Ian Bell (born October 12, 1976) is co-founder of technology news and reviews site

Digital Trends Digital Trends is a Portland, Oregon-based tech news, lifestyle, and information website that publishes news, reviews, guides, how-to articles, descriptive videos and podcasts about technology and consumer electronics products. With offices in P ...

and men's lifestyle site The Manual, both owned by the privately held Designtechnica, where he is CEO. In 2017, he was a finalist in EY's Entrepreneur of the Year award in the Pacific Northwest. Before founding Digital Trends, Bell held positions at

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...

, and The Ostler Group, a strategic marketing firm.

Career

Digital Trends

Bell co-founded Digital Trends in 2006 with Dan Gaul, who is CTO. The pair started the site above a small furniture store in

Lake Oswego, Oregon Lake Oswego ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon, primarily in Clackamas County, with small portions extending into neighboring Multnomah and Washington counties. Population in 2020 was 40,731, an 11.2% increase since 2010, making it the ...

. Their goal was "to share with the world their love for home theater, cars, and all things tech -- but from their unique viewpoint that technology should be fun, easy to use, and designed well." In May 2009, Digital Trends moved its headquarters from Lake Oswego into the

US Bancorp Tower The U.S. Bancorp Tower (also known as "Big Pink") is a 42-story, skyscraper in Portland, Oregon. It is the second tallest building in the city after Wells Fargo Center, and with its nearly office space, it is the largest in Oregon in terms of ...

Downtown Portland, Oregon Downtown Portland is the central business district of Portland, Oregon, United States. It is on the west bank of the Willamette River in the northeastern corner of the southwest section of the city and where most of the city's high-rise buildin ...

. The company opened a second office in New York City in 2012, and in 2014, Bell launched Digital Trends en Español, a Spanish-language version of the technology site led by editor-in-chief Juan Garcia. Bell has remained focused on maintaining a profitable business, even as the sites he co-founded have grown. "Being profitable has always been at the forefront of what we want to do," he told media and marketing news site Digiday in 2016. "You have to be a little more strategic; if you fail, you fail much quicker." In late summer of that year, Re/Code reported on a deal with

Conde Nast Conde is the Ibero-Romance form of "count" (Latin ''comitatus''). It may refer to: * Counts in Iberia *List of countships in Portugal Places United States * Conde, South Dakota, a city France * Condé-sur-l'Escaut (or simply 'Condé'), a com ...

to acquire Digital Trends for $120 million, noting that the site was expected to generate $30 million in revenue for the year and around $6 million in profit. Bell denied that his company was in talks but acknowledged that he "is periodically approached by would-be buyers." Digiday also wrote about the deal, comparing the site's traffic to "such properties as the Purch network, CNET, and

The Verge ''The Verge'' is an American Technology journalism, technology news website headquarters, headquartered in Lower Manhattan, New York City and operated by Vox Media. The website publishes news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, cons ...

, and ahead of

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

Tech, Yahoo Tech, and Business Insider's Tech Insider."

The Manual

Bell and Gaul co-founded the men's lifestyle site The Manual in 2012. According to the site, "The Manual is simple — we show men how to live a more engaged life. Whether it be fashion, food, drink, travel, grooming, or culture, we're here to provide insight into it all." The Manual is run by editor-in-chief Cator Sparks.

Awards

*2017 - Bell was named a finalist for EY's Entrepreneur of the Year award. 2016 winners include J.W. Bill Marriott,

Ben Chestnut Ben Chestnut (born 1973/1974) is an American Internet entrepreneur. He is the co-founder (with Dan Kurzius) and former CEO of Mailchimp, an email marketing company. As of November 2022, his net worth was estimated at US$4.1 billion. Early life B ...

, founder of

MailChimp Mailchimp is a marketing automation and email marketing platform. "Mailchimp" is the trade name of its operator, Rocket Science Group, an American company founded in 2001 by Ben Chestnut and Mark Armstrong, with Dan Kurzius joining at a later ...

, and

Fitbit Fitbit is a product lining, line of wireless-enabled wearable technology, physical fitness monitors and activity trackers such as smartwatches, pedometers and monitors for heart rate, quality of sleep, and stairs climbed as well as related soft ...

founder James Park. *2015 - Bell was named to the Portland Business Journal's 40 under 40. *2004–2011 – Bell received the Microsoft MVP award for Digital Media.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Ian Living people American chief executives in the mass media industry 1976 births University of Oregon alumni