Before becoming the face of ChatGPT, Sam Altman left Stanford University at 19 to co-found Loopt, a location-based social networking app that struggled to gain widespread consumer adoption in a competitive social media market. In March 2012, Green Dot Corporation agreed to acquire Loopt for about $43.3 million. The acquisition gave Green Dot access to technology, patents and employees with experience in mobile development and location-based services. Roman Milyushkevich, CEO of HasData, said Loopt had location technology, mobile development experience, patents around real-time location-based messaging, and a team that had already spent years solving problems Green Dot was only beginning to face. Green Dot already had customers, payment infrastructure and retail distribution, while Loopt brought mobile product expertise and location technology. Milyushkevich said Green Dot was betting that combining those assets would produce something neither company could build as quickly alone. The deal made strategic sense even though Loopt had not become a dominant social media platform. Loopt's products were ultimately shut down after the acquisition, while its roughly 30 employees became Green Dot's Silicon Valley mob.