Eric Koester

His Book Creators community program has helped more than 1,500 first-time writers develop and publish their first books, and has generated more than fifty national book prize winners or finalists in 2020-2022.

Koester runs Manuscripts which provides author-centric publishing services, including author and creator educational and support programs. He has helped thousands of individuals, with his course named 2018's Most Innovative by USASBE.

In 2013, he co-founded Main Street Genome with Scott Case (acquired in 2015). He was also appointed as the managing director of NextGen Venture Partners.

In 2013, Georgetown University recruited Koester as a Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

In 2010, he joined the cloud marketing firm Appature as its director of operations and general counsel, and in 2011, he co-founded Zaarly with Bo Fishback and Ian Hunter. Among the investors in Zaarly were Ashton Kutcher, Meg Whitman, CEO of eBay, and Kleiner Perkins.

Koester started his career at Ventana Medical Systems, which Roche bought for $3.4 billion in 2008. In 2006, Koester joined Cooley LLP as a corporate securities attorney, especially for their emerging firms and venture capital practice.

Koester was born in Beaumont, Texas, before his family moved to Omaha, Nebraska, when he was one. He started MEGO Consulting, his first company in 1992 and began publishing research and consulting reports, including his first book on plastics recycling for Mastio & Associates in 1994. He completed a BS in Finance & Marketing from Marquette University. He received his Juris Doctor from George Washington University Law School in Washington DC.