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Dan Wagner talks about his rollercoaster career; from AIM listed at 30 to starting again at 50.
Dan Wagner is the CEO of Rezolve and a serial technology entrepreneur who has created a number of successful technology businesses over 35 years.
Dan's newest venture, Rezolve, creates a whole new buying or paying experience for customers through its mobile image and audio recognition technology. It allows any form of advertising or media – print, outdoor, audio, video, social – to be instantly “shoppable” by a consumer with a mobile device, delivering commerce anytime and anywhere.
In 1984 Dan, aged 20, set up his first online information platform (MAID). Ten years later Dan floated Brightstation PLC for $250m on the London Stock Exchange. MAID was also listed on NASDAQ in 1995.
Wagner then became marmite with the UK press, loved when becoming the youngest CEO of a public company in his 20s but disliked as he presided over the company's 95% share price decline in the dot-com crash in 2000.
In March 2000, MAID now Dialog's Information Services Division was sold to Thomson Corporation of Canada (now known as Thomson Reuters) for $500m.
In 2001 Dan founded his second company (Venda) which was built out of the ashes of one of the most famous dotcom busts, fashion retailer Boo.com, after he bought it for £250,000.
Venda created a cloud or on-demand (SaaS) commerce platform that went on to run major retail customers' eCommerce sites (including Lands End, Tesco, BooHoo, TJX Companies, Nieman Marcus and many more). Venda considered a flotation in 2008, before the financial crisis shut the IPO window, and looked at the idea again in 2011. Venda was eventually sold to NetSuite for an undisclosed amount in 2014.
In 2007 Dan also founded Powa Technologies, an e-commerce business based on Venda's business solution, but with additional services for in-store and mobile point of sale and software for mobile payments. In 2016, the Financial Times reported that two years after raising $80m in investment, Powa Technologies went into administration. The newspaper City A.M. reported that Wagner was to enter into legal proceedings against a former Powa director and investors, accusing them of colluding to force the company into administration.
In 2017, the Times reported the High Court had dismissed Wagner's application to set aside a statutory demand for the repayment of a $2 million loan from former Powa director Ben White. White and Wagner subsequently settled all claims in a private agreement.
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By Sam SethiDan Wagner is the CEO of Rezolve and a serial technology entrepreneur who has created a number of successful technology businesses over 35 years.
Dan's newest venture, Rezolve, creates a whole new buying or paying experience for customers through its mobile image and audio recognition technology. It allows any form of advertising or media – print, outdoor, audio, video, social – to be instantly “shoppable” by a consumer with a mobile device, delivering commerce anytime and anywhere.
In 1984 Dan, aged 20, set up his first online information platform (MAID). Ten years later Dan floated Brightstation PLC for $250m on the London Stock Exchange. MAID was also listed on NASDAQ in 1995.
Wagner then became marmite with the UK press, loved when becoming the youngest CEO of a public company in his 20s but disliked as he presided over the company's 95% share price decline in the dot-com crash in 2000.
In March 2000, MAID now Dialog's Information Services Division was sold to Thomson Corporation of Canada (now known as Thomson Reuters) for $500m.
In 2001 Dan founded his second company (Venda) which was built out of the ashes of one of the most famous dotcom busts, fashion retailer Boo.com, after he bought it for £250,000.
Venda created a cloud or on-demand (SaaS) commerce platform that went on to run major retail customers' eCommerce sites (including Lands End, Tesco, BooHoo, TJX Companies, Nieman Marcus and many more). Venda considered a flotation in 2008, before the financial crisis shut the IPO window, and looked at the idea again in 2011. Venda was eventually sold to NetSuite for an undisclosed amount in 2014.
In 2007 Dan also founded Powa Technologies, an e-commerce business based on Venda's business solution, but with additional services for in-store and mobile point of sale and software for mobile payments. In 2016, the Financial Times reported that two years after raising $80m in investment, Powa Technologies went into administration. The newspaper City A.M. reported that Wagner was to enter into legal proceedings against a former Powa director and investors, accusing them of colluding to force the company into administration.
In 2017, the Times reported the High Court had dismissed Wagner's application to set aside a statutory demand for the repayment of a $2 million loan from former Powa director Ben White. White and Wagner subsequently settled all claims in a private agreement.