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Eric Ly
Eric Ly
Eric Ly
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Eric Thich Vi Ly (born January 15, 1969) is a Vietnamese-American entrepreneur and investor. Ly was co-founder of LinkedIn, a social networking site designed specifically for the business community, where he served as its founding chief technology officer. He is currently the CEO and founder of a blockchain based trust protocol Hub, as well as the CEO and co-founder of KarmaCheck providing candidate's background checks.[1]

Key Information

Early life and education

[edit]

Ly was born in Saigon, Vietnam, and emigrated to the United States in 1975 as a result of the Vietnam War. He lived in San Francisco, California, for some years, and when his parents found jobs in Silicon Valley, his family moved to Sunnyvale, California.

Ly attended Homestead High School, where he applied his interest in computers to journalism and the on-campus newspaper, The Epitaph. Through a sponsorship from Apple Inc., he transformed production methods for the publication, making Homestead one of the first schools in the country to use desktop publishing technology to publish its newspaper on the newly introduced Macintosh computers.[2]

Ly attended Stanford University and volunteered as a science writer for the Stanford Daily in addition to his studies.[3] Ly was inspired by professor Terry Winograd's perspective that computers ultimately serve as communications tools for people.[4] Ly graduated with distinction in 1991 with a Bachelor of Science in Symbolic Systems and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa society.[5] His contemporaries included Scott Forstall, Reid Hoffman, and Marissa Mayer.

Ly went on to earn a Master of Science in Media Arts and Sciences from the MIT Media Lab in 1993 with a research thesis ("Chatter: A Conversational Telephone Agent") on combining speech-user interfaces and artificial-intelligence agents.[6]

Ly returned to Stanford University to get his PhD in Computer Science but he would later drop out of the program.[7]

Career

[edit]

Early years

[edit]

Ly started his professional career in technical positions at Steve Jobs' NeXT (acquired by Apple Inc.), IBM, Sun Microsystems (acquired by Oracle), and General Magic.[8]

In 1995, Ly co-founded Netmosphere, a software company enabling project management collaboration utilizing Internet technologies such as Java. Menlo Ventures invested in the firm, which was subsequently acquired by Critical Path, Inc.[9] In 2000, Ly co-founded a mobile software company called Tresidder Networks in which Industry Ventures invested.[citation needed]

LinkedIn

[edit]

In 2002, Ly co-founded LinkedIn with Reid Hoffman, a Stanford schoolmate, and several other co-founders, including Jean-Luc Vaillant, Allen Blue, and Konstantin Guericke. When Microsoft acquired LinkedIn in 2016 for $26.2B, it was the world's "largest social networking site focused on the working world" with more than 400 million registered users.[10]

As LinkedIn's founding CTO, Ly "helped create some of its core product features, which enabled the company to reach profitability and a quickly growing user base."[11][12]

Wellington Partners

[edit]

From 2008 to 2011, Ly served as a venture partner for Wellington Partners, a Munich, Germany-based venture capital firm whose investments include Xing and Spotify.[13]

Current projects

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In 2007, Ly launched Presdo with $35,000 (~$50,860 in 2024) of his own money.[14] The company first built a meeting scheduler chatbot described as "pure, refined, focused, with a fairly deep understanding of how real people, not just 'users,' think, act and want from their online apps."[15] On the suggestion of Loic Le Meur and others, Ly was persuaded to adapt the meeting scheduler to conferences where it could help attendees arrange face-to-face meetings. The technology evolved into a mobile app called Presdo Match, "that facilitates networking" and "provides a searchable directory of attendee profiles (imported from LinkedIn when desirable), makes connection recommendations, and highlights which contacts from existing networks are in attendance so users can send messages and schedule meetings with other attendees."[16] Presdo Match was launched in 2010 at the LeWeb conference, "the biggest European Internet conference."[17][18] Ly subsequently expanded his marketing efforts for Presdo Match globally.[19]

Ly is currently the CEO and founder of a blockchain based trust protocol Hub, as well as the CEO and co-founder of KarmaCheck, a company providing candidate's background checks.[1]

Speaking

[edit]

Ly has spoken at many event-industry conferences on the topic of social technology and its role in live events, including The Meetings Technology Expo, Web Summit, Expo! Expo!, and the Society of Independent Show Organizer's CEO Summit.[20][21][22]

References

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[edit]
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Eric Ly

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
Eric Ly is a Vietnamese-American entrepreneur, investor, and software engineer renowned for co-founding in 2002, where he served as the inaugural (CTO). Born in and immigrating to the as a child, Ly began his career as an engineering intern at before earning a in Symbolic Systems from and a from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. At , co-founded with , Jean-Luc Vaillant, Allen Blue, and Konstantin Guericke, Ly played a pivotal role in developing the platform into the world's largest professional , which acquired for $26.2 billion in 2016. Following his tenure at , he founded Hub, a blockchain-based protocol designed to enhance trust in online interactions, and currently leads KarmaCheck as co-founder and CEO, pioneering AI-driven, mobile-first background checks to modernize HR technology.

Early life and education

Early life

Eric Ly was born on January 15, 1969, in Saigon, Vietnam (now ), to Vietnamese parents. In 1975, at the age of six, Ly immigrated to the with his parents as refugees fleeing the fall of Saigon at the end of the . The family's escape was part of the broader exodus of Vietnamese refugees amid the war's conclusion, marking a dramatic shift from their life in to starting anew in America. His parents' experiences as refugees shaped the family's resilience, with his father later becoming an entrepreneur who founded successful companies in the and sector, instilling in Ly a strong and early appreciation for . This background influenced Ly's transition into formal .

Education

Eric Ly attended from 1987 to 1991, earning a in Symbolic Systems. The Symbolic Systems program at Stanford integrates , , , and , aligning with Ly's early academic interests in and human . His immigrant background as a Vietnamese provided access to these opportunities in the U.S. higher education system. Following his undergraduate studies, Ly enrolled at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Laboratory from 1991 to 1993, where he obtained a in Media Arts and Sciences. The MIT Media Lab emphasizes interdisciplinary research at the intersection of technology, media, and human experience, allowing Ly to deepen his focus on human-computer interaction (HCI) through projects involving and . After completing his master's degree, Ly returned to to pursue a PhD in . He briefly engaged in doctoral studies but ultimately dropped out to join the , prioritizing entrepreneurial opportunities over completing the program.

Career

Early career

Eric Ly began his professional career with an as a (QA) Engineer at from April 1988 to November 1990, where he focused on to ensure product reliability in emerging environments. Following his time at , Ly held roles at from 1995 to 1997, contributing to the development of object-oriented software frameworks that influenced after NeXT's acquisition by Apple. During this period, he worked on innovative applications leveraging NeXT's advanced paradigms, such as , which became foundational for Apple's software ecosystem. In the early 1990s, Ly advanced to positions at starting in 1993 as a Software Engineer on the inaugural development , where he contributed to runtime environments and networked applications that powered early web technologies. He then moved to in 1994 as a Senior Software Engineer, designing and implementing prototypes for platforms, including early personal digital assistants (PDAs) and communication protocols that anticipated ecosystems. In 1995, while at NeXT, Ly co-founded Netmosphere, a software company that developed collaboration tools using emerging technologies like , with a focus on and services. The company was acquired by Critical Path in 1999 for an undisclosed amount, after which Ly served as CTO until October 1999, contributing to the expansion of online services. Ly founded Tresidder Networks in 2000 as CEO and co-founder, raising $1.8 million in funding to develop solutions and innovative for mobile and networking applications. The company operated until 2001 and exited, marking Ly's early foray into secure digital infrastructure. These early roles honed Ly's expertise in , networking protocols, and nascent technologies amid the buildup to the dot-com era, providing a strong foundation for his subsequent entrepreneurial pursuits in scalable web and mobile systems.

LinkedIn

Eric Ly co-founded in December 2002 alongside , Allen Blue, Jean-Luc Vaillant, and Konstantin Guericke, serving as the company's founding (CTO). His prior engineering roles at companies like equipped him to lead the technical vision for a professional networking platform. As CTO from 2002 to April 2006, Ly oversaw the technical architecture, ensuring for features like user profiles, connections, and job postings that defined early professional networking. He directed early product development, focusing on robust backend systems to handle growing user interactions without compromising performance. Under Ly's technical leadership, launched publicly on May 5, 2003, and achieved key milestones including reaching one million users by August . The company secured its Series A funding of $4.7 million in November 2003 from investors including , followed by a $10 million Series B round in October led by . Ly departed in April 2006 to pursue independent ventures, retaining significant equity as a co-founder that substantially appreciated following Microsoft's $26.2 billion acquisition of the company in June 2016.

Post-LinkedIn ventures

After leaving in 2006, Eric Ly founded several technology companies focused on collaboration, networking, and trust verification. In 2007, Ly launched Presdo as founder and CEO, investing $35,000 of his own funds to create a web-based platform for event planning and ing, aimed at simplifying scheduling and connections among professionals. The platform evolved into Presdo Match in 2010, introducing an invitation-only that integrated profiles to recommend matches at events, enhancing professional networking through targeted attendee interactions. Ly applied insights from 's user growth strategies to Presdo's development, focusing on high-engagement event tools. In 2017, Ly established Hub as founder and CEO, developing a blockchain-based trust protocol designed to verify professional credentials and enhance online interactions with greater security and transparency. Hub aimed to address and identity verification challenges by creating a decentralized for , building on Ly's prior expertise in professional networking from . The project introduced the Hub Token to facilitate its protocol, positioning it as an innovative solution for trusted digital communities. In 2019, Ly co-founded KarmaCheck, where he has served as CEO, leading the development of an AI-driven HR technology platform that streamlines background checks and for the and healthcare industries. The company emphasizes a mobile-first approach to verification, enabling faster and more efficient processes through integrations with applicant tracking systems and real-time compliance tools. By 2025, KarmaCheck expanded its offerings with the launch of the MCP Server on August 12, 2025, a scalable solution for identity and background verifications integrated into AI workflows, while accelerating its presence in healthcare amid growing demand for compliant hiring solutions.

Investments and partnerships

From 2008 to 2011, Eric Ly served as a venture partner at Wellington Partners, a European firm focused on and life sciences investments. In this role, based in , he supported the firm's expansion into the by sourcing and evaluating investment opportunities in European tech startups, drawing on his expertise from co-founding to advise on and professional networking strategies. Ly has pursued strategic investments through Hub, the blockchain-based trust protocol he founded in 2017, which focuses on enabling users to build and port across online platforms to enhance trust in digital interactions. This includes applications in professional verification, where Hub's protocol supports credential portability and reduces in hiring and networking contexts. His personal investment portfolio complements these efforts, targeting innovations that address trust deficits in . Ly has formed partnerships in event technology and staffing industry initiatives, leveraging his entrepreneurial background to provide advisory input on trust and verification technologies. For instance, through Hub, he collaborated with the Litecoin Foundation on virtual and hybrid events to foster secure community interactions in the crypto sector, while at KarmaCheck, he advises on integrations for staffing summits to improve background screening efficiency.

Public engagements

Speaking engagements

Eric Ly has been a prominent speaker at international technology conferences, including keynote and panel appearances at starting in 2011, where he discussed the evolution of and strategies for scaling startups. In these sessions, Ly drew on his experiences in building professional networks to explore how emerging platforms could transform business connectivity and growth. Ly has also presented at major event industry gatherings, such as Expo! Expo! organized by the International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE), delivering keynotes on integrating event technology with social networks to enhance attendee and professional interactions. In academic settings, Ly participated in a fireside chat at Dartmouth's in February 2021, reflecting on the founding of , challenges in tech leadership, and the role of trust in digital ecosystems. More recently, in 2025, Ly joined panels at the SIA Healthcare Staffing Summit in , addressing AI applications in background checks to improve compliance and efficiency in healthcare hiring. At the World Staffing Summit, he explored broader HR innovations, highlighting data-driven technologies for faster and more reliable workforce screening.

Media appearances

Eric Ly appeared on the "Found" in August 2024, where he discussed entrepreneurial lessons drawn from his experiences at , co-founding , and leading KarmaCheck, emphasizing the addictive nature of building companies and the evolution of background checks in HR tech. In 2023, Ly featured in a discussion as part of the Asian Hustle Network's "Legends" series, recounting his journey as a Vietnamese refugee and his role in co-founding , highlighting themes of resilience and opportunity in the Asian American entrepreneurial community. Ly was profiled in Smart Meetings magazine in November 2016, where he reflected on his career beginnings, including his time at Stanford and MIT, and explored the impacts of on professional networking and meetings industry dynamics. Ly contributed an to Healthcare Business Today in October 2023 on the potential effects of a on healthcare staffing, arguing that the sector's recession-resistant nature, driven by an aging population and workforce shortages, could benefit from increased to streamline operations and attract diverse talent.

References

  1. https://digitalstrategies.tuck.dartmouth.edu/btis/a-fireside-chat-with-eric-ly-co-founder-linkedin/
  2. https://abc7news.com/post/fall-saigon-bay-area-talent-changemakers-among-generation-vietnamese-americans-making-waves-around-world/16308689/
  3. https://techcrunch.com/podcast/eric-ly-from-karmacheck-shares-his-entrepreneurial-lessons-after-decades-in-the-industry/
  4. https://austin-wealth.com/speakers/eric-ly/
  5. https://clay.earth/profile/eric-ly
  6. https://www.bornglorious.com/person/?pi=44479739
  7. https://www.instagram.com/p/C5jjtr1g96l/
  8. https://golden.com/wiki/Eric_Ly-4NNWPJ4
  9. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericly
  10. https://techrseries.com/interviews/hr-tech-interview-with-eric-ly-founder-ceo-at-karmacheck/
  11. https://www.crunchbase.com/person/eric-ly
  12. https://theorg.com/org/karmacheck/org-chart/eric-ly
  13. https://www.virtualeventsinstitute.com/advisors/eric-ly
  14. https://www.forbes.com/sites/brendancoffey/2011/07/07/who-got-rich-this-week-the-forgotten-linkedin-founder-tootsie-roll-baroness-and-more/
  15. https://www.affluense.ai/profile/eric-ly-karmacheck-8d3534
  16. https://app.dealroom.co/investors/eric_ly
  17. https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbestechcouncil/2023/11/16/lessons-on-building-a-business-from-linkedins-co-founder/
  18. https://techcrunch.com/2008/04/25/presdo-the-magical-online-scheduler/
  19. https://www.vcic.org/eric-ly-linkedin/
  20. https://www.neowin.net/news/linkedin-has-turned-20-years-old-today-heres-a-brief-history-of-the-social-network/
  21. https://agilevc.com/blog/2011/05/26/linkedin-the-series-a-fundraising-story/
  22. https://news.linkedin.com/2004/10/linkedin-secures-10-million-in-series-b-funding-led-by-greylock
  23. https://www.businessinsider.com/where-are-linkedins-early-employees-now-2014-10
  24. https://www.bizbash.com/experiential-marketing/top-50-innovative-event-pros-2013-eric-ly
  25. https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/presdo
  26. https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelwolfson/2018/04/18/cryptocurrency-and-blockchain-technology-could-help-facebook-recover-from-massive-data-scandal/
  27. https://techcrunch.com/2019/06/27/the-rise-of-the-new-crypto-mafias/
  28. https://cryptoslate.com/hub-token/
  29. https://m.economictimes.com/tech/startups/linkedin-cofounders-background-checking-startup-karmacheck-raises-45-million/articleshow/111317782.cms
  30. https://www.karmacheck.com/about
  31. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/karmacheck-launches-mcp-server-background-150000317.html
  32. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/02/28/2836994/0/en/KarmaCheck-Accelerates-Expansion-in-Healthcare-Staffing.html
  33. https://venturebeat.com/ai/linkedin-co-founder-eric-ly-joins-wellington-ventures
  34. https://www.privateequityinternational.com/wellington-taps-linkedin-co-founder-to-expand-us-presence/
  35. https://www.buyoutsinsider.com/wellington-sparkles-in-silicon-valley/
  36. https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/hub-4
  37. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/interview-eric-ly-how-build-trust-blockchain-linkedin-qarbozian
  38. https://litecoin.com/news/hub-x-litecoin-foundation-official-partnership-announced
  39. https://www.thejournal.ie/tech-leaders-land-in-the-city-for-dublin-web-summit-265363-Oct2011/
  40. https://www.independent.ie/regionals/herald/star-guests-booked-for-dublin-web-summit/27985254.html
  41. https://tradeshowexecutive.com/iaees-expo-expo-offered-something-for-everyone/
  42. https://events.karmacheck.com/2025-sia-hcs-summit
  43. https://www.candidately.com/speakers/eric-ly
  44. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/FV8CW0AhsUA
  45. https://www.smartmeetings.com/magazine_article/smart-talk-eric-ly-co-founder-linkedin
  46. https://www.healthcarebusinesstoday.com/what-does-a-potential-recession-mean-for-the-healthcare-staffing-industry/
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