When was michael acton smith born

Today with millions chatting daily online about their monsters, an expanding Moshi team is filling up the company's east London office - a characteristically fun place , with astroturf flooring, ivy hanging everywhere and a tree house for meetings. Every week three or four new people join the Moshi Monsters staff - but someone else is shown the door after failing to prove themselves during their probationary period. There is steel behind Michael Acton Smith's nice guy exterior.

And the company still faces plenty of challenges - such as when Lady Gaga won an injunction against the company after it developed a character called Lady Goo Goo. The company was ordered to cease promoting the character and its accompanying "Moshi dance".

A more long-term challenge is whether Moshi Monsters' young audience will stay loyal. Would Michael Acton Smith sell up if the right offer came in? Recent history shows that British entrepreneurs are more likely to sell-up when the going is good rather than following in the footsteps of a Google or a Facebook and build into a global giant.

But who knows. Michael Acton Smith might just have the sheer ambition and self-belief to break the mould. Listen again via the Radio 4 website or download the Profile Podcast. Why mini is big in the toy world. Lady Gaga bans Lady Goo Goo song. Look out, there are monsters about. Moshi Monsters suffer growing pains. The Silicon Roundabout revolution.

How Moshi Monsters grew to 50m users. BBC Radio 4: Profile. Techcrunch Europe. Entrepreneurial promise. Moshi Monsters now boasts over 50 million users worldwide. First business venture. In , having been inspired by the growing success of Facebook and kids brands including Tamagotchi, Mind Candy launched online world Moshi Monsters.

The risk proved to be his best decision to date. Smith was born in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, where he lived with his parents and sister. Smith studied Geography at Birmingham University, England where he met Tom Boardman at the chess club, who went on to be one of his best friends and co-founder of Firebox.

After university he worked briefly at investment bank Goldman Sachs which he left after six months. Smith lives in central London. In his spare time he organizes boutique music festivals and networking events including Berwickstock and Silicon Drinkabout. He was recently ranked among the Twitter elite. Today, Moshi Monsters has over 90 million users around the world. It has expanded offline into selling a range of products including toys, a kids magazine in the UK, a DS video game, a top 5 music album which has gone gold in the UK, books, membership cards, and trading cards.

In December , Moshi Monsters teamed with Universal to release a full-length feature movie. In , Acton Smith co-founded online gadget and gift retailer Firebox. He is also the founder of Firebox. Michael Acton Smith. Michael Acton Smith fans also viewed:. Vladimir Vasyutin. Bill Kidd. Peter McLaughlin. Charles Cullen. Martin Waller.