# Josh Levy

> Josh Levy is the New York-based CEO and co-founder of The Lifetime Value Co., the data and information-services company that began as BeenVerified in 2007. After an early identity-verification product failed to win business customers, Levy and co-founder Ross Cohen used their remaining cash on a television test, found direct consumer demand, bootstrapped a portfolio of public-data brands, and accepted the company's first institutional investment, a $150 million round led by Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital, in 2020.

- **Role:** CEO and Co-Founder at The Lifetime Value Co.
- **Organizations:** The Lifetime Value Co., BeenVerified, University of Maryland
- **From:** New Jersey, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Undergraduate degree in Finance; minor in Entrepreneurship, University of Maryland
- **Known for:** Co-founded BeenVerified in 2007 and developed it into The Lifetime Value Co., a multi-brand information-services platform., Led a shift from an unsuccessful B2B verification product to a direct-to-consumer subscription model., Bootstrapped the company with patient angel financing before its first institutional raise.

## Career timeline

- **c. 1996** — Started his first internet company at age 15.
- **c. 1999-2000** — After his first year of college, helped raise about $1 million for a business and took a year away from school during the dot-com period.
- **2003** — Completed undergraduate studies at the University of Maryland, where he studied finance and entrepreneurship.
- **2007** — Co-founded BeenVerified with high-school friend Ross Cohen in New York.
- **2008-2009** — Abandoned the original B2B identity-badge model and found consumer demand after testing a television commercial with the company's remaining cash.
- **2012** — Raised about $1.3 million from an extended friends-and-family investor group; total angel financing reached more than $2 million over five years.
- **2020** — The Lifetime Value Co. announced its first institutional fundraise, a $150 million investment led by Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital.
- **2021** — LTV ranked No. 25 on Fortune's Best Small & Medium Workplaces list, an achievement Levy publicly celebrated.

## Achievements

- Co-founded BeenVerified in 2007 and developed it into The Lifetime Value Co., a multi-brand information-services platform.
- Led a shift from an unsuccessful B2B verification product to a direct-to-consumer subscription model.
- Bootstrapped the company with patient angel financing before its first institutional raise.
- Announced a $150 million investment led by Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital in 2020.
- By the 2020 investment announcement, LTV reported more than 30 million monthly visitors across its products.

## Latest updates

- **2021-08** — Levy shared LTV's No. 25 placement on Fortune's 2021 Best Small & Medium Workplaces list and praised the team.
- **2020-12** — LTV announced a $150 million investment led by Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital, its first institutional fundraise.
- **2020-10** — LTV described regular anonymous employee AMA sessions hosted by Levy and co-founder Ross Cohen during the company's remote-work transition.

## Links

- Website: https://www.ltvco.com/founders/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmlevy

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/josh-levy
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-25