Andy Gavin

Andy Gavin (born in 1970) is a programmer notable for co-founding the video game company Naughty Dog with childhood friend Jason Rubin in 1986. Naughty Dog's games (most famously, Crash Bandicoot) are known for their combination of exceptional technology, great graphics, and polished gameplay. The sophistication of Naughty Dog's technology is often credited to Gavin's background in LISP at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Shortly after leaving Naughty Dog, Gavin co-founded a new Internet startup called Flektor with his former business partner, Jason Rubin, and former HBO executive Jason R. Kay. In May 2007, the company was sold to Fox Interactive Media. Flektor was shut down in January 2009.

Gavin recently announced a return to the video game business with Jason Rubin. They have formed a new social game startup called Monkey Gods that is working on a new version of Snood along with a casual word game called MonkWerks.