Ben Parr
Ben Parr is an award-winning journalist, author, entrepreneur, investor and expert on attention. Through his unique experience as a leading technology writer, venture capitalist and prolific public speaker, Parr has coached dozens of young startups and Fortune 500 corporations on how to get attention for their products. He was named one of the top ten tech journalists in the world by Say Media and named to the Forbes “30 Under 30.”
Parr is the author of Captivology: The Science of Capturing People’s Attention, published by HarperCollins. His book dives into the science of attention, why we pay attention to certain people, products, companies and ideas, and how to capture and retain somebody’s attention. He interviewed dozens of “Masters of Attention” for his book, including Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg, acclaimed director Steven Soderbergh, Entourage’s Adrian Grenier, Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto and the Mythbusters, along with leading researchers such as Dr. Michael Posner and Dr. Adam Gazzaley.
Parr is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of dominatefund, a venture capital firm that invests in and accelerates the growth of early-stage startups through its expertise in press, marketing, customer and user acquisition, viral products and strategic celebrity partnerships. He is also the founder of Parrticipation, a consultancy that works with later-stage companies and Fortune 500s on how to capture attention for their launches and marketing campaigns. He is also a columnist for Inc. Magazine and a contributor to CNBC, and Bloomberg.
Previously, Parr was the Co-Editor and Editor-at-Large of Mashable, where he wrote more than 2,400 articles on social media and technology, managed Mashable’s editorial team, and interviewed everyone from Ashton Kutcher to Mark Zuckerberg. He also served as Columnist and Commentator for CNET. Parr’s work has been featured in a variety of media, including CNBC, CNN, Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, NPR and The New York Times.
Parr is a graduate of Northwestern University, majoring in Science in Human Culture and Political Science, and minoring in Business Institutions. He is based in San Francisco, in the heart of Silicon Valley.
