Scottish digital pioneers

Scottish online pioneer Pete Cashmore is on the verge of becoming of a multi-millionaire thanks media giant CNN’s interest in acquiring his social media news service Mashable - which he set up from his bedroom at his parents’ home near Aberdeen.

Here we look at four other Scottish internet entrepeneurs that have their mark in the world of online commerce.

Shaf Rasul

Star of the online version of BBC’s Dragons’ Den, Rasul was quoted in the recent Sunday Times Rich list as having an estimated wealth of £82m.

His core business interests include optical-media distribution business E-Net Computers which he established in 2000. It is now the largest storage media distributor in Europe and one of the biggest buyers of optical storage products in the world. As well as expanding E-Net Computers, Rasul has developed a venture capital investment portfolio, worth in the region of £30million, which focuses on property, asset management and internet technology.

Rasul also has an arm dedicated to management buy-ins and buyouts which provides teams with the funding, buying power and exposure to the supply and distribution networks required to expand their business.

Chris van der Kuyl

Van der Kuyl is currently Chief Executive Officer of brightsolid Limited, the owners of Friends Reunited and also one of the world’s largest Internet family history companies. He is also Chairman of the Tayforth group which has interests in Video Games development, Technology and Intellectual Property and Chairman of 4J Studios, a next generation video game development studio.

Angus MacSween

MacSween has been the Chief Executive Officer of iomart Group Plc of iomart hosting Limited since 2000. After a short service commission in the Royal Navy, he started his first business selling telephone systems in 1984. Since selling this first business, he has established, grown and sold 5 profitable businesses in the telephony and internet sector. Following the sale of Teledata, the UK’s leading telephone information services company to Scottish Power Telecommunications, MacSween spent two years as the Executive of Scottish Telecom where he was responsible for the development of iomart Group PLC’s Internet division. In December 1998, he founded iomart in conjunction with Bill Dobbie. He has been a Director of iomart Group plc since 2000.

Bill Dobbie

Dobbie has led a number of successful private equity funded businesses and retired from a seven-year spell at Iomart PLC (IOM) spanning founder to non-exec positions before setting up online dating firm Cupid.

He has been a Director of Demon Internet, Prestel, Teledata, Scottish Telecom (Thus) and several other companies.

His early career was with Unisys in the UK and Australia.

The St Andrews graduate is currently a non-executive director of Maxymiser Ltd a provider of online marketing software and services and Tag-Games Ltd a provider of mobile and social games.

He has an Honours degree in Pure Mathematics and an MBA from the University of Glasgow.