Bob Rosenschein
Bob Rosenschein | |
|---|---|
בוב רוזנשיין | |
 | |
| Born | Robert Rosenschein June 5, 1953 |
| Nationality | Israeli |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Known for | Founder of [Answers.com], [Equator] |
Robert Samuel ("Bob") Rosenschein (Hebrew: בּוֹבּ רוֹזֶנְשַׁיין) is an American-Israeli internet entrepreneur and longtime contributor to the Israeli startup ecosystem. He is known for helping Microsoft create Hebrew and Arabic Windows, and as the founder of Answers.com [NASDAQ:ANSW], which was bought by Summit Partners’ AFCV Holdings for $127 million.
A tech founder who’s repeatedly brought ideas to life, he has built and exited several ventures, including one of the earliest web-based answer engines. Rosenschein is currently the founder of Equator, a new tech startup which fosters respectful online discussion through short-form video.
Early life and education
[edit]Rosenschein was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to Jewish parents Martin Rosenschein [1] and Yolanda Bleier,[2] who had survived the Holocaust in Europe. He attended elementary school at Silver Academy and public Susquehanna Township High School, spending summers at Camp Ramah.
He graduated with a BSc in Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1976.
Career
[edit]Early career
[edit]In his early career, Rosenschein worked for Data General, American Management Systems, the World Bank Group, and Ashton-Tate. He moved to Israel in 1983, where he worked as a software consultant.
Kivun / Dagesh / Hebrew Windows / Accent
[edit]
In 1988, Rosenschein co-founded with his brother, Professor Jeffrey Rosenschein[3] the software firm Kivun, later Accent Software. It was the earliest developer of Microsoft Windows software in Israel. The idea was sparked by a chance meeting with Bill Gates. The company created “Dagesh”, the first Hebrew/English Windows word processor, and other multilingual tools under the “Accent” brand. The company consulted to Microsoft in the early 1990s on the creation of Hebrew and Arabic Windows editions. In 1997, Rosenschein was awarded the Prime Minister’s Prize for Software Achievement.
Answers.com
[edit]
In 1999, Rosenschein co-founded GuruNet, which evolved into Answers.com, with Morton Meyerson and Mark Tebbe, based on a product idea originally suggested by Yossi Vardi.
The original GuruNet product pioneered a one-click pop-up encyclopedia.[4] The company later changed it name and flagship product to Answers.com.[5] It then expanded to include WikiAnswers, a user-generated Q&A service described as “Wikipedia for questions and answers.” At its peak, Answers.com was the 20th most visited website in the United States, according to Comscore.[6]
Under Rosenschein's leadership, Answers.com was listed on NASDAQ and grew rapidly, helped in part by a significant traffic boost from a collaboration with Google. Marissa Mayer, then chief product manager at Google, approved Answers.com to appear as a reference link on Google's English-language search result pages. This relationship was active for five years and helped cement the platform’s visibility.
Curiyo
[edit]After Answers.com was sold in 2011, Rosenschein founded Curiyo in 2012, a one-click contextual information tool designed to deliver definitions and background data inline without disrupting browsing. Curiyo partnered with USA Today and garnered media attention in several publications including TechCrunch, PCMag, and the Wall Street Journal.[7]
Equator
[edit]Since 2024, Rosenschein has been building Equator, a short-form video platform aimed at fostering civil and thoughtful online dialog. The platform will counteract polarization and the toxicity in social media by presenting curated multi-perspective video discussions.
Equator is built on the radical idea that respectful conversation isn’t dead; we’ve just forgotten how to conduct it. The platform is in pre-launch, with Rosenschein laying the groundwork for a community of people who believe real change starts with improving dialog.
Awards and recognition
[edit]
- Prime Minister’s Award for Software Achievement (1997, Israel) – for Kivun’s Accent software.
- Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist (2009) New York metropolitan region, for his leadership at Answers.com.
Personal life
[edit]Rosenschein resides in Jerusalem with his wife, Diane. He is the father of four sons and also a grandfather. He took a sabbatical from entrepreneurship following a heart attack in 2013, which he discusses in a blog [8] on his Substack and Medium publications. He returned to startup life with a renewed focus on meaningful civic engagement.
Rosenschein posts regularly under the title Bob-servations, sharing personal reflections, cultural commentary, and insights on civil discourse. His writing emphasizes curiosity, humor, self-awareness, and bridging generational divides.
External links
[edit]- Website: https://www.bobr.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rrosenschein/
- Substack: https://Bob-servations.com
- Medium: https://bobr.medium.com
- Surviving a heart attack
- Yom HaShoah 2020 - The What and The So What on YouTube
- Oleh's Unassuming Hero of Start Up Nation
- Curiyo demonstration and interview, with Robert Scoble
- Forbes Profile
- A video of Rosenschein on YouTube
Footnotes
[edit]- ^ "Martin Rosenschein (1919-1991), My Father".
- ^ "Goodbye Dear Mom".
- ^ Professor Jeffrey S. Rosenschein
- ^ "San Jose Mercury News, Calif". Gillmor, Dan. HighBeam Research. September 5, 1999. Archived from the original on March 28, 2015.
- ^ Wall Street Journal (January 27, 2005). Mossberg, Walt: "Unlike Search Engines, Answers.Com Responds With Data, Not Links". The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ Comscore (November 22, 2010) "Comscore Media Metrix Ranks Top 50 U.S. Web Properties"
- ^ AllThingsD (September 10, 2013). Mossberg, Walt: "A Valuable Tool for Web Browsing". The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ Bob Rosenschein's Blog: Surviving a Heart Attack