Early Life
Anthony Wood was born in Manchester, England, in 1965. He later moved to the United States, where he developed an interest in electronics and programming. Wood attended Texas A&M University, earning a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. During his time at university, he founded SunRize Industries, developing software for the Commodore Amiga.
Rise to Success
After graduating, Wood founded iBand, which built a user-friendly editor for web pages and was sold to Macromedia in 1996. He then founded ReplayTV, a digital video recorder (DVR), after being frustrated at missing episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Although ReplayTV was later sold, Wood's entrepreneurial spirit led him to found Roku in 2002. Roku has become a leader in the streaming media industry, with Wood serving as CEO and Chairman. He briefly served as Vice President of Internet TV at Netflix in 2007.
Key Business Strategies
Wood's strategic focus has been to leverage advertising within the streaming platform. Roku's success is attributed to its user-friendly interface, low-cost devices, and the ability to aggregate numerous streaming services in one place. The company has focused on building its operating system and partnerships to drive growth.
Philanthropy
Wood and his wife, Susan, created the WoodNext Foundation. The foundation's areas of focus include mental health, homelessness, scientific research, disaster recovery, and economic opportunity, with a focus on addressing root causes. The Woods' are also focused on supporting communities in Texas, where they have strong ties.