Introduction
Aaron Skonnard is the co-founder and CEO of Pluralsight. Skonnard founded the company in 2004 with Keith Brown, Fritz Onion, and Bill Williams, to provide online video training courses for software developers, IT administrators, and creative professionals. The company has since received over $192 million in venture funding, and has made eight acquisitions.
Early life
Skonnard graduated from Brigham Young University in 1996 with a degree in Computer Science. After college, prior to founding Pluralsight, he worked at 3M, Intel, and Axiom Technologies. During this time, he published three books: Essential WinInet, in 1999; Essential XML: Beyond Markup, which he co-wrote with Don Box and John Lam, and was published in 2000; and Essential XML Quick Reference, co-written with Martin Gudgin, and published in 2002.
Pluralsight
Skonnard, along with Keith Brown, Fritz Onion, and Bill Williams, founded Pluralsight in 2004. Originally, the company focused on classroom training courses for business. By 2007, they began to focus exclusively on online video training.
Since 2012, the company has raised over $190 million in venture funding, with a Series A in 2012 and 2013, and a Series B in 2014. Following their Series B, Skonnard announced the company's valuation neared $1 billion, up from less than $100 million in 2012.
Pluralsight has been listed as an Inc. 5000 company since 2013, ranking at 1155 in 2017.
Recognition
Skonnard has been recognized for his leadership as Pluralsight's CEO. Skonnard was an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award recipient in 2013. In 2016, he was announced as one of Utah Business's CEO of the Year honorees. MountainWest Capital Network also named Skonnard their Entrepreneur of the Year for 2016. Skonnard was also awarded Utah CEO of the Year at the inaugural Utah Startup Awards in 2016.
Personal life
Skonnard graduated from Brigham Young University in 1996. He lives in Utah with his wife, Monica, and their five children.