Year One, almost in the books...

Been is the ad tech space just for just about 13 years, or 37.14% of my entire life. I love it, it's exciting, people are great and OPPORTUNITY is HUGE! 

I just turned 35, and very excited to take the leap into the start-up world again, one that I helped create from the beginning this time. I've been there, and I've done that, but never one that I co-founded. We get to set the pace, the passion, the culture, and the desire to recognize how much OPPORTUNITY their is to do things better, smarter, and faster.

Few things I have learned or re-learned in the first year.

• PEOPLE: People make the company who they are, what we focus on, and how we get there. People make it fun to go into the office every day. People are at the other end of each partnership, and this is what drives me, and is most important to me.
• HANDSHAKES: Last March I wrote a quick post called "Automation Killed the Beer at Lunch." Meeting face to face is this programmatic super streamlined world is PRICELESS. Partnerships can be done over the phone or email or even text. But building, strengthening and having lasting ones requires a bit more. That's what we're focused on, building strategic long term partnerships.
• CASH FLOW: CASH is KING, and CASH FLOW is a mother f#c*er. Let's go brands, and agencies, pay those Net terms on time.
• DIGITAL VIDEO: We are a cross-screen video business. Digital Video will hit just under $10 BILLION, with a 'B" this year. That's crazy! Lots of confusion, especially around Mobile Video. Let's clean it up people, and focus, so we can start to move more of that $70 BILLION in Broadcast, with a bigger 'B' over into digital.
• LESS IS MORE: The world of ad tech or just online advertising in general has a ton of OPPORTUNITY to make a lot of money both short term and long term. Focus on your niche, your story and what makes you GREAT. Short terms wins can help push the business forward, but can also distract away from the brand positioning and end goals.
• KILL 'EM WITH KINDNESS: First off, this was a lesson I learned a very long time ago from a good friend. Clients and people come in all shapes and sizes, with a whole slew of personalities and emotions. We aren't saving babies here, so let's be kind business people here and focus on mutual success.
• HIRE PEOPLE THAT SCARE YOU: Another 'borrowed' lesson. Why settle for average? Hire people that want your job, and can potentially take it one day. Hire for value, hire for profit, but also hire people that share a similiar vision with incremental to add on top.
• CELEBRATE THE WINS: Again, let's not take ourselves too seriously. Let's make some money and celebrate when we do. Have PASSION, and show EXCITEMENT.
  
  Lots more to learn and many fires to put out in the future. We're 7 people strong now, about to be 8, and hopefully will double or triple that next year. We're lean and mean, which in my opinion is the future of this industry. We have focus, we see the prize, and guess what...we're going to WIN!