About

Andrew Paradise is the CEO and Founder of Skillz (NYSE: SKLZ), the leading mobile games platform for fair and fun competition. The first publicly-traded mobile esports platform in the world, Skillz provides a competitive environment where players can be rewarded based on skill. Under Paradise’s leadership, Skillz has become a global leader in mobile gaming, hosting billions of tournaments and distributing millions in prizes each month.

Skillz has not only disrupted the mobile gaming space but revolutionized how players interact with mobile games while fiercely advocating for fair competition. With its patented technology, Skillz has helped mobile game developers create multi-million dollar franchises.

A visionary in tech, Paradise has a history of founding companies in diverse sectors, from eCommerce to image recognition. His passion for innovation began early, hacking video games at the age of seven. After a stint in private equity and venture capital, he founded his first company, Double Picture, an ad tech firm, and sold it to MPA in 2010.

In 2010, Paradise also founded AisleBuyer, a mobile self-checkout company, before selling it to Intuit in 2012. That same year, he co-founded Skillz with his fellow Aisle Buyer executive Casey Chafkin, with the mission of using competition to bring out the best in everyone.

A sought-after thought leader, Paradise has been featured in top outlets like Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and Bloomberg, and has spoken at SXSW, CES, and GDC. He was named to the San Francisco Business Times’ “40 Under 40” in 2018. Paradise earned a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Massachusetts and a Bachelor’s in Economics from the University of Auckland.