Jeff Patterson

Jeff Patterson has been starting businesses since he was five. Some were failures while others were marginal survivors, and those prior businesses set the groundwork for the success of Gaggle. Seeking a solution to manage student safety issues, Jeff founded Gaggle as a secure student email provider in 1998. As trends in risky student behavior like self-harm, violence toward others, cyberbullying, and child pornography grew, he expanded Gaggle’s offering to include products that help schools create safe learning environments. Unable to find investors when he first launched the company, Jeff has enjoyed not having a boss for the past two decades and uses this freedom to express his creativity and sense of fun—all while helping save kids.