Glaser

Now that Rob Glaser has submitted his resignation as CEO of RealNetworks, he joins a long list of alumni of the Seattle software and digital media company. Fairly or unfairly, Glaser developed a reputation for recruiting wicked smart employees and then -- in some cases -- churning through them.

Described by former employees as "brilliant" and "demanding," one lasting impact of Glaser's tenure as CEO will be the number of entrepreneurs who cut their teeth at RealNetworks and went on to start new companies. In some case, those companies were formed because of Glaser's hard-charging style. Nonetheless, as one of the more successful technology companies to emerge in Seattle, Real has certainly made a mark in the region.

Here's a short list of the notable technology companies started by former employees of Real. Surely, I am missing some, so please fill in the blanks in the comments.

Thelen

Big Fish Games: One of the bigger spin outs of RealNetworks, Big Fish is now profitable with more than 400 employees. It was started by Paul Thelen in 2002 who had been responsible for writing the business plan for RealArcade and co-founding the company's game business.

FlowPlay: The virtual world operator was founded by Derrick Morton, the former general manager of mobile games at Real.

HelpHive: Former RealNetworks employees Karim Meghji and Dave Richards started HelpHive -- an online local directory service -- last year.

Inkd: Serial entrepreneur Kelly Smith -- who co-founded Seattle startups RocketVox, ImageKind and now Inkd -- was an early employee at RealNetworks having joined the company in 1995.

Patel

Isilon Systems: The Seattle digital storage company was founded by Sujal Patel, who worked in various engineering roles at RealNetworks from 1996 to 2001. Now publicly traded, though Real still has a slightly larger market value.

Mpire: Matt Hulett -- who joined the online advertising and e-commerce tools startup as CEO in 2006 -- worked at RealNetworks in the mid-1990s before going on to executive positions at Atom Entertainment and Expedia. Interestingly, Hulett just returned to RealNetworks

Ontela: Founder Dan Shapiro, who recently merged the Seattle startup with Photobucket, managed he RealArcade service at RealNetworks, helping to develop classic games such as Monopoly, Scrabble and Rollercoaster Tycoon.

Metzger

Payscale: CEO Mike Metzger-- who joined the online salary startup in 2004 -- worked at RealNetworks in various role durin gthe 1990s. There he started up the Real Broadcast Network and oversaw the ASP stream hosting business.

Point Inside: A developer of mobile mapping technologies for indoor environments such as shopping malls, Point Inside was created by former RealNetworks manager Kevin Foreman. "Having worked at Real for nearly ten years, I saw first hand Rob's business acumen, tenacity, and integrity," wrote Kevin Foreman in the comments of the TechFlash blog post. "Yes, Rob has flaws, but so do each and every one of us. We made mistakes, but we played to win and truly changed the world. Rob taught most of us how high our bar should be."

Foreman

Second Life: Technically not a Seattle startup, but the San Fran company does have offices here. It was founded by Philip Rosedale, the former CTO at RealNetworks, in 1999. Interestingly, Mitch Kapor -- an early investor in Real -- also is a backer of Second Life.

Shelfari: The online social networking startup for book lovers was started by former RealNetworks employee Josh Hug. The company was purchased by Amazon.com in 2008.

Smilebox: Andrew Wright -- the former vice president of games at RealNetworks -- founded this online greeting card company. Paul Ingalls, a former RealNetworks veteran, is also on the Smilebox team.

Spitter: David Eckoff, a senior director at Real who led the "CBS Big Brother 24/7" project, recently co-founded the online sporting site Spitter with Peter Gruman who also previously worked at Real.

Boyer

Spring Creek Group: The social media and marketing firm was started by former RealNetworks employees Clay McDaniel, Andy Boyer and Xavier Jimenez.

Sweat365: Brad Hefta-Gaub runs the online fitness community. He works at RealNetworks for eight years, serving as vice president of software products for the media systems division.

Yapta: The online travel startup was founded by Tom Romary, who previously served as vice president of consumer marketing at RealNetworks. In that role, he helped launch the company music and premium video subscription services.