Kevin O'Connor founded DoubleClck in the mid-90s. The advertising company eventually went public in 1998 and was sold to private equity firm Hellman & Friedman for about $1.1 billion in 2005. Google eventually bought DoubleClick for $3.1 billion in 2007.
If you knew everything that you know now back during your DoubleClick days, what would you do differently, I asked. "I'd hold on [to DoubleClick] for three more years," quipped Kevin, referring to DoubleClick's sale to Google at three times the price it was sold to the private equity firm. Kevin was not part of the sale to Google.
No matter. A billion-dollar sale isn't one to sneeze at. And, anyone who's been part of the storied DoubleClick tale certainly has lessons to share.
Kevin, who is now at his new startup FindTheBest, shared few specific lessons about DoubleClick, but more general lessons we hear often, but frankly probably not enough.
A very simple and insightful lesson he shared had to do with focus. "A business is only about one thing," said Kevin. "It's solving a problem - somebody else's problem. If you do it better than anyone else, you'll win all the customers."
Indeed, most entrepreneurs would likely agree that they often spend too much time looking behind them and not enough time looking forward.
Listen to Kevin's lessons, including hiring "smart athletes" and one big lesson he learned after investing in a disposable DVD startup.
Founder and CEO of Vator, a media and research firm for entrepreneurs and investors; Managing Director of Vator Health Fund; Co-Founder of Invent Health; Author and award-winning journalist.
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FindTheBest is an objective, socially curated, comparison engine that allows you to choose a topic from hundreds of Comparisons, tailor your search based on dozens of key filters and select the best option based on the factors important to you. Ultimately, FindTheBest allows you to make faster and more informed decisions by allowing you to easily compare all the available options.
You'll find many other comparison sites that may seem similar to FindTheBest. You may have used shopwiki.com to find and compare specific products like HDTVs, or kayak.com to find and compare airline tickets. These sites, however, are different than FindTheBest in two major ways. First, while many of these sites only allow you to search and compare within a narrow range of products or services, FindTheBest allows you to search and compare a wide range of topics from ski resorts to celebrities. Second, many comparison sites are simply driven by affiliate marketing deals "recommending" products or services which pay them the highest referral fees. FindTheBest is unique in that it provides both a broad range of topics to search through as well as an unbiased database free from any hidden advertising. While we may look to advertisers to be able to keep our search free, any advertisements on our site will be clearly marked and targeted to your search.
FindTheBest is organized into nine broad categories ranging from Arts & Entertainment to Sports & Recreation. Each category includes dozens of Comparisons-from Aquariums and Nutrition Charts to Surf Spots and Zoos. Each Comparison consists of a variety of related listings, and each listing can be sorted through numerous key filters.
FindTheBest will soon become a collaborative knowledge base allowing you to eventually contribute information by providing and editing your own listings, and posting reviews and ratings. In this way, FindTheBest will ultimately become a place for you to find and share information as well as add your voice to the community.
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