Michael Edmund Kolowich (born August 28, 1952) is an American new media and internet content

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

and

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

maker. He is

chief product officer A chief product officer (CPO), sometimes known as head of product or VP of product, is a corporate title referring to an executive responsible for various product-related activities in an organization. The CPO is to the business's product what th ...

of College Guidance Network, Inc. and serves on the

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

of OpenExchange Inc, where he was formerly chief content officer. He was founder and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of KnowledgeVision Systems Incorporated, which merged into OpenExchange in October, 2019. He was a partner at

Bain & Company Bain & Company is an American management consulting company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm provides advice to public, private, and nonprofit organizations. One of the Big Three (management consultancies), Big Three management co ...

, chief marketing officer for

Lotus Development Corporation Lotus Software (called Lotus Development Corporation before its acquisition by IBM) was an American software company based in Massachusetts; it was sold to India's HCL Technologies in 2018. Lotus is most commonly known for the Lotus 1-2-3 sprea ...

, founding publisher and columnist for

PC/Computing ''PC/Computing'' (later ''Ziff-Davis Smart Business'') was a monthly Ziff Davis publication that for most of its run focused on publishing reviews of IBM-compatible (or "Wintel") hardware and software and tips and reference information for users ...

magazine, was founder and president of

Ziff-Davis Ziff Davis, Inc. is an American digital media and internet company. Founded in 1927 by William Bernard Ziff Sr. and Bernard George Davis, the company primarily owns technology- and health-oriented media websites, online shopping-related servic ...

Interactive (now ZDNet), served as president of

AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...

New Media, was chairman, president and

of Individual Incorporated, and co-founded NewsEdge Corporation.

Background and education

Born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, Kolowich is the eldest son of Raymund Frederick Kolowich and Marilynn Convery. After growing up in

, he attended

Portsmouth Abbey School Portsmouth Abbey School is a coeducational Catholic, Benedictine boarding and day school for students in grades 9 to 12. Founded in 1926 by the English Benedictines, the school is located on a 525-acre campus in Portsmouth, along Rhode Island's N ...

Portsmouth, Rhode Island Portsmouth is a town in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 17,871 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census. Portsmouth is the second-oldest municipality in Rhode Island, after Providence Plantations, Provide ...

and received his A.B. in 1974 from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

, with a concentration in Engineering and Applied Physics/Computer Sciences. While at Harvard, Kolowich was news director of WHRB, Harvard Radio. Kolowich later returned to Harvard to attend

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

, from which he received an

M.B.A. A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

with distinction in 1980.

Career

After college in 1974, Kolowich joined the news staff at

WBZ-TV WBZ-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, serving as the market's CBS outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside independent WSBK-TV (channel 38). Bo ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

as assignment editor. After a year at

WPRI-TV WPRI-TV (channel 12) is a television station in Providence, Rhode Island, United States, affiliated with CBS and MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which provides certain services to dual Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox/The CW, CW a ...

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

, Kolowich returned to

as producer of "Eyewitness News at Eleven." In 1976, Kolowich became an on-air reporter for "The Ten O'Clock News" at

WGBH-TV WGBH-TV (channel 2), branded GBH or GBH 2 since 2020, is the primary PBS List of PBS member stations, member television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Affiliated stations and facilities WGBH-TV is the Flagship (broadcasting), ...

in Boston, and was awarded an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

for a series on

aviation safety Aviation safety is the study and practice of managing risks in aviation. This includes preventing aviation accidents and incidents through research, educating air travel personnel, passengers and the general public, as well as the design of airc ...

. After returning for two years of

graduate school Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachel ...

at Harvard, Kolowich joined the

management consulting Management consulting is the practice of providing consulting services to organizations to improve their performance or in any way to assist in achieving organizational objectives. Organizations may draw upon the services of management consultant ...

firm of

, where he was best known for his work during the turnaround of

Chrysler Corporation FCA US, LLC, doing business as Stellantis North America and known historically as Chrysler ( ), is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of ...

and his leadership on the employee buyout of Weirton Steel Corporation in 1983, leading to the bankruptcy of Weirton Steel within the next decade. He became a vice president and partner in Bain in 1984, the year of its founding, leading to years of predatory lending practices. In 1985, Kolowich took a leave of absence from Bain to join the rapidly growing

as corporate vice president, marketing and business development. After a company reorganization in 1987, he took line responsibility for all of Lotus' non-spreadsheet products, including Freelance Graphics,

Agenda Agenda (: agendum) may refer to: Information management * Agenda (meeting), points to be discussed and acted upon, displayed as a list * Political agenda, the set of goals of an ideological group * Lotus Agenda, a DOS-based personal informatio ...

, Magellan, and

Manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

. He was responsible for negotiating and signing the development agreement with

Iris Associates Iris Associates was an American software development Software development is the process of designing and Implementation, implementing a software solution to Computer user satisfaction, satisfy a User (computing), user. The process is more en ...

that gave Lotus the long-term rights to market the pioneering groupware product,

Lotus Notes HCL Notes (formerly Lotus Notes then IBM Notes) is a proprietary collaborative software platform for Unix ( AIX), IBM i, Windows, Linux, and macOS, sold by HCLTech. The client application is called Notes while the server component is branded ...

. This same year,

sued various other software companies over 'Look and Feel' cases. Lotus, known for its behind the curve move towards the impending internet, took a similar note in these cases, suing of infringements that did not exist. This led to the creation of the Free Software Foundation, that in turn held protests outside the Lotus offices. In 1988, William B. Ziff, Jr. personally recruited Kolowich to become founding publisher and columnist for a new

computer magazine Computer magazines are about computers and related subjects, such as networking and the Internet. Most computer magazines offer (or offered) advice, some offer programming tutorials, reviews of the latest technologies, and advertisements. ...

for

Publishing Company. Launched as

, the magazine reached a circulation of more than 1 million within five years. In 1991, as he moved

's headquarters from Boston to

Foster City, California Foster City is a master-planned city located in San Mateo County, California, United States. Foster City is sometimes considered to be part of Silicon Valley for its local industry and its proximity to Silicon Valley cities. There are many n ...

, Kolowich took over all of

Ziff Davis Ziff Davis, Inc. is an American digital media and internet company. Founded in 1927 by William Bernard Ziff Sr. and Bernard George Davis, the company primarily owns technology- and health-oriented media websites, online shopping-related servi ...

' electronic publishing efforts, consolidating them under the name Ziff-Davis Interactive. The most notable product of these efforts was ZDNet, an online complement to Ziff-Davis' print publications, which later became the most valuable property in the Ziff-Davis portfolio. In 1994, when the Ziff family disposed of its publishing properties, Kolowich brought the company's online technology division, called the Interchange Online Network, to

, where Kolowich was named president of AT&T New Media Services. In 1996, Kolowich was named chairman, president and CEO of Individual Incorporated, an internet news filtering company that earlier that year been one of the first

web content Web content is the text, visual or audio content that is made available online and user encountered as part of the online usage and experience on websites. It may include text, images, sounds and audio, online videos, among other items place ...

companies to go public successfully. In 1998, Kolowich negotiated a merger-of-equals with competitor Desktop Data, and co-founded NewsEdge Corporation, which was subsequently sold in 2001 to

The Thomson Corporation Thomson Corporation was one of the world's largest information companies. It was established in 1989 following a merger between International Thomson Organization and Thomson Newspapers. In 2008, it purchased Reuters Group to form Thomson Reute ...

. In 2001, Kolowich founde
DigiNovations
as a

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms, such as Text (literary theory), writing, Sound, audio, images, animations, or video, into a single presentation. T ...

production company A production company, production house or production studio is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television show, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and video ...

that would apply video and multimedia technology to telling the stories of

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

companies, organizations, and educational institutions. He has produced corporate and institutional

s for, among other clients,

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

Museum of Science, Boston The Museum of Science (MoS) is a nature and science museum and indoor zoological establishment located in Science Park, a plot of land in Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts, spanning the Charles River. Along with over 700 interactive exhibits, ...

Sacred Heart University Sacred Heart University (SHU) is a private, Roman Catholic university in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1963 by Walter W. Curtis, Bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Sacred Heart was the first Catholi ...

, and

Genzyme Corporation Genzyme (also known as Genzyme Transgenics Corp or GTC Biotherapeutics) was an American biotechnology company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. From its acquisition in 2011 to 2022 Genzyme operated as a fully owned subsidiary of Sanofi. In 2010, ...

. He was architect and producer of Mitt TV, the internet TV channel of the

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...

2008 presidential campaign, and served on the board of

Piper Aircraft Piper Aircraft, Inc. is a manufacturer of general aviation aircraft, located at the Vero Beach Regional Airport in Vero Beach, Florida, United States and owned since 2009 by the Government of Brunei. Throughout much of the mid-to-late 20th cent ...

and AmSafe Inc.

Civic and professional affiliations

Michael Kolowich has served as a Museum Advisor for

, where he was vice-chairman of the Program Advisory Committee, served on the President's Council of the

Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) is a Frederick, Maryland-based American non-profit political organization that advocates for general aviation. AOPA's membership consists mainly of general aviation pilots in the United States ...

, and is past president and commissioner of Concord-Carlisle Youth

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

Softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

. He was also an officer of th
National Professional Videographers Association
and is a trustee emeritus of the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council.

References

Sources

*
College Guidance Network Team

Director Profile: Michael Kolowich on OpenExchange site

Executive Profile: Michael Kolowich on KnowledgeVision site

* ttps://www.zdnet.com/article/ziffnet-project-athena-and-the-moment-of-conception/ "Project Athena" and the Moment of Conception, ZDNet, April 17, 2011
New Executives Added at Piper

Profile in EventDV Magazine

"Individual Inc. Names Michael Kolowich as CEO," Newsbytes Network, Sept. 3, 1996

SEC Public Company Filings: Michael E. Kolowich

Press Release: Individual/Desktop Data Merger

External links

KVStudio: Conversation with Michael Kolowich
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kolowich, Michael 1952 births Living people American documentary filmmakers American male bloggers American bloggers Harvard Business School alumni Businesspeople from Detroit People from Grosse Pointe, Michigan Harvard College alumni Portsmouth Abbey School alumni