Careers at SpotX
Mission
SpotX’s mission is to maximize the value and liquidity of its publishers’ video inventory.
History
In 2001 Colorado-area entrepreneurs Mike Shehan and Steve Swoboda founded Booyah Networks, an online marketing services firm. Coming off the dot com crash, it was difficult for them to obtain funding for the venture. So they turned to family, friends, and local businesspeople for investments. Also, Shehan sold a historic house he owned and Swoboda took out a second mortgage on his.
The company’s initial focus was on providing search marketing services. It eventually achieved strong growth, and by 2005 had experienced record profits. Booyah stared exploring additional service lines, and gained an interest in online video advertising. The team saw this as a high-potential industry, so it spun out a separate firm called SpotXchange in March 2007 that would focus on this sector.
SpotXchange was touted as the first online video ad marketplace, allowing publishers to buy ads from advertisers and other parties. The next few years saw many major developments. In 2009 it unveiled the industry’s first advanced targeting tools for advertisers. In 2010 it released a real-time bidding solution, which helped customers tailor their bids.
In July 2014 SpotXchange was acquired by RTL Group, which purchased a 65% majority stake with an option to buy more. In 2015, the company rebranded itself as SpotX, reflecting its shift from an ad exchange to a comprehensive inventory management platform, focused specifically on the supply side. Customers can manage their video ad inventory across mobile, desktop, and connected devices.
Benefits at SpotX
Business model of SpotX
Customer Segments
SpotX has a multi-sided business model, with two interdependent customer segments that are both needed in order to operate: publishers seeking advertising-related services and providers of those services such as advertisers, ad networks, agencies, trading desks, and demand-side platforms.
Value Proposition
SpotX offers three primary value propositions: convenience, customization, and brand/status.
The company offers convenience by enabling publishers to connect with all of their demand sources – advertisers, ad networks, agencies, trading desks, and demand-side platforms – in a single place. It also allows advertisers to deliver their campaigns across various platforms (mobile, desktop, and connected TV devices) programmatically (i.e., in an automated fashion).
The company enables customization by providing rich targeting and forecasting capabilities to advertisers so they can reach the right audiences at the right time.
The company has established a strong brand due to its success. It bills itself as the largest global marketplace for video ad inventory, processing more than five billion video ad decisions daily and delivering ads to over 600 million people in 190+ countries per month. Its prominent clients include The Atlantic, Meredith Corporation, Mail Online, Bonnier, and Scripps. Lastly, it has won many honors, including the following:
- A “Company of the Year” Apex Award from the Colorado Technology Association (2015)
- Recognition as a Marketing Technology Leader in the Upshot 50 (2009)
- Recognition as the “Top Online Video Advertising Platform” by Streaming Media (2008)
Channels
SpotX’s main channel is its business development team. The company promotes its offering through its website, social media pages, and participation in summits, forums, and conferences.
Customer Relationships
SpotX’s customer relationship is primarily of a self-service, automated nature.
Customers utilize the service through the main platform while having limited interaction with employees. The company’s website features a “Knowledge” portal through which existing clients can obtain education and training materials.
The site also has a “Resources” section that includes white papers, infographics, videos, and guides. Moreover, SpotX provides access to an e-mail newsletter with news and insights. That said, there is a personal assistance component in the form of phone and e-mail support.
Key Activities
SpotX’s business model entails maintaining a robust common platform between two parties: publishers and demand sources such as advertisers.
Key Partners
SpotX works with a number of partners to enhance its solutions for publishers and advertisers. Specific partners include Brightcove, IRIS.TV, Staq, Lotame, DoubleVerify, Videology, theTradeDesk, Kaltura, and DynAdmic.
Key Resources
SpotX’s main resource is its proprietary software platform, which processes five billion video ad decisions a day.
It depends on its engineering employees to maintain the platform and its customer service employees to provide support.
Lastly, as a startup it has relied heavily on funding from outside parties, raising $12 million as of December 2010.
Cost Structure
SpotX has a cost-driven structure, aiming to minimize expenses through significant automation.
Its biggest cost driver is likely transaction expenses, a fixed expense. Other major drivers are in the areas of customer support/operations and administration, both fixed costs.
Revenue Streams
SpotX has two revenue streams: revenues it generates from fees charged to publishers to use its platform and to service providers such as advertisers to present their offerings on the platform.
Our team
info: Mike earned a Bachelor’s degree in Biology at Vanderbilt University. He previously served as Chief Executive Officer of Booyah Networks and Ereo, Founder of LOGEX, and President of two AppNet divisions. He is currently the Chairman of Booyah.
info: Steve earned a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting at the University of Colorado. He previously served as COO and CFO of Booyah Networks, CFO of iBelay, and Director of Corporate Development at MessageMedia.
info: J. Allen previously served as the CTO of several companies, including Booyah Networks, ShadowLogic, FastIdeas, AppNet, LOGEX International. He also held roles as VP of Technology Services at DigitalNet and as a Senior Software Engineer at CyberCash.
info: Bryon Evje earned an undergraduate degree in Communication and Media Studies at New York Institute of Technology. He previously served as President and COO of Broadband Enterprises and as VP of Sales & Operations at Wavexpress.