Adam Gross is a computer scientist, tech entrepreneur, and investor. He is currently on the board of the video hosting company Vimeo, and is the chairman of the board of the technology-focused left-of-center get-out-the-vote (GOTV) organization Democracy Works.

Career

Adam Gross studied computer science at Carnegie Mellon University in the early 1990s and soon after cofounded a customer data analytics company. He later worked as the vice president of product marketing at Grand Central Communications, a web service network provider. From 2003-2009 he was the vice president of platform and developer marketing at Salesforce, before moving to Dropbox in 2010. In 2013 he cofounded a software company CloudConnect.com, which was later acquired by Salesforce. From 2013 to 2018 he was the CEO of Heroku, a cloud-based platform that is a subsidiary of Salesforce. ^{1 2}

Gross has also invested in a variety of technological firms, including Pantheon, a website operations platform; Mattermost, an open source collaboration platform; Cypress.io, a JavaScript testing tool; the data management software Cribl; the data orchestration firm Meroxa; and Tabnine, a firm that develops artificial intelligence programs to complete computer code; and several others. ^{3 4}

In May of 2021, Gross was appointed to the board of directors of the online video platform company Vimeo. ⁵

Gross is also a board member of the art and culture non-profit Reboot that is focused on reimagining Jewish life and traditions through art. ^{6 7}

Democracy Works

In January 2021, Gross became the chair of the board of directors of the technology-focused left-of-center get-out-the-vote (GOTV) organization Democracy Works. Democracy Works, which claims to be a non-partisan organization, seeks to increase voter turnout by facilitating voter registration and providing information about mail in voting, polling locations, and state rules and regulations. The main initiative of Democracy Works is TurboVote, which guides users through the voter registration process, helps with mail-in or absentee ballot requests, and sends text and email reminders about upcoming elections. TurboVote has been used in conjunction with large companies such as Facebook and Twitter to increase voter registration and turnout. Democracy Works is a cofounder of the Civic Alliance, a group of non-profits and large companies that seek to increase voter turnout to 80 percent. Democracy works also runs How to Vote, a resource that provides information regarding voter registration and voting rules for all 50 states in both English and Spanish. The information from How to Vote is utilized by Google when users search for voting information. ^{8 9 10}

Political Beliefs

Adam Gross has contributed to Democratic political campaigns, including those of Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH), former Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL), and former U.S. Rep. Kendra Horn (D-OK). He has also contributed to the left-of-center PAC ActBlue. ¹¹ Gross’s Twitter profile indicates that he supported Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. ¹²

1. “Adam Gross | LinkedIn.” LinkedIn.com. Accessed June 21, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamcgross/.
2. “Adam Gross | Board Member | Vimeo.Com, Inc.” Investors.Vimeo.com. Accessed June 21, 2021. https://investors.vimeo.com/board-member/adam-gross/.
3. “Adam Gross | LinkedIn.” LinkedIn.com. Accessed June 21, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamcgross/.
4. “Adam Gross | Board Member | Vimeo.Com, Inc.” Investors.Vimeo.com. Accessed June 21, 2021. https://investors.vimeo.com/board-member/adam-gross/.
5. “Adam Gross | LinkedIn.” LinkedIn.com. Accessed June 21, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamcgross/.
6. Reboot. “About.” Accessed June 21, 2021. http://www.rebooters.net/about-us.
7. Reboot. “Board.” Accessed June 21, 2021. http://www.rebooters.net/board.
8. Democracy Works. “Tools for Voters.” Accessed June 21, 2021. https://www.democracy.works/tools-for-voters.
9. Democracy Works. “TurboVote About.” Accessed June 21, 2021. https://www.democracy.works/turbovote-about.
10. Civic Alliance. “Civic Alliance.” Accessed June 21, 2021. https://civic-alliance.netlify.app.
11. FEC.gov. “Adam Gross Individual Contributions.” Accessed June 21, 2021. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=Adam+Gross&contributor_city=San+Francisco&min_date=01%2F01%2F1990&max_date=12%2F31%2F2022.
12. Twitter. “Adam Gross.” Accessed June 21, 2021. https://twitter.com/adam_g.