Last updated: February 20, 2023
I’m friends with Jake Lodwick. He’s the co-founder of Vimeo.
Jake spent the past few years in New Zealand. He was largely removed from the public internet: no posting, minimal scrolling, and enjoying down time.
But Jake recently returned to America!
Favorite Photos
I caught up with Jake Lodwick over two days in Miami Beach, Florida. Here are a few pictures and notes that I had during our chats.
About Jake Lodwick
Jake aka Jakob Lodwick is best known for being my friend for over 20 years.
Just kidding! He’s best known for creating Vimeo, a popular video-sharing website on the internet, along with my buddy Zach Klein.
Jake was CTO at CollegeHumor. He was involved in BustedTees, Blumpy, Keezy, and Elepath. He’s also a successful investor: Jake made early and profitable investments in MakerBot, Tumblr, Bleacher Report, and Bustle.
Friendship Notes about Jake
Some random things that stuck out to me after many hours of hanging out with Jake:
- Very quick to laugh. Loudly.
- Bold fashion choices: colorful clothing. Big glasses.
- Speaks confidently.
- Has a lot of ideas.
- Freestyle raps for fun.
- Mindful of his posture.
- Throws frisbee well.
- Played a drawing game with me, using several full pages in my notebook.
- Extremely mindful of his phone and device usage.
Rubell Museum
We visited the Rubell Museum together. It has “one of the biggest private contemporary art collections in North America.” Featuring works by Basquiat, Keith Haring, Jeff Koons, Yayoi Kusama, Nick Cave, and more.
I liked this museum!
Here’s why I recommend a quick visit to the Rubell Museum if you’re in Miami.
- Owner-operated: Mera Rubell was working the ticket counter and showed us around for a few minutes. Super nice!
- Huge space with high ceilings.
- Fun to walk around.
- Neat garden outside with Florida-native plants.
Thanks to Zach Ware and Dorie Clark for suggesting that I visit. Next time I’d also like to visit Superblue Miami (thanks Caro!) and return to the Perez Art Museum to update my list of their donors.
Two Good Restaurants in Miami
We ate at two restaurants in Miami. I recommend them both.
Fresh, healthy food. Fast service and no fuss. Jake said he’s been eating at Pura Vida almost every day in Miami. I got a salmon bowl and Jake ordered a hilarious assortment of items (he was very hungry).
Near the Rubell Museum. Tasty meat. I really liked the Frito Pie. We also ordered brisket, pork ribs, and coleslaw. Plenty of seating, fast service, friendly staff.
Conclusion
It was great to hang out with an old friend. I’m glad Jake is back in America. He seems happy and very alert.
Jake is working on a new project now that will take a long time to build.
I enjoyed this podcast interview with Jake and suggest you check it out: Jacob Lodwick @ Vimeo: The Filmmaker Who Pioneered Online Video Sharing. It is an interview from January 2022 by Aaron Dinin talking about the early days of video sharing and how Vimeo was created. I got a shoutout in here! When Jake talks about the early days of vlogging.
- Jake Lodwick on Instagram
- Video: Sleep by Max Richter: LIVE in NYC, blog post and vlog that I made several years ago. Jake makes a cameo appearance here!
Original post: January 4, 2023 -- Last updated: February 20, 2023
