Allen is an avid photographer and frequently speaks on how photographers can use online marketing to grow their businesses. Before PhotoShelter, Allen served as a founding employee and senior vice president of engineering at HotJobs.com, where he assisted in the company's massive growth from a 4-person start-up to a publicly-held company with over 675 employees. He oversaw a staff of 50 engineers, and was responsible for the development of HotJobs.com, Softshoe, and a number of internal applications. Allen graduated from Yale University with a bachelor's degree in music with distinction in the major. He serves on the board of the Eddie Adams Workshop, the leading student and young professionals' photojournalism workshop. Allen flosses daily.