Jackson has been known to embrace controversial books and tactics. A bestselling children's book published by World Ahead, Help! Mom! There are Liberals Under my Bed penned by Katharine Debrecht, portrayed Hillary Clinton as a cartoon villain, prompting a verbal clash with Clinton's spokesman. He once accused Google of political bias for censoring online ads for a book critical of Bill Clinton, a charge Google denied,[6] and he later paid to send Kathleen Willey and Juanita Broaddrick to the Bill Clinton Presidential Library along with the book's author.[7] In October 2006, Jackson and Joseph Farah, the founder of WorldNetDaily, announced that World Ahead Publishing would be partnering on the influential WND Books imprint.[8]
Jackson's own book The PayPal Wars (ISBN 0-9746701-0-3) chronicles PayPal's origins and discusses the legal, regulatory, and competitive threats entrepreneurs must overcome in today's business environment.[9] It won the 2005 Writers Notes Book Award for best business book.[10] It has been profiled by Reason Magazine,[11] the Washington Times,[12] the Mises Institute,[13] Tech Central Station,[14] and Tom Peters.[15]
Jackson frequently appears as a conservative commentator on radio and television programs. In his public comments he is frequently critical of eBay, the company that purchased PayPal. He has been quoted in Forbes,[16] BusinessWeek,[17] TheStreet.com,[18] US News & World Report,[19] and Publishers Weekly, [20] among other publications.