[1] Previous positions include CEO of Digg.com, executive roles at Amazon, and Entrepreneur-In-Residence at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.
[2] Williams was born in Dallas, Texas, and grew up in the Pacific Northwest, attending Shorecrest High School near Seattle, Washington.
[4] In 1996 Williams and high-school friend Sky Kruse cofounded Seattle-based LiveBid.com, a proprietary software site that partnered with traditional auction houses to stream their events online, allowing Internet bidders to participate in bidding.
The partnership allowed Amazon customers to select and purchase a wish list of toy products for needy children from the site.
[12] Despite this, the company's burn rate remained high, resulting in layoffs of 40% of staff and cuts in operational costs in order to approach cash flow positive in 2011.