Tom Lehman, Ilan Zechory and Mahbod Moghadam onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt NY on May 1, 2013. Photo by Brian Ach/Getty Images for TechCrunch
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The Rap Genius offices sit on the edge of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, with a clean view of the Manhattan skyline and the East River. There are six penthouse suites, each with its own function: editorial, programming, etc. They all have white walls, sparse furniture, and a new-car smell. Rapper Sean Price once summed it up beautifully, “Rap Genius, you could take a shit here.”"Rap Genius is the reinvention of the printing press. Nothing will ever be in print again…because the entire store of human knowledge is contained within it.”

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Tom Lehman. Photo by Jordan Teicher
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If Moghadam is the mouth, and Lehman is the computerized brain, then Ilan Zechory is the face. The guys all go by co-founder, not getting bound up by business titles, but Zechory describes his role as “earth mother,” which means making sure everybody feels good and talks about their feelings. He’s polite and polished and has meditation pillows in his office.Aside from unofficial psychiatrist, Zechory works with Moghadam on “the day-to-day logistical tragic capitalism stuff,” like paperwork, lawyer communication, and employee recruiting. He says he tries to stay away from the technological aspects of the company, but a few days before, Lehman praised his mathematical mind and told me that Zechory even trumped him by taking Calculus BC as a sophomore in high school. Moghadam mentions that Zechory worked as a hypnotist at one point between full-time jobs at Google and Rap Genius. I’m not sure if it’s a joke.When I bring the co-founders into Zechory’s office for a group interview, he does most of the talking. Moghadam throws in some humor and hyperbole, and Lehman looks on, casually bored, likely thinking about what code he needs to fix next. The guys have an easy rapport, but they disagree when it comes to advertising on Rap Genius. Moghadam wants to do creative campaigns, like a Wrap Genius partnership with McDonalds, but according to him, Lehman thinks of ads as “the pollution of the Internet.”"That’s our primary goal: to be a pillar of the Internet."
