AskMen was founded in August 1999 by Ricardo Poupada, Christopher Bellerose Rovny and Luís Rodrigues (all three graduates of
Concordia University's
John Molson School of Business in
Montreal, Canada). The company secured $500,000 in venture capital in 2000 while its main competitor, TheMan.com, obtained $17 million in financing from Highland Capital. In November 2000, TheMan.com shut down operations, providing an opportunity for AskMen to become the largest men's lifestyle website online. By 2001, AskMen surpassed the other websites in its category to become the largest men's lifestyle website. In 2005, it was acquired by
IGN. In December 2009, the site had an estimated 12 million unique visitors. ==Print==