As I sit to write this post, so much comes to mind. You see, the last few days have been a very memorable time.
Terms such as: Commitment, Passion, Energy, Focus, Zeal, Risk-Taking, Success, Triumph, Failure, Honesty, and Strength - are what is on my mind, and flowing to the keyboard.
These are mere words, but to me they mean more. They literally are words that drive me, words that have more than meaning - words that symbolize.....
The core people - OUR EMPLOYEES, are the fabric of the words above.....and, most of all - I'm humbled and honored to be working with every single one.
I'm also honored that our investors, Battery Ventures, Hillcrest Managment, Betaworks, and various angel investors, have made the commitment to help us at Lotame create value, and add "Another Chapter in Business Evolution - Lotame Style."
A few mentions of our recent funding news is HERE and HERE. We also issued a Press Release, and I've placed it below....but, I digress for my momentary weaving of a story important to me.
I was driving home on the West Side Highway, and my brain was overloaded. When I cant think from being tired, and mentally spent - I shut down. The way I shut down is to open my trunk - and pull out an old maxell cassette tape. (I keep about 200 in my trunk) The tape I pulled out and listened to was a Grateful Dead Audience tape from July 2, 1985 - Pittsburgh Civic Center. The audience mix, combined with their energy that night fit, my mood, "just exactly perfect." In particular the song called, "Lost Sailor, Saint of Circumstance" - HIT ME HARD. Another reason why music is tightly woven into my soul....you can listen to the show HERE. Bobby sings so eloquently -- with Jerry noodling his special style behind him:
"Holes in what's left of my reason,
Holes in the knees of my blues,
Odds against me been increasin'
But I'll pull through.
Never could read no road map
And I don't know what the weather might do,
But hear that witch wind whinin'
0 See that Dog Star's shinin',
I've got a feelin' there's no time to lose,
No time to lose!"
Press release below - Feb 12, 2008:
lotame Receives multi-million series a financing in a round led by battery
ventures—
Unveils the most customizable targeting tools and advanced monetization techniques within social media
NEW YORK
, February 11, 2008—Earlier today, Lotame Solutions secured a multi- million Series A financing led by Battery Ventures, with participation from existing investors Hillcrest Management and Betaworks. Lotame is a company that focuses on providing the most advanced revenue solutions exclusively within social media. It aggregates intelligence across multiple social networking sites, which allows advertisers to build the most targeted and customizable audiences, and gives publishers the ability to monetize their inventory more effectively to garner higher streams of revenue.
The success of online advertising can no longer be measured by simple click-thru rates and conversions. Behavioral targeting has become the new industry standard, however, most of the tools available were created for static publishers and are not effective for the evolving world of user-generated content. Lotame is changing the game with its cutting-edge Crowd Control Technology. It optimizes behavioral targeting by capturing previously unavailable data based on engagement, which is inherent to social media. This data intelligence, coupled with a completely customizable audience that is re-targetable for future campaigns, places Lotame at the forefront of the industry.
“We are in a unique position in that we deal exclusively with user-generated content, and our business model is based on being an aggregator of intelligence within social media,” said Andrew Monfried, Founder & CEO of Lotame. “We differ from others in the industry because we share all of our data and knowledge with our clients before, during, and after we deliver campaigns. Lotame prides itself on making our clients smarter. This approach allows our advertisers to maximize ad spend and ROI, while allowing our publishers the opportunity to convert remnant inventory into premium inventory.”
“The depth of information and knowledge Lotame can provide, offer insights never available before,” said Taylor Valentine, Account Group Supervisor, Horizon Interactive. “They have the ability to create and truly customize a campaign to drive results for clients.”
“Lotame has a unique business model, offering clients a sophisticated way of managing inventory strategically to help monetize your social network,” said Cyril Zimmermann, CEO of Hi-Media Group which owns Fotolog, the largest publicly-owned social media network.
Roger Lee
and Satya Patel, both of Battery Ventures, will become Lotame’s newest board members.
“Social media is growing at a rapid rate, and we are excited to be partnering with a company that we feel is leading the industry with the most advanced means of targeting and monetization,” said Battery’s Patel, who spent a number of years in product management for Google’s AdSense as well as at DoubleClick. “The Lotame team has the pedigree, vision and technology to help advertisers and publishers harness the true potential user-generated content has to offer.”
About Lotame
As the premier aggregator of intelligence within social media, Lotame’s goal is to make our clients more knowledgeable about how to effectively target and monetize user-generated content. Our advanced technology allows our partners to build the most targeted and customizable audiences available in the industry, while our business model focuses on providing them with the highest stream of monthly revenue.
Lotame was founded by seasoned Internet advertising executives from Advetrtising.com and Yahoo, and has offices in New York
and Maryland
. For more information please visit http://www.lotame.com.
About Battery
Ventures
Since 1983, Battery
has been investing in technology and innovation worldwide. The firm partners with entrepreneurs and management teams across technology sectors, geographies and stages of a company’s life, from start-up and expansion financing, to growth equity and buyouts.
Battery
has supported many breakthrough companies around the world, including: Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ: AKAM), Cbeyond (NASDAQ: CBEY), LIFFE (acquired by EuroNext), Neoteris (acquired by Netscreen) and Omniture (NASDAQ: OMTR). Its current Internet and Digital Media portfolio includes Bazaarvoice, Freewheel Media, Spot Runner, Trial Pay and World Golf Tour.
From offices in Boston
, Silicon Valley and Israel
, Battery
manages nearly $3 billion in committed capital, including its current fund of $750 million. For more information on the firm and its clean tech portfolio, visit www.battery.com.
About Betaworks
Betaworks, an operating and investing company that focuses exclusively on web based media, data services and revenue technologies, is based in New York City
and was founded by John Borthwick and Andrew Weissman. For more information please visit http://betaworks.com.
About Hillcrest Management
Hillcrest Management, LLC is a private investment organization that invests its own money and resources into local, national, and international businesses. In business since 2006, Hillcrest is passionate about the companies we invest in. We work closely with our portfolio businesses on the business plan execution, modeling and planning, and in the assignment of management professionals and specialized resources for each business niche. For more information please visit http://www.hillcm.com.
Contact:
Anthony Rapacciuolo
PRcision LLC
Phone: (646) 670-6110
Email: Arapacciuolo@prcision.com
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