Doug Dohring at Age of Learning with ABCmouse sign

Doug Dohring (1957 - September 14, 2023) was an American marketer and entrepreneur. He founded the market research firm, The Dohring Company, in 1986. From 1999 to 2005, he was the CEO of Neopets, Inc. In 2007, he founded Age of Learning, Inc., an edtech company, and was CEO and executive chairman until his death."ABCmouse Launches New Reading App"
''Tech & Learning''. Retrieved 2019-07-12."Adventure Academy Is An Educational MMO Teachers And Students Will Love"
''GameInformer''. Retrieved 2019-07-12. Dohring was also the chairman of the philanthropic Age of Learning Foundation, a member of the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

Global Education Coalition.

The Dohring Company

Dohring founded market research firm The Dohring Company in 1986, where he was chairman and CEO. Customers for the company's market research services included retail chains including

Baskin-Robbins Baskin-Robbins, Inc. is an American multinational chain of ice cream and cake specialty store, specialty shops owned by Inspire Brands. Baskin-Robbins was formed in 1945 by Burt Baskin and Irv Robbins in Glendale, California.House of Fabrics, and entertainment firms including

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

, as well as automotive, financial services, and health care companies. Automotive surveys comprised up to 80% of the firm's business in 1995. At that time, the company was ranked 55th on the ''

Advertising Age ''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in ...

'' list of the nation's largest market research firms. It was 92nd on the ''

Los Angeles Business Journal The ''Los Angeles Business Journal'', established in 1979, is a weekly newspaper and online news source in Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most po ...

'' 1995 list of fastest growing private companies in Los Angeles County.Black box approach to market research - The Dohring Co
, ''

'', Dec. 25, 1995

Neopets

Dohring founded

Neopets ''Neopets'' is a free-to-play virtual pet site, virtual pet browser game. First launched in 1999, the game allows users to own virtual pets ("Neopets") and explore a virtual world called "Neopia." Players can earn one of two virtual currency, v ...

, Inc. after being introduced to the Neopets.com site by a mutual friend upon its December, 1999 launch by two British college students, Adam Powell and Donna Williams. According to ''

BusinessWeek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'' (and before that ''Business Week'' and ''The Business Week''), is an American monthly business magazine published 12 times a year. The magazine debuted in New York City in Septembe ...

'', Dohring bought the site immediately thereafter. In April, 2000, he brought in his first advertising partners for a concept that he trademarked as '' immersive advertising''. According to a

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 ...

case study, Neopets, Inc. had reached profitability four months after launching operations, "largely due to the fact that it spends nothing for customer acquisition, relying strictly on word-of-mouth". Two years after its creation, in December 2001, Neopets had attracted more than 20 million accounts, more than 80% of them under the age of 17. While the " tech bubble" was bursting and large percentages of new websites were folding, Neopets was signing up 50,000 new accounts per day, with members spending an average of four hours or more per month on the site. Dohring sold the Neopets site to Viacom's MTV Network in June 2005 for $160 million. At the time, approximately 140 million Neopets had been created, with advertising making up about 60% of the company's revenues and a line of plush toys sold through Target Corporation and other stores.

Age of Learning, Inc. and ABCmouse.com

After the sale of Neopets to Viacom in 2005, Dohring founded Age of Learning, Inc., in 2007, and launched the ABCmouse.com Early Learning Academy, website in 2010. ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' said that ABCmouse was "designed to teach basic reading, math, science and other subjects to children between the ages of two and six." Unlike Neopets, which relied on advertising, ABCmouse.com charges a subscription of $12.99 per month or $59.99 per year, and is free to individual teachers, libraries, Head Start programs, and other community organizations. In 2016, Age of Learning launched ABCmouse for Schools, a service marketed to school districts and groups rather than families or individual teachers. Age of Learning, a privately held company, was reported to have reached a $1 billion valuation based on $150 million in funding from ICONIQ Capital in May 2016. A subsequent round of funding in June, 2021, led by TPG, raised another $300 million, which valued the company at $3 billion. In September 2019, the company appointed former

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

executive Paul Candland as CEO with Dohring being named the Executive Chairman. Candland served as CEO until April, 2022, at which time Dohring resumed his position as CEO. In January 2020, Dohring announced the formation of the Age of Learning Foundation, which offers free access to Age of Learning digital education programs, at the Education World Forum. Age of Learning was named “Most Innovative Ed Tech Company” by SIIA in the 2023 CODiE Awards.

Other business ventures

Dohring was also a principal shareholder in Speedyclick.com circa 1999-2001, which according to a December 2005

Wired Magazine ''Wired'' is a bi-monthly American magazine that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. It is published in both print and Online magazine, online editions by Condé Nast. The magazine has been in public ...

article, "he later sold for $50 million."The Neopets Addiction
, WIRED, December 2005 The $50 million deal included $3 million in cash and $47 million in ShopNow stock, (later renamed as "Network Commerce", and deemed worthless in 2001).

Personal life

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

native, Dohring was the youngest son of a car dealer and a homemaker. He and his wife Laurie, both Scientologists, were married in 1979. They had five children including two sets of identical twins and actor Jason Dohring, best known for his roles in the series ''

Veronica Mars ''Veronica Mars'' is an American teen neo-noir Mystery fiction, mystery Drama (film and television), drama television series created by screenwriter Rob Thomas (writer), Rob Thomas. The series is set in the fictional city, fictional town of Ne ...

'' and '' Moonlight''. Doug Dohring died on September 14, 2023, due to an illness diagnosed four months prior.

References

External links

Age of Learning, Inc.

ABCmouse.com

Neopets site

The Dohring Company
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dohring, Doug 1957 births 2023 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople American Scientologists Neopets