# Rand Fishkin

> Rand Fishkin is the co-founder and CEO of SparkToro, an audience research platform that helps marketers understand where their audiences spend time online. Previously, he built Moz into the world's leading SEO software company before stepping down as CEO in 2014 after a public battle with depression. Author of 'Lost and Founder' (Penguin/Random House, 2018), he is known for radical transparency about the messy reality of startup life, pioneering the Whiteboard Friday video series, and championing a 'chill work' philosophy that rejects hustle culture in favor of sustainable, sub-30-hour work weeks.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at SparkToro
- **Organizations:** SparkToro, Moz (formerly SEOmoz), Inbound.org, Alertmouse, Snackbar Studio
- **From:** Seattle, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** High School Diploma, Newport High School, Finance (dropped out, two classes short of completion), University of Washington
- **Known for:** Built Moz to 130+ employees, $30M+ annual revenue, and 30M+ annual visitors, Created the Whiteboard Friday video series, a flagship resource in SEO education, Published 'Lost and Founder: A Painfully Honest Field Guide to the Startup World' (Penguin/Random House, 2018)

## Career timeline

- **2000** — Dropped out of University of Washington; joined mother's marketing firm as web designer
- **2003** — Founded SEOmoz blog to generate income and pay off company debt; blog became world's most popular search marketing community
- **2007** — Transitioned Moz from consulting to SaaS software; became CEO; proposed to Geraldine via TV commercial
- **2008** — Married author Geraldine DeRuiter
- **2011** — Co-founded Inbound.org with HubSpot's Dharmesh Shah
- **2014** — Stepped down as Moz CEO following severe depression; Inbound.org sold to HubSpot
- **2018** — Left Moz entirely; co-founded SparkToro with Casey Henry; published 'Lost and Founder' with Penguin/Random House
- **2020** — Stepped off Moz board of directors
- **2021** — Moz sold to private equity
- **2024-2026** — SparkToro continues growth as leading audience research platform; Fishkin publishes research on AI search impact and zero-click content trends

## Achievements

- Built Moz to 130+ employees, $30M+ annual revenue, and 30M+ annual visitors
- Created the Whiteboard Friday video series, a flagship resource in SEO education
- Published 'Lost and Founder: A Painfully Honest Field Guide to the Startup World' (Penguin/Random House, 2018)
- Co-authored 'The Art of SEO' and 'Inbound Marketing & SEO'
- Named to BusinessWeek's 30 Under 30
- Named to Puget Sound Business Journal's 40 Under 40
- Co-founded SparkToro, pioneering audience research software
- Angel investor in TinySeed Accelerator, LegUp, TeamSportz, Techstars Seattle, Backstage Capital
- Keynoted hundreds of conferences globally on marketing, search, and entrepreneurship
- Pioneered public founder transparency about mental health and depression in the startup world

## Latest updates

- **2026-04** — SparkToro continues as leading audience research platform; Fishkin active in research on AI search impact on web traffic
- **2025-12** — Published Q4 2025 State of Search report with Datos analyzing search behavior across AI tools, Google, Amazon, and 41+ platforms
- **2025** — Presented 'It's the End of Traffic As We Know It' at The Marketing Meetup 2025
- **2024** — Named Wix AI Search Lab expert; continued speaking globally on zero-click search and audience research

## Links

- Website: https://sparktoro.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/randfishkin/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/randfish
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/randderuiter/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/rand-fishkin
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-04-22