Jonah Goodhart is a Venture Capitalist and a Founder of NewsGuard Technologies

Jonah Goodhart knows a thing or two about startups – having founded and run one himself as well as invested in over one hundred others. He’s helped steer companies to multi-billion dollar exits.

His investment vehicle, WGI Group, holds stakes in numerous tech firms such as Yext and Moat which were both recently purchased by Oracle.

Early Life and Education

As Jonah Goodhart grew up, he and his brother Noah worked to make ends meet. Through this early experience they discovered the freedom offered by entrepreneurship; seeing companies being created and sold for billions made them long to participate.

One day, Michael Walrath from DoubleClick cold-called the brothers to offer banner advertising on their email newsletters – this soon led to Right Media becoming a leading digital ad trading platform.

Goodhart adds his signature sense of humor to an otherwise scary rhyming story in Three Little Ghosties, making a fun read-along story about three ghosts who boast about their frightening exploits. Horn Book reviews noted the book as “fine fare for young readers”.

Professional Career

Noah Goodhart is an internet entrepreneur who has successfully launched, managed, and invested in multiple technology companies. As one of the founding partners of Right Media (which eventually sold to Yahoo in 2007), and Moat (analytics for top brand advertisers and premium publishers). Furthermore, Goodhart founded NewsGuard Technologies which seeks to combat fake news online.

Personal Life

Jonah Goodhart was born into a middle-class family in Michigan. His father was an English professor while his mother taught preschool; they worked diligently and secured scholarships for both Jonah and his older sibling Noah, two years earlier than himself.

Moat was founded by two brothers who quickly secured Forbes as their inaugural customer. Moat is an ad tech company that tracks whether digital ads are actually visible to viewers.

After selling Right Media and Moat to Yahoo, Jonah founded WGI Group as an investment firm that makes over 100 investments, such as stakes in Yext, Cheddar and Confide. He continues to invest in startups with multiple billion dollar exits; his advice to entrepreneurs is always remain hungry!

Net Worth

At a time when internet companies were being sold at exorbitant valuations and venture capital was plentiful, Jonah Goodhart decided to go all-in. With his brother Noah as partners, the pair launched Colonize: an email newsletter which aggregated recipes of the day as well as related content; it quickly gained subscribers while earning revenue through affiliate marketing relationships with companies such as Barnes & Noble.

Soon thereafter, however, they received a cold call from a salesperson at DoubleClick, the pre-Google banner advertising technology company. That call led directly to Mike Walrath joining forces with them on Right Media as an advertising trading platform that would later be purchased by Yahoo for $680 million.

As part of their investment fund, WGI Group made over 100 investments including Yext, The Muse and Confide.