Corporate Backgrounder
The Company
Headquartered in Los Angeles, Spot Runner is the first Internet-based ad agency that makes it easy and affordable for local businesses to advertise on TV. With Spot Runner's revolutionary approach to commercial production, media planning and media buying services, local businesses now have access to a powerful marketing tool that was previously out of their reach. Advertisers can choose from a comprehensive library of professionally produced ads which can be viewed, purchased and personalized in a simple process online. With its proprietary media planning engine, Spot Runner also creates customized media plans by using some basic information entered by the advertiser, such as their industry, target demographics and budget. The entire process, which can traditionally take months and hundreds of thousands of dollars, now takes just days and at a fraction of the cost. Spot Runner manages each account by securing the ad buy, placing and tracking the ads, and analyzing viewership and demographic information. All of it is available online—a simple mouse click away.
Spot Runner sets itself apart from traditional advertising agencies by empowering clients in four ways: (1) by capitalizing on growing consumer comfort with accessing services and conducting business transactions online; (2) by using state-of-the-art technology to create a “self-serve” process that clients completely control through Spot Runner's website (www.spotrunner.com); (3) by focusing specifically on local TV, a market that other advertising agencies generally don't address; and (4) by serving the local business market, which is often ignored by advertising agencies. In addition to its experienced management team, privately-held Spot Runner has the backing of a highly respected group of investors, including Index Ventures and Battery Ventures.
The History
Spot Runner co-founders, Nick Grouf and David Waxman, first joined forces in 1995 to create Firefly Network, Inc., which was acquired by Microsoft in 1998. Its core product, the Firefly Passport, became the foundation for Microsoft's Passport and .NET initiatives. Next, they launched PeoplePC, Inc., which went public in 2000 and was acquired by EarthLink, Inc. in 2002. With several successful startups to their credit, Grouf and Waxman have now turned their considerable creative energy to revolutionizing the advertising industry with the launch of Spot Runner. All of the companies founded by Grouf and Waxman have had one overriding principle: harnessing the democratizing power of the Internet. Spot Runner continues that tradition by utilizing the Internet to give local businesses the benefit of the same powerful marketing tools previously available only to large national businesses.