About Scott

Scott Lipsky is a Seattle-based innovator, serial entrepreneur and investor, responsible for launching, financing, growing and leading many startups and successful companies. His experience includes key roles at Amazon, aQuantive, Barnes & Noble and Gamestop.

Beginning at the age of 16, Scott was early in the tech space where he began developing apps before apps were on the world’s radar. He designed and wrote custom software in the emerging PC market, while continuing his self-education and work in tech and business.

In 1987, he joined GameStop, the retail chain that grew to 6200 locations worldwide - to launch and lead their IT department as Chief Technology Officer when the company was only 16 stores big and beginning to grow exponentially. While there, he architected and built the world's first entirely "PC-based" distributed computing platform to be used by any major retail chain to run its whole operation.

With the successful innovations at GameStop, and with interest from other major retailers for distributed computing platforms to replace their expensive host systems, Scott launched Omni Information Group in 1991. Omni became a leader in the retail technology solutions sector, winning major clients including Barnes & Noble.

In 1994, Scott joined NY-based Barnes & Noble as Chief Technology Officer of its retail and college bookstore chains. He was responsible for technology strategy, development and operations for the chain during their period of explosive book superstore growth - when "big box retail" was king in pre-internet America.

In 1996, after departing Barnes & Noble to pursue internet opportunities, Scott was introduced to Jeff Bezos. Together they quickly agreed that Scott should join the fledgling Seattle-based startup Amazon as its Vice President of Business Expansion, where Scott played a leading role in the fastest-growing business in history. He was responsible for business development, strategic planning and more, for what would become the global megastore and tech giant.

Scott then co-founded Avenue A | Razorfish (aQuantive) and served as its Chief Technology Officer. aQuantive rapidly became the world's leading digital marketing technology and services company, helping advertisers and ad agencies build, market and grow their businesses and brands online. The company was sold to Microsoft in 2007 for $6 billion (at that time Microsoft's largest acquisition ever). Scott was responsible for the architecture, development and operation of aQuantive's extensive proprietary technology platform - as well as for aQuantive's R&D lab which focused on then-futuristic mobile, interactive TV and additional emerging digital content & advertising platforms.

In 2003, Scott founded GalleryPlayer - a leading provider of high definition imagery and technology for the nascent flat screen TV markets. The company invented this new content category, licensing the world's best imagery and art, and building content distribution technologies to enable every TV to become a digital canvas. GalleryPlayer deployed and distributed to customers via several world class partners including Google, Microsoft, Xfinity, Panasonic, Mitsubishi and Samsung.

Scott then created PhotoRocket in 2009 - a revolutionary and unique photo sharing concept - when photography first moved to phones. In 2016, he started Townhouse Tech to develop patented contextual search platform tools  which are available for licensing.

Since arriving in the Pacific Northwest in 1996, Scott has been funding new companies, mentoring entrepreneurs, seeking out opportunities in emerging technology, and speaking at universities and conferences on launching and building successful startups. Additionally, Scott was co-founder of Lot 47 Films, a NY-based independent film distribution company. And in 2016 was an Executive Producer on Garry Marshall's film, Mother's Day (Julia Robers, Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson and Jason Sudeikis). For three years Scott served on the board of Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo, for four years served as an advisory board member and mentor at the University of Washington Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship, and for nine years served on the board of the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF). He was also a founding owner of 509 Wines, a boutique Washington winery.

Scott continues to invest in and personally launch projects in tech, entertainment and other fields, currently including building an innovation lab where businesses, software and embedded systems inventions are born and launched.

His personal interests and passions include flying/aviation, world travel, photography, hiking, music and food.