Ron Erickson (born December 24, 1943) is an American

business executive A business executive is a person responsible for running an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. Executives run companies or government agencies. They create plans to help their organizations gr ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

, and

angel investor An angel investor (also known as a business angel, informal investor, angel funder, private investor, or seed investor) is an individual who provides capital to a business or businesses, including startups, usually in exchange for convertible de ...

based in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

. He is the Chairman and CEO o
Know Labs, Inc
a public company (NYSE American “KNW” he founded. Know Labs is transforming non-invasive medical diagnostics, focusing first on developing the world's first FDA-cleared non-invasive blood glucose monitor. His business career began with the co-founding of

Microrim Ron Erickson (born December 24, 1943) is an American business executive, lawyer, and angel investor based in Seattle. He is the Chairman and CEO oKnow Labs, Inc a public company (NYSE American “KNW” he founded. Know Labs is transforming non-in ...

in 1981. He has either founded or served as an executive for companies such as GlobalTel Resources, Inc., Egghead Software, Inc., eCharge Corporation and Blue Frog Media. He was the sole investor in Double Down Interactive, a social video game studio that was sold IGT for $500 million in 2012.

Early life, education

Erickson was born on December 24, 1943, in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...

, and raised in

Ellensburg, Washington Ellensburg is a city in and the county seat of Kittitas County, Washington, United States. It is located just east of the Cascade Range near the junction of Interstate 90 in Washington, Interstate 90 and Interstate 82. The population was 18,666 ...

. His father, Ed Erickson, worked in education as both an administrator and professor, first as superintendent of the Ellensburg School District (1952–1958), then as director of planning and development at Central Washington University, a professor and chairman for the department of education, and founding president of the Seattle Community College system. Ron Erickson spent much of his childhood on the pioneer farm owned by his mother, Ayleen Frederick's family, which they had homesteaded in the Kittitas Valley of Washington in 1876. He graduated from

Ellensburg High School Ellensburg High School is a secondary school in Ellensburg, Washington, United States, operated by the Ellensburg School District. Academics Qualified 11th and 12th grade students may take classes at Central Washington University, and earn bot ...

. Erickson graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in history from Central Washington University, where he recently served as Chairman of their Board of Trustees. He received a Master of Arts in American Studies at the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming, United States. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, ...

. Early in his career, Erickson worked in public policy at the White House and the

Office of Economic Opportunity The Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) was the agency responsible for administering most of the War on Poverty programs created as part of United States president Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society legislative agenda. It was established in 1964 a ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, becoming the latter's branch chief for emergency food and medical services. He also worked for the Rockefeller Commission on Critical Choices in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He studied law at the University of California at Davis, graduating with a Juris Doctor, and is licensed to practice law in the state of Washington. He was a member of

law firms Kargianis, Austin & Erickson, and Ronald P. Erickson & Associates.

Business career

In the late 1970s, Erickson began his long-term career as a business executive and investor, working primarily with companies in the high technology, telecommunications,

micro-computer A microcomputer is a small, relatively inexpensive computer having a central processing unit (CPU) made out of a microprocessor. The computer also includes memory and input/output (I/O) circuitry together mounted on a printed circuit board (P ...

, and

digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, viewed, distributed, modified, listened to, an ...

industries. The companies have been both public and private, starting with Microrim, a database software company famous for its R-Base relational database which he co-founded in 1981. He was an initial investor in Egghead Software, where he served variously as chairman, vice-chairman, and interim CEO.

Know Labs, Inc.

Erickson is the founder of Know Labs, Inc., where he currently serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Know Labs is a public company whose shares trade on the NYSE American Exchange under the stock symbol “KNW.” The company’s technology uses proprietary radiofrequency spectroscopy to direct electromagnetic energy through a substance or material to capture a unique molecular signature. The technology can be integrated into a variety of wearable, mobile, or bench-top form factors. This patented and patent-pending technology makes it possible to effectively identify and monitor analytes that could only previously be performed by invasive and/or expensive and time-consuming lab-based tests. The first application of the technology will be in a product marketed as a non-invasive glucose monitor. It will provide the user with real-time information on blood glucose levels. This product will require U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance prior to its introduction to the market. https://www.knowlabs.co/

Microrim

Among Erickson's first projects was Microrim, Inc., a company he co-founded with his brother Wayne Erickson in 1981 to develop R:Base, the first

relational database A relational database (RDB) is a database based on the relational model of data, as proposed by E. F. Codd in 1970. A Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) is a type of database management system that stores data in a structured for ...

for the PC.

Egghead

Erickson was an original investor in Egghead Software, Inc., which was founded by Victor Alhadeff in 1984 as a computer software retail company. Erickson served variously as chairman, interim president and CEO, and director, before leaving the company in 1994.

Blue Frog

Blue Frog Media was a Seattle mobile media and entertainment company co-founded by Erickson. Originally called Blue Frog Mobile, it sold ringtones, wallpaper images, and games to cellphone users. In 2006, Blue Frog became best known for founding

NOYZ NOYZ was an American television network owned and operated by Seattle-based Blue Frog Media. Blue Frog also established BULLA, a Hispanic music channel similar to NOYZ. BULLA was discontinued in December 2007 due to budget and staffing cuts. His ...

, a television network that aired mostly

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

and

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

music videos, where members could send

text messages Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile phones, tablet computers, smartwatches, desktop computer, des ...

to be placed on the air. Erickson was chairman and CEO of the company until 2007.

Double Down Interactive

After Blue Frog Mobile dissolved, Blue Frog co-founder Cooper DuBois contacted Erickson to be the sole investor for PickJam, a startup which ran online trivia games. The profits from that company were turned into Double Down Interactive, a social video game studio. Double Down Interactive had its first

blackjack Blackjack (formerly black jack or ''vingt-un'') is a casino banking game. It is the most widely played casino banking game in the world. It uses decks of 52 cards and descends from a global family of casino banking games known as " twenty-one ...

game on

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

in spring of 2010, and turned a profit immediately. In early 2012, Double Down Interactive was acquired by slot-machine company International Game Technology for up to $500 million. The transaction was following the

U.S. Justice Department The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

’s decision to drop its legal objections to

online gambling Online gambling (also known as iGaming or iGambling) is any kind of gambling conducted on the internet. This includes virtual poker, casinos, and sports betting. The first online gambling venue opened to the general public was ticketing for th ...

Board memberships and affiliations

Personal life

As of 2023, Erickson lives on Bainbridge Island in Washington with his wife Dia Armenta, a political and governmental affairs consultant. Erickson has competed in the

Ironman Triathlon An Ironman Triathlon is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), consisting of a swim, a bicycle ride and a marathon run completed in that order, a total of . It is widely consid ...

and Half Ironman, and was thrice ranked as the number one

triathlete A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the ...

in his age group in the Northwest. He is an active participant in vintage sports car racing, driving a 1957 Corvette and a 1969 Porsche 911.

References

External links

RonErickson.com
*https://www.flickr.com/photos/dschultz742/51367631357 *https://www.ultimatecarpage.com/gallery/Chevrolet-Corvette-71676.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Erickson, Ron 1943 births Central Washington University alumni Living people University of California, Davis alumni People from Tacoma, Washington People from Ellensburg, Washington