Antonio García Martínez (author)

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Antonio García Martínez, also known by his initials AGM, is a New York Times best-selling author[1] and tech entrepreneur. He is a former product manager for Facebook, the CEO-founder of AdGrok, and a former quantitative analyst for Goldman Sachs.[2]

He has contributed articles to Wired,[3] Vanity Fair,[4] Business Insider,[5] The Guardian,[6][7] HuffPost,[8] and The Washington Post.[9]

Career[edit]

After studying physics in the University of California, Berkeley, García Martínez worked as a pricing quant at Goldman Sachs beginning in September 2005. Due to the 2008 financial crisis, García Martínez left Goldman Sachs in March 2008 and joined Adchemy as a research scientist in April of that year. After leaving Adchemy in May 2010, he co-founded and was CEO of AdGrok, an adtech company that helped businesses automate Google AdWords selection and bidding. AdGrok was accepted to Y Combinator and was later sold to Twitter for $10 million in May 2011. While AdGrok's co-founders Matthew McEachen and Argyris Zymnis joined Twitter, García Martínez accepted a role as Facebook's first product manager of ad targeting in April 2011, leading product management for the Facebook Exchange (FBX), Facebook's now-defunct ad exchange for real-time bidding. An influential figure on the social network's early ad product team,[10] he left Facebook in April 2013.[11][2][12][13]

After leaving Facebook, García Martínez held roles at adtech company Nanigans and mobile measurement firm Branch. He also served as an advisor to Twitter.[10]

In 2016, García Martínez released a book entitled Chaos Monkeys: Obscene Fortune and Random Failure in Silicon Valley published by HarperCollins, which is an autobiography that details his career experiences with launching AdGrok, selling it to Twitter, and working at Facebook from its pre-IPO stage.[14][15][16][17] Chaos Monkeys was generally well-received by the tech press after its debut.[18]

He is a contributor to Wired.[18]

On May 10, 2021, Business Insider reported that García Martínez had been working on Apple's Advertising Platforms team since April of that year, a sign that Apple was potentially looking to grow its ads division after killing off its iAd ad network in 2016.[10]

News of García Martínez's hiring was criticized by Zac Hall at 9to5Mac's due to his depictions of women in Chaos Monkeys,[19] and Apple employees circulated a petition criticizing the alleged views in the book.[20][21] On May 12, Apple confirmed to Axios that García Martínez was no longer employed at the company, stating that it had "always strived to create an inclusive, welcoming workplace." García Martínez stated that the passage cited in the petition had been quoted out of context and said in a statement that Apple executives were aware of his book and that his personal references were questioned about his character. Some in the tech industry argued that García Martínez was being unfairly punished for his personal writing, which they say is tounge-in-cheek and not a serious reflection of his professional treatment of women.[18][22][23]

In 2023, García Martínez founded Web3 startup Spindl. He was also involved with the University of Austin, a school cofounded by venture capitalist Joe Lonsdale, journalist Bari Weiss, and others.[24]

Books[edit]

  • García Martínez, Antonio. Chaos Monkeys: Obscene Fortune and Random Failure in Silicon Valley. HarperCollins. ISBN 9781473550322.[25]

Personal[edit]

In 2021, García Martínez announced that he had converted to Judaism from Catholicism.[26]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Business Books - Best Sellers - August 14, 2016". The New York Times. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Ex-Goldman Sachs Employee Compares Working At Bank To Being A 'Fluffer' On A 'Porn Set'". HuffPost. August 5, 2010. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
  3. ^ "Antonio García Martínez". WIRED. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
  4. ^ "Antonio García Martínez". Vanity Fair. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
  5. ^ "Antonio Garcia Martinez, Contributor". Business Insider. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
  6. ^ Garcia-Martinez, Antonio (May 2, 2017). "I'm an ex-Facebook exec: don't believe what they tell you about ads". the Guardian. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
  7. ^ Martínez, Antonio García (July 1, 2017). "By fining Google, Brussels bureaucrats show themselves to be absurd". the Guardian. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
  8. ^ "Antonio Garcia-Martinez". HuffPost. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
  9. ^ "Opinion | A villain, a prophet and two wildly successful start-ups". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
  10. ^ a b c O'Reilly, Lara. "Apple just made a major hire on its ad-platforms team, and it's the latest sign of the company's growing advertising ambitions". Business Insider. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  11. ^ Costine, Josh (April 17, 2013). "Facebook's Ad Exchange Director, Former AdGrok CEO Antonio Garcia-Martinez, Hits The Road". Tech Crunch. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  12. ^ Constine, Josh. "Facebook's Ad Exchange Director, Former AdGrok CEO Antonio Garcia-Martinez, Hits The Road". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  13. ^ Siegler, Mo (May 31, 2011). "AdGrok Team Joins Twitter To Help With Revenue — Except Founder/CEO Who Goes To Facebook". Tech Crunch. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  14. ^ Streitfeld, David (July 5, 2016). "What It Is Actually Like to Be in the Engine Room of the Start-Up Economy". The New York Times. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  15. ^ Kuchler, Hannah. "Chaos Monkeys: Inside the Silicon Valley Money Machine', by Antonio García Martínez". Financial Times. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  16. ^ Biggs, John. "Inside the ape cage with Antonio Garcia Martinez, author of Chaos Monkeys". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  17. ^ Huet, Ellen (June 30, 2016). "Book Review: Chaos in the Valley". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  18. ^ a b c Ghaffary, Shirin (May 13, 2021). "How angry Apple employees' petition led to a controversial new hire's departure". Vox. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  19. ^ Hall, Zac (May 12, 2021). "Apple's App Store ad hire comes from Facebook, and that's the least controversial thing about them". 9to5Mac. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  20. ^ Schiffer, Zoe (May 12, 2021). "Apple employees circulate petition demanding investigation into "misogynistic" new hire". The Verge. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  21. ^ Gurman, Mark (May 12, 2021). "Apple Says Ads Engineer Leaves Company After Comments Draw Fire". Bloomberg L.P. Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  22. ^ Peterson, Mike (May 14, 2021). "Antonio Garcia Martinez says Apple fired him, company was 'well aware' of his writing". Appleinsider. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
  23. ^ Fried, Ina. "Apple severs ties with recently hired former Facebook employee after backlash". Axios. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  24. ^ Matthews, Jessica (May 31, 2023). "A group of venture capitalists is rallying around Joe Lonsdale's new university in Austin". Fortune. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  25. ^ Knee, Jonathan A. (June 28, 2016). "Review: 'Chaos Monkeys' Is a Guide to the Spirit of Silicon Valley". The New York Times. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  26. ^ Linker, Damon (October 4, 2021). "A viral conversion story and the paradox of choosing to leave modernity". The Week. Retrieved April 8, 2024.

External links[edit]

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