John Hanke

John Hanke
Hanke at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con International
Alma mater	University of Texas at Austin (B.A.) University of California, Berkeley (M.B.A.)
Occupation	Businessman and Entrepreneur
Known for	Keyhole, Inc., Niantic, Inc., Google Earth, Ingress, Field Trip, Pokémon Go
Title	Founder and CEO of Niantic, Inc.

John Hanke is an American entrepreneur. Hanke is founder and CEO of Niantic, Inc., a company that creates experimental mobile, social, and local applications. The company is most widely known for its creation of Pokémon Go and Ingress.

Prior to joining Google, Hanke founded and was CEO at Keyhole, Inc.. Google acquired Keyhole in 2004, at which point Keyhole's flagship product was renamed to Google Earth. After Keyhole's acquisition, Hanke spent several years as Vice President of Product Management for Google's "Geo" division (Google Earth, Google Maps, Local, StreetView, SketchUp, and Panoramio).

Early life and education

Hanke received his B.A. with Plan II Honors from the University of Texas at Austin. While a student at UT, he chaired the Distinguished Speakers Committee and brought speakers Jeane Kirkpatrick, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Dith Pran, and others to lecture on campus. He received his M.B.A. from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley in 1996. Prior to business school, he worked in foreign affairs for the United States Government in Washington, DC, and Myanmar. Upon graduation, he subsequently helped start two successful entertainment software companies, Archetype Interactive and Big Network. John Hanke also worked on one of the early MMOs called Meridian 59.

External links

• Interview at Where 2.0 2005
• Why 'Pokémon Go' is Such a phenomenon - Business Insider, July 2016