Bill Gross founded Idealab in March 1996 and has served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer and as a Director since that time. Mr. Gross served as President from March 1996 to March 2000. Prior to Idealab, he founded a number of companies. Mr. Gross started Solar Devices, a firm which sold plans and kits for solar energy products and he patented a new loudspeaker design and formed GNP Loudspeakers, Inc. After graduating from California Institute of Technology, Mr. Gross started GNP Development, Inc., which made a natural language product for Lotus 1-2-3 called HAL. In 1985, Lotus Development Corporation acquired GNP. From February 1986 to March 1991, he was a software engineer at Lotus Development. In 1991, Mr. Gross started Knowledge Adventure, an educational software publisher that was eventually sold to Havas, which is owned by Vivendi Universal. Mr. Gross serves on the boards of directors of numerous companies and is also a member of the Board of Trustees of California Institute of Technology and the Art Center College of Design. Mr. Gross received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from California Institute of Technology.