Stuart Skorman (born 1948) is an American

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 ...

, consultant and

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

. He founded the companies Empire Video, Reel.com, HungryMinds.com, Elephant Pharmacy, and Clerkdogs.com, He is the author of the book ''Confessions of a Serial Entrepreneur, Why I Can't Stop Starting Over'' (

Jossey-Bass John Wiley & Sons, Inc., commonly known as Wiley (), is an American multinational publishing company that focuses on academic publishing and instructional materials. The company was founded in 1807 and produces books, journals, and encyclope ...

, 2006).

Career

Skorman was an executive at

Bread & Circus ''Bread & Circus'' is the debut album by American alternative rock band Toad the Wet Sprocket, originally self-released on cassette in 1988, and re-released in 1989 by Columbia Records. In May 2009, the band announced plans to re-release ''Bre ...

, the

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 ...

-based

natural foods Natural food and all-natural food are terms in food labeling and marketing with several definitions, generally denoting foods that are not manufactured by processing. In some countries like the United Kingdom, the term "natural" is defined and ...

chain bought by

Whole Foods Whole foods are foods that are unprocessed and unrefined. Examples of whole foods include grains such as oatmeal and rice, fruits, vegetables, dried beans, nuts, seeds, unprocessed meats, and fish. Depending on the context this may sometimes refe ...

in 1992. Empire Video In 1985, Skorman founded Empire Video in Manchester Center,

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

. According to Video Store Magazine, the company had the highest volume video stores of any chain in the US for three consecutive years. Later in 1994, he sold the company to

Blockbuster Video Blockbuster may refer to: Corporations * Blockbuster (retailer), a former video rental chain * Blockbuster (Bend, Oregon), remaining store Arts and entertainment * Blockbuster (entertainment) a very successful movie * Blockbuster (DC Comics ...

for $6 million, after helping to build a movie recommendation kiosk system as a consultant for the company. Reel.com The company Reel.com was founded by Skorman in September 1996. He launched the website in January 1997, as an online movie information site and

e-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) refers to commercial activities including the electronic buying or selling products and services which are conducted on online platforms or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile co ...

site. In July that year, Skorman also opened a walk-in store in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

. He later added Cinema U, an online film school, for customers who wanted to learn about movies including movie history and film theory. In 1998, he sold Reel.com to Hollywood Entertainment Corp. for $100 million and became a consultant to the company. Hungry Minds In early 1999, Skorman founded Hungry Minds, an internet learning portal. The company offered links to online courses and other learning resources including classes from

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

Extension, UC Extension and

NYU New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a non-denominational all-male institutio ...

online. Hungry Minds was sold to IDG Books Worldwide in August 2000 and Skorman stayed on as a consultant and adviser. Elephant Pharmacy In 2002, Skorman founded Elephant Pharmacy, a holistic big box

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...

, in Berkeley, California. The store provided products and services including alternative remedies, pet medicines, organic groceries and a health related book library in addition to general prescriptions. The company expanded but closed in 2009 as a result of the recession while Skorman had left the company in 2006. Clerkdogs.com In December 2008, Skorman launched ClerkDogs, a movie recommendation website. In 2011

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

had licensed ClerkDogs’ database and the company's managers were working with Skorman as a consultant to augment Netflix's computerized movie recommendations.

Recognition

He is known for pioneering new

business models A business model describes how a Company, business organization creates, delivers, and captures value creation, value,''Business Model Generation'', Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Alan Smith, and 470 practitioners from 45 countries, self-pub ...

and challenging the long-standing companies in the industries he enters. As a result of his work in the dot com industry, he was referred to as one of the 'dotshots' of the 1990s. He consulted for Borders Inc, a bookstore chain, to increase sales, and has been an adviser to a chain of restaurants for thirty years.

Books

Skorman is the author of the book ''Confessions of a Serial Entrepreneur: Why I Can't Stop Starting Over.'' (Jossey-Bass, 2006)

References

External links

StuartSkorman.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skorman, Stuart Living people 1948 births