John Hanke(born 1967) is an American technology executive. Hanke ledGoogle's Geo product division, which includesGoogle Earth,Google Maps,StreetView,SketchUp,andPanoramio. He is founder and CEO ofNiantic, Inc.,a software company spun out ofGoogleand the creator ofPokémon Go.
John Hanke | |
|---|---|
 Hanke at the 2016San Diego Comic-Con | |
| Born | 1967 (age 57–58) Cross Plains, Texas |
| Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley University of Texas at Austin |
| Occupation(s) | Businessman and entrepreneur |
| Known for | Keyhole, Inc.,Google Earth,Niantic, Inc.,Pokémon Go |
Early life and startups
editBorn in 1967, Hanke was raised in the small central Texas town ofCross Plainsand graduated fromCross Plains High Schoolin 1985.[1][2]He attended theUniversity of Texas, Austinand graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1989.[3]
In his first post-college role, he spent four years with theUnited States Foreign ServiceinWashington, DC,and overseas inMyanmarworking on foreign policy issues.[4][5]
He moved across the country to attend theHaas School of Businessat theUniversity of California, Berkeley.[6]He joined Steve Sellers and his video game design startup Archetype Interactive, which was developingMeridian 59,one of the first commercialmassively multiplayer online role-playing games(MMORPG).[4]They sold the firm toThe 3DO Companyon the day he graduated from Berkeley with an MBA.[4][6]Hanke and Sellers created another entertainment startup, The Big Network, which was acquired in 2000 byeUniversefor $17.1 million.[7]
Keyhole
editHanke became the co-founder and CEO of geospatial data visualization firmKeyholein 2001.[8]Early funding was provided by the corporate venture group withinSony,theCIA's venture capital firmIn-Q-Tel,and the technology companyNVIDIA.[4]The startup was able to garner significant attention from its mapping technology use early in theIraq War.[4]Keyhole's mapping technology was also noted by Google co-founderSergey Brin,and Google acquired Keyhole in 2004 in a deal worth $35 million in stock.[6]
Hanke joined Google as a part of Keyhole's acquisition, and he became the vice president of product management for Google's Geo division.[3]During this period, he oversaw the transformation of Keyhole's technology intoGoogle EarthandGoogle Mapsin 2005. He also negotiated an agreement with Apple to include Google Maps on the iPhone.[9]Other products followed, includingStreetView,SketchUp,andPanoramio.His team would later found Niantic.[10]
Niantic
editIn 2010, Hanke was given resources to staff an augmented reality gaming unit within Google and the new internal startup was dubbed Niantic Labs.[6][10]Returning to his gaming roots, the company crafted anaugmented realitylocation-based multiplayer game calledIngress.The game had a million players within a year of its 2013 release, and seven million by 2015.[1]
Hanke led Niantic's split from Google in late 2015 and raised $30 million from Google, Nintendo and Pokémon.[8]He stayed as the company's CEO and guided the firm through the release ofPokémon Goin July 2016, which generated over $4.2 billion in revenue.[10]
References
edit- ^abWard, Marguerite (27 July 2016)."How the mastermind behind 'Pokemon Go' got his start".CNBC.Archivedfrom the original on 3 October 2016.Retrieved2 September2016.
- ^Chipp, Timothy (7 July 2016)."'Pokemon Go' company led by Cross Plains' Hanke ".Abilene Reporter-News.Archivedfrom the original on 17 September 2016.Retrieved2 September2016.
- ^abBailey, Brandon (4 November 2012)."Mercury News interview: John Hanke, vice president and head of Google's Niantic Labs".The Mercury News.Archivedfrom the original on 19 July 2014.Retrieved2 September2016.
- ^abcde Jerome S. Engel (26 September 2014).Global Clusters of Innovation: Entrepreneurial Engines of Economic Growth around the World.Edward Elgar Publishing. pp.56–58.ISBN978-1-78347-083-9.
- ^Ratliff, Evan (26 June 2007)."Google Maps Is Changing the Way We See the World".Wired.Archivedfrom the original on 24 August 2016.Retrieved2 September2016.
- ^abcdMac, Ryan (23 August 2016)."The Inside Story Of 'Pokémon GO's' Evolution From Google Castoff To Global Phenomenon".Forbes.Archivedfrom the original on 9 October 2016.Retrieved2 September2016.
- ^""eUniverse to Acquire BigNetwork, A Premier Online Entertainment Hub"".Archivedfrom the original on 2016-09-15.Retrieved2016-09-03.
- ^abShute, Joe (24 July 2016)."Meet John Hanke, the eccentric, board game-loving visionary who runs the mysterious firm behind Pokémon Go".The Telegraph.Archivedfrom the original on 29 August 2016.Retrieved2 September2016.
- ^Bradshaw, Tim (15 July 2016)."John Hanke: The man who put Pokémon Go on the map".The Irish Times.Archivedfrom the original on 13 September 2016.Retrieved2 September2016.
- ^abcSeverson, Dana (22 July 2016)."What Overnight Success? Pokémon Go Took 20 Years to Succeed According to its Creator".Inc.Archivedfrom the original on 25 July 2016.Retrieved2 September2016.
Further reading
edit- Kilday, Bill (2018).Never lost again: the Google mapping revolution that sparked new industries and augmented our reality(First ed.). New York, NY.ISBN978-0-06-267304-6.OCLC994315355.
{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
External links
edit