Tony joined Apple 10 years ago to build the product organization from scratch. He also tried a taste of academia, but prefers the challenge, creativity and growth available through entrepreneurship. When you’re largely successful, it’s easy to drink your own Kool Aid,” Lopez said. 2018 Outstanding Alumni of Color Awardee Tony Lopez tells graduates to remain true to themselves and their passion. It’s a quiet sense of practicality that has kept him grounded and focused. One of the advantages of growing up and studying in the Midwest is that people are well-rounded analytically and emotionally, Lopez said. “When you surround yourself with people who are supportive in your life and work, there isn’t anything you can’t accomplish,” Lopez said, adding that this is the best possible atmosphere in which to take risks and figure out how you can creatively use your talents. After Simple Star was acquired, Tony joined a senior partner from world renowned venture capital firm Accel to start Flowgram where they developed technologies that enabled anyone to create rich content experiences based on content found anywhere on the web. On the West Coast, Lopez rejoined one of his former UW business partners to lead product development for Simple Star, a start-up focused on sharing video and photo memories in rich interactive ways. Tony then joined as executive producer where he developed entertainment properties with Madonna, Will Smith, Tim Burton, and Matt & Trey of South Park fame to name a few. He was an early member of Looksmart, which went on to become one of the Internet’s top three most trafficked sites and went public. Technology led Lopez to San Francisco with his business partners during the first dotcom boom. His interest and training in psychology is embedded in the daily analyzing of buyer use behavior and designing technology to better fit and improve the user’s experience. Technology is his super power, Lopez said, and he decided to allow it to evolve naturally. 2018 Outstanding Alumni of Color Awardee Tony Lopez met with DDEEA graduates to talk about life, passion and the real meaning of success after college. He also found his Badger niche on the Isthmus, where he met his wife, Anne, at the Plaza Tavern, acquired his first business suit at Jazzman menswear store on State Street, and most importantly, pledged to remain true to himself while nurturing his emerging passion.įrom pioneering early web building, Lopez used this experience to team up with fellow UW alumni and start numerous web-based businesses including a corporate web development company (acquired by TDS) and one of the web’s first music search engines and broadcast sites,, which was acquired by an executive from a major hardware company in Silicon Valley. “They created a runway for life,” Lopez said, reaffirming the Badger tradition of discovering lifelong partnerships forged in Madison. Progressive institutions and businesses were building their early versions of web pages a geeky pursuit that fascinated Lopez, who quickly latched on to developing the Psychology Department’s emerging website alongside what have become his best friends and lifelong colleagues. Imagine the early 1990s – there was little or no public knowledge and access to the internet, or “worldwide web” as it was called then. As life unfolded, how this Badger ended up using his psychology degree took an interesting turn. But after following up on an opportunity to attend UW that was presented to him by his high school counselor, Lopez decided he wanted to be a clinical psychology. In fact, the Middleton High School graduate hadn’t planned to attend college. Lopez was honored as the 2018 Outstanding Alumni of Color by the Division of Diversity, Equity and & Educational Achievement on May 11, 2018.Ī career on the breaking edge of technology is not what Lopez imagined after graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1995 with a degree in psychology. Tony is responsible for product management, program management and innovation prototyping of Apple’s digital properties which span over 37 different countries and include the Apple Store App, Apple’s Online Store as well as Apple’s commerce presence on TMall and WeChat. As Senior Director of Product for Apple’s Retail division, Tony Lopez (’95) is responsible for defining and building the technologies that have made Apple one of the world’s most successful and admired retailers.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |