Richard Rafael Van Veen (born December 14, 1980) is an American entrepreneur and the Head of Global Creative Strategy at

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 ...

. Van Veen co-founded Connected Ventures, the early

tech startup A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship includes all new businesses including self-employment and businesses that do not intend ...

that launched the comedy brand

CollegeHumor Dropout, incorporated as CH Media and formerly known as CollegeHumor, is an Internet comedy company based in Los Angeles that produces content for release on its streaming service Dropout (streaming platform), Dropout as well as YouTube. Dropou ...

and the video sharing website

Vimeo Vimeo ( ) is an American Online video platform, video hosting, sharing, and services provider founded in 2004 and headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices and operates on a ...

. He was also CEO of Notional, the television production company behind the popular series '' Chopped''.

Early life and education

Born in Lutherville-Timonium,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, Van Veen is the son of Helen and Richard Van Veen. He graduated from

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University (WFU) is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The R ...

with a degree in management and information systems in 2003.

Career

Van Veen created CollegeHumor as a student at

. Van Veen's site was earning between $10 and15 million a year before the partners sold a controlling stake to

IAC/InterActiveCorp IAC Inc. is an American holding company that owns brands across 100 countries, mostly in media and Internet. The company originated in 1996 as HSN Inc. as the holding company of Home Shopping Network and USA Network before changing its name to ...

. He is also one of the principal owners and founders of Connected Ventures, a company formed around CollegeHumor that included

and BustedTees. He made appearances in several CollegeHumor video series, such as '' Jake and Amir'' and ''Hardly Working'', and the former

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

program '' The CollegeHumor Show''. In July 2009, Van Veen was announced as the CEO of the new production company, Notional, which would produce material for traditional television media. One of Notional's most noteworthy TV shows is '' Chopped'' on the Food Network. Van Veen was mentored by

Barry Diller Barry Charles Diller (born February 2, 1942) is an American billionaire businessman. He is chairman and senior executive of IAC and Expedia Group and founded the Fox Broadcasting Company with Rupert Murdoch and USA Broadcasting. Diller was ind ...

, the chairman and senior executive of IAC/InterActiveCorp. Van Veen also co-founded the product company Scroll Commerce in 2015, where he invented products designed to sell online, including the popular "Homesick Candle." The company was later acquired by

BuzzFeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet mass media, media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John Seward Johnson III, John S. Johnson III to ...

as the foundation of its new Product Labs division.

Personal life

Van Veen married actress Allison Williams in September 2015. On June 27, 2019, Van Veen and Williams issued a joint statement announcing their divorce. On July 11, 2021, Van Veen married Caroline Kassie.

References

External links

Ricky Van Veen Selected for Crain's New York 40 Under 40

Ricky Van Veen: Vanity Fair: The Next Establishment
{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Veen, Ricky 1980 births Living people Businesspeople from Maryland CollegeHumor people People from Baltimore County, Maryland Businesspeople from New York City Wake Forest University alumni