John Lauer

John Lauer is an entrepreneur and telecommunications industry veteran, and the CEO and co-founder of Zipwhip, the leading provider of texting for business. Zipwhip empowers companies to communicate with their customers in the most effective way possible – texting – right from their computer or mobile device using intuitive cloud-based software and an API solution. Lauer initially made his mark during the dot-com boom when he created Rootlevel, which built web applications for some of the biggest companies in the United States at the time. He then transitioned into the telecom industry and created Simplewire – one of the world’s first providers of SMS text messaging and mobile payment services. Simplewire notably gave Twitter its very first short code in 2009, which allowed tweets to be sent via text message and set the stage for what Twitter is today. Simplewire was acquired by Qpass, which later became OpenMarket. Just a few years after Lauer sold it, OpenMarket achieved $260 million in revenue. Today, as Zipwhip’s CEO, Lauer forms the company’s key strategies and initiatives and oversees executive operations.