YOU AIN'T GONNA LEARN WHAT YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW

Lotame Team Dinner 5-29-07 We

Lotame Team Dinner 5-29-07

We had a team dinner last night....

Lotame is growing, and I could not be more honored and excited to be working with a more dynamic group of people......(click on pic to enlarge)

Our team is comprised of developers, analysts, interns and most of all, good energy.

Our Team on the Floor

Our Team on the Floor .....

We are hitting many milestones, and crossing numerous hurdles, as we enter a new phase of building the company.

New hires, client wins, and RESULTS. We now have 6 Media properties using Crowd Control. (our technology)

We closed on our financing last week, and I'm happy to report that we have chosen EXCELLENT partners, and business strategists, to help us move our "Web 2.0 Monetization" Model forward....

We have also moved into the "multiple billions of transactions" per month that we at Lotame are identifying, and helping to further extract value for our partners, and their advertisers.

Picture of Scott Hoffman, Jeremy Pinkham, and myself below -- smiling on a Wednesday morning in May......

Major Kudos are in Order.....

Major Kudos are in Order.....

Today, CBS announced that they have acquired Wallstrip. (GigaOm piece here)

I'm thrilled for Howard, Adam, Jeff - and Lindsay.

The concept of the Wallstrip show, is the creative genius of Howard Lindzon, who came up with the idea of putting out a daily video (of stocks at all time highs) and, allowing consumers to watch it anywhere, or on any site, they desire.

The production, editing, and "packaging" was Adam and Jeff's responsibility, who busted their humps every day to put out a quality product. It is so evident, so much so that - each day Wallstrip became part of my morning, with coffee, reading my feeds, and launching my day....

Lindsay Campbell really does a fantastic job of bringing forth her wonderful personality, energy, and "improvisational skill" on camera. (she has been in the last 2 Sopranos episodes) It has been a treat to watch this amazing actress, feature her talent on a daily basis.......

I met Howard Lindzon late last year after being introduced to him through a mutual friend, Fred Wilson. Howard told me about his concept for Wallstrip, and after meeting him - and speaking on the phone numerous times -- I knew his passion, and love of the "unknown" would drive his success.

I invested, and was asked to be an advisor to Wallstrip, as well as a board member, along with Roger Ehrenberg.

Getting to know Roger Ehrenberg has been nothing short of amazing. He is smart, articulate, and a "well-planned" executive. His company, and his execution skills, are a pleasure to watch evolve from afar. Roger is the COO of Monitor110. I know his company will be enormously successful, because he is so intelligent.

I've told Howard numerous times that I believe Wallstrip, and specifically his idea for building a online video, IN THE WAY HE WENT ABOUT IT.....made him a pioneer, and more than a pioneer -- qualified him as a ARCHITECT. (as I explain it.)

Howard took a unique approach to business, and it paid off. One of the reasons CBS purchased Wallstrip, is because of the following.......(putting aside his creative genuis)

"In the six months since it launched, the Wallstrip team secured
syndication for its daily content through properties such as YouTube, Veoh, iTunes, Yahoo! Podcasts, Google Finance, Yahoo! Finance, The Street, CBS Radio
Affiliates, iTunes, AOL Uncut. Through these and other distribution
outlets Wallstrip has built a sizable online audience"

Imagine how our content creators, like CBS -- are moving towards allowing their productions to be consumed, and viewed anywhere? Think about it, CBS historically produced TV programs, and forced consumers to VIEW IT ON THEIR STATIONS...

No more....as you can imagine -- the media world has evolved, and CBS gets it.

CBS understands that "content and media" are no longer a asset to be viewed on THEIR PROPERTIES, but rather -- WHERE AND WHEN CONSUMER WANT IT.

They validate it (CBS) with their acquistion of Wallstrip.

I'm sure I forgot to thank someone along the way - so my apologies.

Let me end here, and thank Howard Lindzon for allowing me to invest in his company, and watch his greatness, DAILY. (through Wallstrip.)

I want to thank Jeff Marks, Adam Eland and Lindsay Campbell for putting out a quality production every day -- and making Wallstrip, VISIONARY.

Lastly, I'm thrilled to tell you that Howard Lindzon is a trusted advisor to Lotame, and I'm hoping to reciprocate in some small way the success he has had.......

Today's production is funny, self effacing, and just plain "Wallstrippy." (you can watch it below)

Kudos to my friends who built value, while creating quality.

When I Read a Great

When I Read a Great Post....

I have to share it.

You see, this post by John Borthwick, CEO of Fotolog explains very clearly why social media websites, are valued the way they are.

I recommend you read John Borthwicks recent piece titled:

"The Photobucket Sale and Fotolog."

Great job John.

Rock on.

May 2007, and my girls

May 2007, and my girls first t-ball game....

It was a monumental, memorable weekend. I got to coach Camryn and Dylan in their first t-ball game, and it was awesome. See pictures below, and click on any image to enlarge.

Who won? EVERYONE.

Joy and Dissapointment..... We will

Joy and Dissapointment.....

We will be announcing some great news at Lotame soon, as we have chosen our partners, who are investing in Lotame as part of our continued growth.

I'm also thrilled that our primary message of "monetization of Social Media inventory for publishers, and enhanced targeting for advertisers...." -- is reasonating, and our clients are using Crowd Control (our tool) to:

* win more business by using a new application to show agencies and brands how to target inside of UGC

* improved results and lift on campaigns, that are being targeted more in line with the "usage patterns" of the community - which proves our concept, our mission and our focus

Some of the aspects of running a business that, "dissapoint" me, and drives me nuts are:

Expecting too much of people. This is MY FAULT.

People that "fool me twice". This is MY FAULT.

Sharing too much information about what we are working on, because I'm so excited at what we are building. This is MY FAULT.

One key learning?

More often than not, dissapointment ends up being OUR (MY) FAULT, and not someone else's, or something else's........it sits with me.

It is a tough concept, and I'm not communicating it very well in this post, but I can tell you that it has been a central theme for me --- maintain high expectations -- but deal with being let down...BETTER.

Here is a picture of LIFE. I took this picture, and it is my wallpaper on my desktop.

It motivates me, because the man is ME.

The water is LIFE.

Go for a swim. I am.

Lotame Featured at the Grand

Lotame Featured at the Grand Prix.....

This past weekend, Lotame made it's debut on Rob Finlay's Lexus Race Car.
The race was the Grand Am VIR 400 Rolex Series.
I'm excited that Lotame was prominently featured on National Television, and I want to thank Rob for the, "unique and different" branding of Lotame.

Thanks to Jake Spain, (our resident intern) for bringing his camera, and Brian O'Connor (our Acct Management Guru) for offering to help out the racing technicians apply internet concepts and ideas, on how the car could go faster......

See pics below.