Scott Arpajian


Scott Loewen Arpajian is an American technology executive, entrepreneur and author, best known for being a co-founder of the software download website Download.com; he is currently CEO of Spanish download website Softonic.

Early life and education

Arpajian was born in Mount Kisco, New York in 1970 to Lee Arpajian and Stephanie Fay Arpajian, and grew up in Westchester County, New York. His family moved to Chappaqua, New York when Arpajian was 4 years old. As a teenager, Arpajian got his start in technology as a user of CompuServe, Prodigy, Bulletin Board Systems, and the IBM PC Jr.
Arpajian was educated at Horace Greeley High School and later went on to study at Boston University in 1988. He received a BS in communications in 1992. While at Boston University, Arpajian was Creative Director for the Boston University College of Communication AdLab, a full-service student-run advertising agency in Boston, MA.

Career

In 1993, Arpajian got his first job in tech as Associate Editor for ZDNet, a popular online service published by Ziff Davis, where he remained until 1996.

CNET Networks and Download.com

In April 1996, Arpajian joined CNET Networks as Executive Producer, Software Services. In his first few weeks on the job, he had the idea of taking one of the domains owned by CNET, Download.com, and using it to launch a software download website. Download.com launched in October, 1996 and gained significant popularity. It was the recipient of the People's Voice Webby Award for IT/Hardware in 2005 and won the judges award for the same category in 2007.

Rocket, Paper, Scissors and Dizzywood

In 2006 Arpajian became an entrepreneur, co-founding startup Rocket Paper Scissors in Tiburon, California, alongside Sean Kelly and Ken Marden. Rocket Paper Scissors launched its first project, the massively multiplayer game Dizzywood in November, 2007. Dizzywood was an online world for kids where they could play free games, explore unique and imaginative areas and meet new friends in a safe environment.
Popular among children ages 8 to 12, Dizzywood's online community grew rapidly, reaching over 400,000 monthly global visitors and was covered in multiple press outlets, among them The New York Times. Over three years, Dizzywood's collaborative world amassed over 1.5 million users.
In 2010, Dizzywood was consolidated when San Mateo, California-based SecretBuilders bought Dizzywood's assets.
The game world closed down 2010, but the website, with most of the content, remains online.

The Walt Disney Company

In June 2012, Arpajian became Vice President, Strategy and International of Disney Social Games, part of Disney Interactive, where he led business development, international operations and franchise strategy until July 2014.

Softonic

In February 2015, leading software download website Softonic announced that it had appointed Arpajian to the role of CEO, making him the first American senior executive for the Spanish company.
Immediately upon joining the company, Arpajian made the crucial decision to discontinue the company's controversial Softonic Downloader product in order to regain user trust. Arpajian later launched Clean and Safe, an initiative to clean up the website's software catalog and ensure users a safe and secure user experience.
Under Arpajian's leadership, after a period of economic stress, Softonic was able to return to profitability in just 7 months. This has led Softonic to begin considering expansion again.

Writing

Arpajian is the author of three books about technology: ; and How to Use the World Wide Web.

Personal life

Arpajian has been married to writer Kirsten Arpajian since 2002. They live in Barcelona, Spain with their two children.