MediaMint

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder and CEO of Rhebus, a video distribution platform. We take in video content from content and video creators. Then, we work with them to distribute their videos out to where they want them, either on their websites, other websites, or platforms such as Roku and Amazon Fire TV. We also use advertising tech (ad tech) to monetize those videos so that the creators can make some money from their work. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with MediaMint?

MediaMint is a company for ad tech firms that have programmatic video advertising businesses. As a result, rather than hire someone full-time, we worked with them to help us with all the operational work associated with generating advertising revenue. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their work involved getting ad tags from buyers and placing them into the system. They also ran reports and made sure everything was working and optimized well. That way, we could maximize the revenue we were making from that part of the business. 

There were various platforms that we could use to generate revenues, but we used a platform called LKQD (now rebranded as Nexstar Digital), a tool that brings together advertising buyers, specifically ad agencies, and their technology partners. In addition, it also brings together sellers who were typically websites, TV, or mobile apps and their technology partners, and we were one of them.

The first step was to ensure that the person was familiar with the platform. Then, we trained that person. Once they were done with training, the second step was all about creating an account. After that, they got our tags running and made sure that everything performed well. When they were already familiar with doing that for a third-party stakeholder, we set up 2–3 more. Eventually, one person was running everything for us. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with an ads operations manager full-time. Then, at some point, we also worked with two ad operations managers for a six-week period. After that, we also collaborated with their developer who built some scripts for us. 

How did you come to work with MediaMint?

I worked with their co-founder a decade ago and got reconnected with them four years ago, and we were regularly in contact. They told us to contact them and we did. I also receive a trusted recommendation from another former co-worker who was already working with them. Since I was familiar with that person, we were confident that they could do a good job. 

How much have you invested with them?

We probably spent $50,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

Our partnership ran from November 2018–March 2020, but we’re still in touch with them. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

We measured their success based on our gross revenue and net profit — those were our two big metrics. 

The ad operations manager we worked with was great. They were super responsive. We had check-ins every six weeks and talked about issues that they might be having which was a very rare occurrence. 

How did MediaMint perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated through Slack and Google for video calls and email. We didn’t ask them to do too much beyond the day-to-day operations they have. Then, we did the actual overseeing of the work including setting the goals and finding new partners and customers for the business.

Overall, we didn’t ask them to do a lot of project management. We just asked them to do a great job and they shared ideas on how we could do things differently. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were exceptionally good at their job. They clearly knew who they wanted to hire, and what skills they were looking for and they hire them well. To prove that, everybody we interacted with was excellent at executing what we asked them to do. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t know that there’s much that I could say about them. Working US hours and being based in India was surely a tough gig for them. There were little issues that came up here and there, but we resolved them during our meetings. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be willing to make the effort to understand someone’s English, especially if it’s their second or third language. These guys speak English very well, but they can be heavily accented sometimes. You could also save a little bit of money when you partner with them.