Shawn Fanning: Entrepreneur By Ramit Prasad

Biographical Information Born in 1980 Family lived in poverty Raised in Brockton Oldest of 4 children

Uncle John He was one of the most influential people in Shawn Fanning’s life. He rewarded Fanning’s for good grades and working hard. He continuously encouraged Fanning to work hard. He was a role model who Fanning tried to imitate. Gave Shawn Fanning a computer while younger and a laptop when he went to college.

The High School Years Uncle John paid him $100 for an A Fanning was an excellent student and made lots of money Uncle John introduced him to computers with an internet ready Apple512 Fanning spent a lot of time on the internet as a teenager.

The College Years Wanted to go to Carnegie Mellon but was rejected. Attended college at Northeastern majoring in Computer Science. Because of his previous knowledge, Fanning was often bored and uninterested in his college work

End of College Fanning began to become extremely interested in MP3s from his college roommate. Started working on Napster to help people find music. Dropped out of school in order to pursue the development of Napster

What is Napster? First peer-2-peer connection Search people across the internet for music Download music directly from another person

Reason’s Behind Napster Wanted to give people an easier way to search for and download mp3s. For anyone and everyone who wanted music. Was a personal project for him to learn to code in a windows based environment.

A few people who helped with Napster John Fanning provided moral support and guidance for Shawn Fanning. Ali Ayadar, Jordan Mendelson, Jordan Ritter and many others helped with the actual programming and upkeep of Napster

Napster Lawsuit The Recording Industry Association of America is suing Napster. The RIAA claims that Napster is stealing intellectual property Napster claims it is legal under the Audio and Home recording act of 1992 This states that it is legal to record and load media as long as there is not intent to merchandise the materials

Current Information Napster was sold to Bertelsmann for 5.3 million dollars in November of They are currently redesigning and working on the software interface in order to comply with the regulations imposed on it. Shawn moved to Boston and currently is taking a break from work. He is focusing on his relationship with his friends and family.

A Few Sources of Information