Speaker:
Moderator:
Panelist:
Event Description:
This forum will examine new ways online ad inventory is being created and sold. We will feature three exciting companies (SkyRider, ADECN and Gorilla Nation) as well as insights from top industry experts.
We live in a world where digital advertisers are increasingly limited by the availability of quality online inventory. In response, there has been a surge of entrepreneurs devising new distribution models to extend inventory or eliminate existing inefficiencies inherent in ad networks. Early on, some of these innovative startups have been snapped up by bigger players as evidenced by recent acquisitions of Massive by Microsoft and dMarc by Google. Radio, video, mobile phones, shopping malls, games, billboards, and peer-to-peer networks are just some of the innovative distribution alternatives surfacing — all focused on taking a piece of the growing online advertising pie.
This event will feature several exciting companies including:
Skyrider: This Sequoia Capital-backed start-up allows content owners to include ads in video files over peer-to-peer networks. While initially some P2P networks were involved in illegal file-sharing, today many P2P client applications (file sharing, instant messaging, internet telephony applications, software updates) are transitioning to legal, pay-per-song or advertising-sponsored models that fairly compensate copyright owners. Representing over 60% of all Internet backbone traffic, P2P networks are now viewed as the next global channel for content distribution and targeted marketing because of advantages in computing power and distributed bandwidth capabilities that reduce the costs practically to zero.
AdECN: A start-up producing the first real-time, auction-based exchange for online display advertising. It works much like a stock exchange, AdECN aims to solve the transitory supply and demand problems ad networks face. A member of the AdECN exchange buys on the exchange for its advertisers and sells on the exchange for its publishers.
Gorilla Nation: The largest online advertising sales representation company, Gorilla Nation exclusively handles media sales for over 400 high traffic, high quality websites in select vertical markets.
Please join us as our distinguished panelists discuss the issues, opportunities, and innovative approaches in online advertising.
Speaker:
Ori Cohen 
Founder
Skyrider
Ori Cohen is a business and technology pioneer, leading innovation in the telecom and video arenas. Prior to founding Skyrider, Cohen founded Narus, a global leader in software and technology for the telecom industry and government agencies. Cohen had previously served as Vice President of Business and Technology Development for VDOnet, an early leader in internet video. Additionally, Cohen served as Chief Executive Officer for IntelliCom Ltd. He holds a Ph.D. in Physics from Imperial College in London, U.K.
Moderator:
Rich LeFurgy
General Partner
Archer Martin
Rich LeFurgy is General Partner at Archer Martin, advising and investing in early stage digital media companies. He is a Director at X+1 (Chairman), Blue Lithium, Fathom Online and Associated Content, is an advisor with Fraudwall Technologies, Glam Media and Viewpoints Networks, and has consulted with AOL.com and Google. LeFurgy was a Venture Capitalist in digital media at WaldenVC (1998-2005), Founding Chairman of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (1996-2001), and Head of Sales for Starwave Corporation and later the Walt Disney Internet Group (1995-1998). Prior to that, he was on Madison Avenue at NW Ayer for 17 years from 1978-1995. LeFurgy has long been recognized as one of interactive industry’s leaders and was awarded the IAB’s first Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004. In 2000, he was one of the first inductees to Advertising Age’s Interactive Hall of Fame, along with Jeff Bezos, Jerry Yang and Steve Case.
Panelist:
Mitchell Davis
Former CEO of Massive, Inc.
Massive
Mitch has 10 years of experience in technology and software development with expertise in middleware software, online media and general management. Most recently, he was founder and CEO of pioneer in-game advertising company Massive, which was acquired by Microsoft last year. He is a former Senior Vice President of Encyclopedia Britannica, where he spent three years heading the Britannica.com and CD Rom business units. In this position, he oversaw P&L responsibility and coverage for the ad sales team, business development, editorial, production, product development and international offices. Mitch has a track record of success in entrepreneurial ventures as co-founder of Digital Rights (acquired by Liberty One) and founder of Parcelhouse (an international middleware software developer). Mitch has 12 years of integrated agency experience at APM Consulting and Maine Marketing. He received a Bachelor of Commerce Degree in marketing from the University of New South Wales, Australia.
Brian Fitzgerald
President & Co-founder
Gorilla Nation
Brian Fitzgerald is co-founder and President of Gorilla Nation Media, LLC, the world’s largest online ad rep firm. Mr. Fitzgerald began his career as an intellectual property attorney at MGM Studios, went on to represent some of the entertainment industry’s largest independent film distributors, and co-founded Celebrity Blvd. prior to Gorilla Nation.
Mark D. Kvamme
General Partner
Sequoia Capital
Mark Kvamme focuses on software and services investments. Prior to joining Sequoia Capital in 1999, Mark was Chairman of USWeb/CKS and Chairman and CEO of CKS Group prior to the merger with USWeb. Earlier in his career Mark was a Director of International Marketing for Wyse Technology, the President and CEO of International Solutions, and was a founding member of Apple France. Mark has a BA in French Economics and Literature from the University of California at Berkeley.
William Urschel
CEO
AdECN
Mr. Urschel founded AdECN, the first and only real-time auction-based exchange for online advertising, which launched in October, 2005. From 2002 to 2003, Mr. Urschel was CEO of publicly-traded ExperTelligence,(OTC: EXGP), selling that company in 2003. Previously, Mr. Urschel started and ran a number of successful technology companies, all located in Santa Barbara. In 2000, he started The Narrative Press, a digital book publishing company with over 100 titles, which he sold in December 2005. In 1994, he started Alliance Manufacturing Software, which quickly became a leading publisher of MRP/ERP software to small and mid-sized manufacturers. He graduated from Princeton University in 1978 with a degree in history.
