Alain Chuard

Alain Chuard is a Swiss serial entrepreneur and former professional snowboarder living in Palo Alto, California.[1][2][3] He is best known as the founder and Chief product officer of Wildfire Interactive, the social media marketing technology company acquired by Google in July 2012.[1]

Alain Chuard
Born
Alain Marc Chuard

Bern, Switzerland
NationalitySwiss
Alma materMacalester College
Stanford Graduate School of Business
Occupation(s)Entrepreneur
Former professional snowboarder
Spouse
​
(m. 2013)​
Children3
Websitewww.alainchuard.com

Early life and education

Chuard was born in Bern and raised in the Swiss town of Bolligen.[2][4] His father and uncle were both entrepreneurs.[5][6]

Chuard competed on the snowboard World-Cup Pro Tour while in high school.[7] From 1994-96, he was ranked in the top 4 snowboarders in Switzerland.[2] Chuard was sponsored by Burton Snowboards and has been featured in various snowboarding publications including the cover of Transworld Snowboarding.[3][5][8]

Chuard left Switzerland at the age of 20 after completing his high school matura.[6] Chuard studied mathematics and economics at Macalester College.[5][9] He has an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.[2]

Career

After graduating from Macalester College, he spent two years working as a financial analyst for Salomon Smith Barney in New York City.[2] He then left Wall Street to start the adventure travel company, Access Trips, in 2001.[6] While getting his MBA, he also built an online booking and CRM software called IncFuel Corp.[7] In the summer of 2007, he was an Entrepreneur in Residence at Highland Capital Partners in Boston.[10]

In 2008, Chuard developed the software Promotion Builder as an online marketing tool used for promoting Access Trips through social media.[5][9] Promotion Builder became Wildfire Interactive and within four years, Wildfire grew to a company with 400 employees.[11] In 2010, Chuard sold Access Trips in order to focus on Wildfire.[4][5][9] In July 2012, Google purchased Wildfire for a reported $450 million.[1][12] Following Wildfire's incorporation, Chuard became Head of Product of Google My Business until his and Ransom's departure in 2015.[13][7] He is a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute.[14]

In 2016, Chuard, together with Christian Hirsig as host, set up the non-profit organization Swisspreneur, Switzerland’s biggest business podcast publisher, which encourages entrepreneurship in Switzerland through interviews with Swiss start-up founders.[15][16]

In August 2020, it was reported that the self−funded edtech startup Prisma, created by Chuard and his wife Victoria Ransom, would launch on 8 September 2020, for 40 U.S. students.[17] In July 2021, Chuard was named as the Founder and CEO of Prisma.[18]

Personal life

Chuard married Victoria Ransom in March 2013 and is the father of three children.[5][17] They met in December 1999 while studying at Macalester College.[6] He speaks four languages and is one of the 300 wealthiest people in Switzerland.[9][11]

Publications
  • Podcast: The Founder’s Playbook – Swisspreneur EP #200 – November 11, 2021[19]

References
  1. Mathias Morgenthaler (June 6, 2014). "Der wichtigste Wendepunkt war, dass ich mit Snowboarden begann". Tages-Anzeiger. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  2. Jon Mettler (August 8, 2012). "Berner verkauft sein Unternehmen für 250 Millionen an Google". Bernerzeitung. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  3. Christian Öfner (June 15, 2015). "Smartshitting For Smart People: Die Karriere Danach". Pleasure Verlags GmbH & Co. KG. Archived from the original on June 18, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  4. "How to sell your company to Google or Twitter". startupticker.ch. June 6, 2014. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  5. Nele Husmann (August 20, 2012). "350 Millionen: Google verpasst Schweizer den Ritterschlag". AXEL SPRINGER SCHWEIZ AG. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  6. Manuel Bühlmann (August 7, 2012). "Ein Schweizer erobert das Silicon Valley". Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  7. "Fellow Profile: Alain Chuard". The Aspen Institute. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  8. "The TWS 100 Photo List: Every Rider Who Made The Mag". The Enthusiast Network. October 31, 2001. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  9. John Shinal (June 28, 2011). "The Spark That Fuels Wildfire Interactive". Entrepreneur Media Inc. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  10. Mark Milian (October 4, 2012). "Running a Startup Incubator for Fun, Not Profit". Bloomberg LP. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  11. Siegert, Manuela; Brennwald, Reto (May 29, 2014). "Alain Chuard, der Berner Google-Millionär". SRF Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  12. Josh Constine (August 6, 2012). "Google Slaps $100M Golden Handcuffs On Wildfire To Retain Employees After $350M Acquisition". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  13. Josh Constine (15 October 2015). "Married Founders Of Wildfire Leave Google 3 Years After $350M+ Buyout". techcrunch.com. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  14. "The Aspen Institute Announces the 2015 Class of Henry Crown Fellows". Aspen Institute. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  15. "About us". swisspreneur.org. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  16. "What I do". silvankraehenbuehl.com. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  17. Melody Hahm (15 August 2020). "Serial tech entrepreneur launches ambitious alternative to school: 'It's a very progressive approach to education'". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  18. Eva Keiffenheim (15 July 2021). "9 Influencers Worth Following That Tweet About the Future of Learning". learntrepeneurs.com. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  19. "EP #200 - Alain Chuard: The Founder's Playbook". swisspreneur.org. 11 November 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
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