# Michael Lai

> Michael Lai is the CEO and co-founder of Sitejabber, a consumer review platform that has served more than 100 million shoppers and collected over 10 million reviews, and of SmartCustomer, an unbiased brand discovery tool launched in 2025. A Stanford computer scientist and Harvard MBA, he started Sitejabber in 2007 after a co-founder couldn't tell whether an online medical-equipment seller was a scam. His work sits at the intersection of consumer trust, transparency, and the messy fight against fake reviews and AI-generated content.

- **Role:** CEO & Co-founder at Sitejabber and SmartCustomer
- **Organizations:** Sitejabber, SmartCustomer, Yahoo, Jefferies Broadview, Buildpoint
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.S. in Computer Science, Stanford University, MBA, Business Administration, Harvard Business School, High school, Alief Hastings High School
- **Known for:** Co-founded and scaled Sitejabber to 100+ million consumers and 10+ million reviews, Secured two competitive SBIR grants from the National Science Foundation, Sitejabber named a Top 100 Website by PC Magazine

## Career timeline

- **1999** — Director of Engineering at Buildpoint
- **2000s** — M&A Analyst at Jefferies Broadview (investment banking)
- **2006** — Earned MBA from Harvard Business School
- **Pre-2007** — Product Manager at Yahoo
- **2007** — Co-founded Sitejabber as a consumer protection review platform
- **2010-2011** — Sitejabber received two SBIR grants from the National Science Foundation
- **2017** — Sitejabber became an official Google Seller Ratings Partner
- **2025** — Launched SmartCustomer, an unbiased brand discovery platform

## Achievements

- Co-founded and scaled Sitejabber to 100+ million consumers and 10+ million reviews
- Secured two competitive SBIR grants from the National Science Foundation
- Sitejabber named a Top 100 Website by PC Magazine
- Made Sitejabber an official Google Seller Ratings Partner (2017)
- Launched SmartCustomer with 500+ fashion brands and 17 search filters (2025)

## Latest updates

- **2025-03** — Launched SmartCustomer, an unbiased brand discovery platform with 500+ fashion brands and 17 search filters.

## Links

- Website: https://sitejabber.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/mikelai
- Twitter/X: http://www.twitter.com/sitejabber
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sitejabber

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/michael-lai
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-22