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Posts Tagged ‘Ascentium’

A New Start in a Time of Opportunity, Risks

Posted in entrepreneur, business, tagged , , , on June 1, 2009 | 5 Comments »

So, it begins anew for me once again.

Last Friday was my last day with Ascentium.  Today is my first day working on what I consider my sixth potential venture.

My experience at Ascentium was wonderful for the most part. Ascentium bought my company, ZeroDash1, in March of last year (2008). We were excited about being part of a larger digital agency, and thought that our expertise in Analytics and Optimization could be a big difference maker in Ascentium’s projected growth.

Reality of integration and change management issues (Ascentium had acquired various companies before us) had slowed our impact a bit at first. However, over time, we became the full analytics arm of Ascentium. Times have hit hard the agency market and there will continue to be adjustments moving forward. I’m convinced, however, that Ascentium will maneuver successfully through the economic environment and emerge someday as a leading voice in the industry.

For me, I’ll have to watch Ascentium’s success from the sidelines.

Having been involved with five previous startups, the prospect of being on my own doesn’t seem  all that daunting. I guess I’m a risk taker at heart. I think that the drastic change in the economy over the last nine months offers up new opportunities. So many companies are struggling to survive with the wrong DNA — one that was born of another time. That opens up opportunities for companies developed for today’s environment to emerge and thrive. Yes, change always equals opportunities for those who can think and move fast.

Who knows where the road of life will lead me now? But somehow, that thought of uncertainty puts a big smile on my face. I’m ready to find out.

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Anil Batra, New Member on WAA Board

Posted in web analytics, Digital Marketing, tagged , , , on April 18, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

anil1Meet Anil Batra, my favorite guru of Analytics. It so happens that he also works with me at Ascentium as Chief Analytics Officer.

Last week, Anil was one of seven newly elected board members to Web Analytics Association (WAA). This is the leading association within the web analytics industry that supports its members by providing quality education, developing standards and best practices, conducting research and advocating for the industry’s issues.

Anil will bring much passion and energy to the WAA. He has been a thought-leader in the field of Web Analytics for the past five years and writes one of the industry’s most popular blogs. As marketing continues to evolve with emerging new media, analytics strategy and the ability to optimize campaigns and other marketing efforts are becoming center piece issues on the minds of CMO’s. As Anil would say, what are we trying to do here? And why? And how will we appropriately measure and optimize to meet or exceed goals. I know for a fact that Anil’s vision and leadership has added tremendous value to Ascentium’s marketing POV for our clients.

I first met Anil when he was leading Zaaz’ Microsoft account. He didn’t really drink, and he’s quite particular about what he eats. So, we just talked about the industry during that initial meeting. Later, I was fortunate enough to have him join ZeroDash1 shortly after we launched the Web Analytics consultancy. He brought energy, his industry perspective and definite credibility. Just as important, however, was his sense of humor and reassuring loyalty.

Together and with other  team members, we developed ZeroDash1′s reputation enough to be eventually acquired by Ascentium. 

He is definitely a worthwhile person to follow within the industry. He twitters, blogs and speaks at various conferences. He also provides great value to Ascentium’s clients with his expertise.

Congratulations Anil. Let’s go to Cafe Zum Zum for a bit of lamb, spinach curry to celebrate.

anil1

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Charmed Suite 504

Posted in business, Entrepreneurs, tagged , , , , , on April 3, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

Meet Suite 504.  It’s in the FX building in Seattle’s historic Pioneer Square. I work there.

At first glance, the sparse space looks rather ordinary and humble, quintessential office loft. It is approximately 2,000 square feet with an open floor plan accented with wooden beams and brick walls.  We thought about removing the commercial ceiling tiles to expose the overhead beams, but worried about what we may find hiding up there.  

gridnetworks1Despite this modest appearance, Suite 504 has a rich history. Prior to our lease, Gridnetworks occupied this space while building its high-quality video distribution technology. Last year, Gridnetworks raised $9.5 million from Comcast, Panorama Capital, and Cisco while working in Suite 504. Soon thereafter, Gridnetworks moved uptown for higher-grade facilities.   Now, there are reports that Gridnetworks has been sold to an unidentified “desktop video environment company” based out of New York.

esurg2Prior to Gridnetworks, the  space was occupied by Esurg, an online medical, surgical, pharmaceutical and office supplies company. In the early 2000′s, this startup’s successes accumulated to its own eventual acquisition by LLS National LLC in 2005. 

My company, ZeroDash1, moved into Suite 504 in September, 2007. We were a small team of 12 trying to build up a web analytics consultancy. We cleaned up the austere space, organized the open spaces and made it home. Five months later, we were acquired by digital marketing agency, Ascentium. Actually, we had two separate offers for aquisition, and ended up selecting the better fit.

Ascentium kept Suite 504 as a small Seattle satellite office. Ascentium’s headquarters is in Bellevue. Most of us split time between the large, premium, well-equipped Bellevue office, and our cozy Seattle office, still with its unique startup feel. Someday, we will vacate Suite 504, and another startup company will move in. Will that company keep the streak going?

Yes, Suite 504 looks pretty plain. It’s like so many other Pioneer Square office spaces that are favored by Seattle technology entrepreneurs. Yet, Suite 504 is anything but ordinary. Some extraordinary ideas have grown out of its rustic walls.

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Relevancy Matters in Email Marketing

Posted in Digital Marketing, tagged , , , , , on November 1, 2008 | Leave a Comment »

Hey, there’s a story about me (well, it’s really about making email marketing more relevant and I’m just a part of the plot) in Anil Batra’s blog.  Anil and I actually work together at ZeroDash1 | Ascentium.  He is one of the most followed experts in web analytics, behavioral targeting, and online marketing.  Here, Anil offers up some good thoughts for successful email marketing.

You will “Meet Anil Batra” in a later post.

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Using Linkedin to Plan Business Events

Posted in social media, Digital Marketing, tagged , , , , , on September 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment »

Ascentium has used Linkedin as an event-registration platform on a couple of occasions.   
The first was the “Light Up Your Brand” conference organized by our Portland office.  This was a highly effective, collaborative event featuring presenters from Intel, Linkedin, Federated Media, as well as Ascentium.   “How to Light Up Your Brand” was particularly focused on leveraging social media platforms to, well, light up your brand.
All registrations for the half-day conference came through Linkedin.  Organizers created a group within Linkedin displaying the “Light Up Your Brand” logo and a summary of the event. Interested people registered by joining this Linkedin group.
  
The results were generally positive. The Linkedin group obviously provided a convenient area for interested parties to share ideas and thoughts before and after the event.  We also found that the group was searched by the Linkedin community at large from persons interested in such topics as brightening up brands within the context of social media.  Since anyone wanting to join the group needed approval by the group’s manager, it has a built-in screening process as well.  
One issue that did arise was that persons outside the greater Portland area tried to sign up to the group and register not realizing this was an “in-person” conference. 
Even today the group remains on Linkedin with 130 members.  Should we want to make this an annual event, for example, this membership could be the foundation used in drumming up community interest again. 
The second event was for the Ascentium|ZeroDash1′s seminar series.  Admittedly, this was not as well organized and we offered other methods of registering.  We found that for a series of events, creating one group for registration does not work — obviously!  Moving forward, however, our Linkedin Group, Ascentium|ZeroDash1 Seminar Series, can continue to function as as a forum for discussing our seminar topics and soliciting feedback from attendees.  
In conclusion, Linkedin does provide interesting possibilities as a social media platform for registering and/or announcing business events.  

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Life in the Transition Lane

Posted in management, business, tagged , , on September 2, 2008 | Leave a Comment »

When we decided to be acquired by Ascentium, we knew that things would change mostly for the better and some for the worse (from our perspective).

Aided by Ascentium’s large client base and broad offering of services as an interactive agency, our group has found more diversity of interesting work. Our revenues have steadily grown, improving the fundamentals of our business. There definitely has been a good “Ascentium lift” by joining the larger company.

The improved foundation has allowed us to offer interesting career paths around the developing field of web analytics and optimization. So, we’ve brought onboard additional talented, smart people to the team. We’re so fortunate to have an industry thought-leader like Anil Batra, who also is an excellent mentor to the whole team. He’s helped develop an environment of collaboration.

We are now an integrated part of Ascentium, although we will maintain our brand (ZeroDash1) for some transitional time. For all purposes, however, we are Ascentium Analytics & Optimization. It’s very rewarding as the leader of ZeroDash1 to see both pre-acquisition groups benefit from the deal.

Unfortunately, changes benefit many but not all. That’s to be expected, but difficult to see happening. After all, we all had been through so much together. Consequently, a couple of initial key contributors have left and gone onto other opportunities. They are talented people and will be impactful contributors for their new companies. I wish them well. They deserve success. I will miss them.

Meanwhile, however, our current group has grown steadily, adding interesting new perspectives and personalities. We’re really starting to settle into a groove as a business and team. Yes, the office culture has changed with slightly younger employees and the influence of broader Ascentium. I look at this team and it motivates me every day to do my part the best that I can. They are tremendous and all work for the greater success of the team.

After 17 years in the service industry, I’ve seen organizations grow and change many times over and achieve great success. And during those times, key players have left my organizations and achieve incredible success in their own right. I’m proud of each of them, as well as what my teams have always accomplished.

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How to Sell a Service Company

Posted in entrepreneur, business, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 8, 2008 | 1 Comment »

ZeroDash1 was acquired by Ascentium March 1. How did the deal happen?
The genesis of ZeroDash1 came about last May when a few of us realized that measuring the effectiveness of digital marketing campaigns was an area of tremendous potential. We quickly formed a talented team, and launched with a big party at Hotel 1000 in September. The event attracted more than 400 people as the Northwest Internet Advertising Group (NWIAG) co-sponsored the launch.
Yet, building credibility from scratch was no easy task, and while ZeroDash1 created good buzz, finding paying customers was another matter. Regardless, we focused on building brand. Our people, in particular Anil Batra, went on the speaking circuit. As a result, ZeroDash1 even made it on Forrester’s report, “Where to get help with Web Analytics”.
By December, we realized that the fragmented nature of the Web Analytics sector gave a unique window of opportunity to some company to develop market dominance. However, ZeroDash1 didn’t have the capital and reach to do this without joining forces with a larger firm.
By January, we had a serious suitor from the Bay area. We had gone through weeks of due diligence when Ascentium contacted us. The two potential deals took their course until all parties involved realized that Ascentium was the better match.
Many people wonder how to go about selling a service company. Here are some of my takeaways:

  1. You have to have an attractive business plan. We focused on talented people in a highly desirable, up-and-coming field. We had picked the right business.
  2. With a service company, you must have a stellar reputation. Build brand and not just resumes. We continued to do this even when cash became tight.
  3. Must be able to articulate your value from the potential acquirer’s perspective. It matters little what you think of your value.
  4. Be reasonable in determining valuation. It has to be a win-win.
  5. Be open as possible from the beginning. Eventually, all truths will come out anyway.
  6. Keep liabilities to a minimum. No complex corporate structure.
  7. Don’t want it TOO much, but want it bad enough.
  8. Negotiate for the team, not just the shareholders.
  9. Realize luck is involved. Be humble.

 

Looking ahead, I’m very excited about what ZeroDash1 can do as part of Ascentium. It truly seems to be a tremendous match. And the web analytics space still remains fragmented, and ready for some market leaders to emerge. Our vision remains to become one of those leaders.

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