Late last month, we sent an email to our publisher and network partners, letting them know about our plans to “take Manhattan.” We presented, sponsored and/or participated at IAB’s Ad Ops, ad:tech, and OMMA’s AdNets events.

Well, we connected with so many new customers, met so many other companies working as we are to automate the fragmented online advertising industry, and generally had so much fun we decided to stick around, so I am proud to share this news:

the Rubicon Project has opened its New York office!

It’s no surprise, really - after all, New York is the nation’s headquarters for many of the world’s largest premium publishers, many already Rubicon Project customers. And after establishing our headquarters here in LA, and a presence in San Francisco earlier this year, it was natural that we continue to expand our presence to be closer to current and potential customers. Expect to see us continue to grow in 2009, better servicing our customers and partners in the U.S. and beyond.

Josh Wexler, our esteemed Director of Strategic Publisher Acquisition, will run the New York office. A seasoned entrepreneur and business leader with considerable experience in the advertising industry, Josh is responsible for activating major web publishers and media companies at the Rubicon Project. Josh is a media/technology entrepreneur, joining us from SWMX  (SoftWave Media Exchange) where he was the CEO and co-founder. He’s spoken at industry events like the UBS Media Conference, Local Ad World, Ad 2.0, and OMMA Expo.

Located in Chelsea, the Rubicon Project’s New York office is growing quickly. Positions in several areas, including publisher acquisition, account management and ad network partnerships, are listed on the company’s website at http://rubiconproject.com/about-us/hiring. (Please indicate when you apply whether you’re interested in a position in LA, San Francisco or New York).

Tags: Company news, Entrepreneurship, Hiring by kweber       > 1 Comment

One of the things I love about working at the Rubicon Project is the smart and insightful people I’m surrounded by every day.  Our CEO, Frank Addante, just published a post on his personal blog titled “Fear of Success” and I had to share it on our corporate site as it contained a message that I think will resonate with just about everyone.

It all started with an innocent Twitter update from Frank looking for new ideas for a blog post. One of our engineers, Ian, responded with this gem:

“Fear of failure can often paralyze a company, but sometimes so can ‘fear of success’. I don’t imagine that’s ever slowed you down, but I’d be curious to hear your thoughts on it.

Frank took Ian’s suggestion to heart and addressed some hard lessons he learned from being a victim of his own success that caused him to lose, and then re-find, behaviors that in-part make him the stellar business leader he is. Below an excerpt I think many of us can relate to.  Give the whole post a read. It’s worth the time and an excellent reminder to us all.

“…The problem is similar to the difference between children and adults. Children run around with little fear. Adults are more cautious. The reason I changed my behavior is because I was a victim of my own success. With success came expectations. Before, when I was the “young kid in the room” I could make mistakes because it was expected, I could say the wrong thing and it was OK and if I did anything great or impressive it was a surprise. All of a sudden, there was this inherent pressure to perform. I was no longer the “young kid” in the room that got lucky a couple of times. I became the “experienced entrepreneur” that people actually expected something from. People expected results. They expected me to say something smart. They expected the right answers. These expectations clouded my ability to simply trust my gut and I felt that I needed to have more logical support for my decisions. It slowed me down…

Tags: Entrepreneurship by njordan       > No Comments