Jessica Ewing

Jessica Ewing is an American innovator and entrepreneur. She is the co-founder and CEO of the children’s book subscription startup Literati founded in Austin, Texas.[1]

Jessica Ewing
Born
Michigan
Alma materStanford University
OccupationCo-Founder and CEO Literati (book club)

Early History

Jessica Ewing was born in Michigan.[2] She completed her undergraduate degree at Stanford University, where she studied mathematics and artificial intelligence.[2]  While at Stanford, she worked in the White House as a research assistant for the senior economic adviser to the president.[3]

Google

After graduating Stanford with a degree in Symbolic Systems[4], Ewing joined Google and became a senior product manager.[2] During her first year at the company, she was Marissa Mayer’s deputy.[3] She later worked under Sundar Pichai.[5]

She co-authored eight patents while with Google.[6] Some of the patents protected inventions for: module specification for a module to be incorporated into a container document, and methods and system for sharing gadgets between users.[6]

Ewing also helped launch iGoogle, which let users customize the Google homepage.[7] Fast Company named her one of Google’s “12 Most Innovative Minds”.[8]

In 2009, Ewing left Google and moved to Hawaii to begin work on a novel.[8] 

Literati

Upon finishing her novel, Ewing began reaching out to literary agents and publishing houses but found the experience incohesive.[2] The publishing process, she thought, could be better organized.[2] To address this concern, Ewing built a platform designed to connect writers with publishers and agents.[2] This platform was called Excerpt.[2]

Throughout the process of pitching to investors, Ewing’s platform went through several different iterations.[2]  Eventually, Ewing decided to narrow her focus to children’s books, and in 2016, she co-founded the company called Literati with Kelly Carroll.[2] Literati is a children’s book club and subscription service that delivers a curated selection of children’s books to members each month.[9] Ewing is the CEO.[10][11]

References
  1. Cronin, Mike. "Why a children's book startup is giving hazard pay during pandemic". Bizjournals. Retrieved 2020-06-17.
  2. lalorek (2020-01-20). "Literati Co-Founder Jessica Ewing Says She is Focused on Raising a Generation of Readers who like Print Books". SiliconHills. Retrieved 2020-06-17.
  3. Salter, Chuck (2008-02-19). "Jessica Ewing". Fast Company. Retrieved 2020-06-17.
  4. Segran, Elizabeth (2018-11-19). "Melinda Gates, B.J. Novak, Sundar Pichai, and more share the children's books that shaped them". Fast Company. Retrieved 2020-06-17.
  5. Stillman, Jessica (2019-10-24). "Want Your Kids to Grow Up to Love Books? This Austin-Based Startup Wants to Help". Inc.com. Retrieved 2020-08-07.
  6. "Jessica Ewing Inventions, Patents and Patent Applications - Justia Patents Search". patents.justia.com. Retrieved 2020-06-17.
  7. Schmidt, Eric; Rosenberg, Jonathan (2014-09-23). How Google Works. Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4555-8233-4.
  8. "Meet Literati, Austin's Monthly Book Box for Kids". Austin Monthly Magazine. 2020-01-30. Retrieved 2020-06-17.
  9. "Austin Based Startup: Literati Makes Reading Fun". KXAN Austin. 2020-01-22. Retrieved 2020-06-17.
  10. Wistrom, Brent. "'Everything changed in a week': How Literati hustled in the early days of a pandemic". American Inno. Retrieved 2020-06-17.
  11. Thomas, Jessica (2020-04-30). "An Exercise-Bike Company and At-Home 'Botox' Business Had Nothing in Common - Until They Did". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 2020-06-17.
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