 leapfrog enterprises inc  (commonly known as leapfrog) is an educational entertainment company based in emeryville california. leapfrog designs, develops, and markets technology-based learning products and related content for the education of children from infancy through grade school. the company was founded by michael wood and robert lally in 1995. john barbour is the chief executive officer of leapfrog. == history == === founding: 1994-1997 === the history of leapfrog traces back to the late 1980s when leapfrog co-founder michael wood, an attorney at cooley llp, had difficulties teaching his son how to read. he began researching phonics and marketing while continuing as a partner at cooley. by 1994, wood had developed the first prototype of what would become phonics desk, leapfrog's first product. the prototype utilized a texas instruments chip that was previously used by one of wood's clients to develop talking greeting cards. wood solicited feedback on his prototype from robert calfee, an expert on childrenâs reading development and a professor of education at the stanford graduate school of education. wood began manufacturing the phonics desk in 1995. that year, wood resigned as a partner at c
Companies_based_in_Emeryville,_California Companies_established_in_1995 Companies_listed_on_the_New_York_Stock_Exchange Educational_software_companies Learning_to_read Technology_companies_based_in_the_San_Francisco_Bay_Area Toy_companies_of_the_United_States