Fort Lee Native Named To Forbes' 30 Under 30 List

FORT LEE, N.J. — A borough native and someone who is entrenched in the technology world was named to Forbes' 30 Under 30: Media list.

Brian Donohue, 27, a graduate of the Stevens Institute of Technology, is the former CEO of Instapaper, a bookmarking application, and helped facilitate its sale to Pinterest, a content-sharing application, in August.

“There are also several people that I ‘know’ from the Internet, including one of my favorite writers, who was recognized in the media category,” Donohue said of the Forbes' recognition. “It’s great to be recognized alongside so many other people that I know and respect.”

After graduating with a computer science degree, Donohue decided to start his own company, securing $250,000 in startup money. Although the product was not successful, Donohue learned how to manage a business and people.

He then went to Betaworks, a New York-based studio that owned Instapaper at the time. Donohue was quickly provided to general manage the app and changed Instapaper's structure from a paid model to mix of free and paid premium. He eventually became CEO and guided the company's sale to Pinterest.

“[The Forbes] recognition is nice in terms of my career accomplishments to date, but I hope it’s just a small nod and that much larger achievements are on the horizon,” Donohue said.

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Photo: Brian Donohue — Courtesy of Stevens Institute of Technology