Stephen Smyth
BA in Mathematics from University of Dublin (1998), MSc in Mechanical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2000), Founder & President at Smythworks (2008-2009), Co-Founder & President at Twigmore since Oct 2009
| Headline: | Entrepreneur |
| Website: | http://twigmore.com |
| Skills: | Business, Engineering, Entrepreneurship, Languages, Leadership, Management |
| Location: | New York, NY, USA |
| Interested in: | Brainstorming, Finding business partners, Finding cofounders, Finding team mates, Meeting new people, Professional opportunities, Promoting my startups, Recruiting for my startup |
| Tags: | industrial design, startup, travel networking |
| Schools: | Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Dublin, Trinity College |
WORK EXPERIENCE
| Employer: | TWIGMORE |
| Position: | Co-Founder & President; Social Networking Startup |
| Time period: | October 2009 - Present |
| Description: | Leader of company with day-to-day responsibility for product, engineering, marketing & operations. Developed and tested two different products (virtual world for education & social self-improvement app.) in 9 months; currently testing product that helps you discover and meet friends-of-friends. Raised angel round of funding in May 2010 and follow-on to round in Feb. 2011. |
| Employer: | SMYTHWORKS |
| Position: | Founder & President; Online Video Performance Ad Platform Startup |
| Time period: | July 2008 - October 2009 |
| Description: | Developed and tested performance ad platform that enabled online distribution of infomercials. Agreed to sell platform to performance ad network company and join as President; global financial crisis occurred and consulted as Acting President of acquiring company while deal renegotiated. As Acting President, was responsible for strategy and day-to-day operations of firm with annual revenues of over $60M and over 70 employees in New York, Toronto and Santa Barbara. |
| Employer: | THOMSON REUTERS |
| Position: | Vice President, Emerging Media |
| Time period: | April 2004 - August 2006 |
| Description: | Responsible for mobile, video, and digital signage virtual P&Ls globally and maximizing revenues and audience from the company’s presence in these emerging media. Delivered global emerging media revenues of $2.9M in 2006 or 47% above target; drove additional indirect revenue by differentiating Reuters as innovator through advertising trade marketing and public relations. Delivered over 6M mobile page views per month by end of 2006, which represented over 5% of total monthly page views cross-platform. Delivered over 5M video streams per month by end of 2006 or 80% above target. Deployed mobile and interactive TV products globally directly and through affiliates including Nokia, RIM/Blackberry, PalmOne, Verizon, Sprint, Nextel USA, Microsoft, Motorola, Vodafone UK &
Spain, NTT DoCoMo Japan, KDDI Japan, China Mobile, O2, MTN South Africa, Tivo, Telus Canada, TIM Brazil, Nextel Mexico, Telefonica Spain, Brightcove, Sky, Virgin Mobile USA and Google. Implemented global mobile and video supply chain with total of over 8 vendors of technology development and hosting services. Launched and managed Reuters Labs, public showcase of latest consumer product innovations from Reuters; graduated over 6 projects, including ad-supported mobile service, Second Life news bureau and podcasting, into commercial release in 2006. Recruited and led dedicated cross-functional team of over 10 people with goal of quickly establishing sustainable Reuters’ presence in emerging media globally. |
| Employer: | THOMSON REUTERS |
| Position: | Senior Vice President & General Manager, Media, Americas |
| Time period: | January 2003 - July 2008 |
| Description: | Responsible for Reuters Media digital P&L in the Americas, driving advertising, ecommerce and licensing revenues from online, mobile, interactive TV, out-of-home and digital syndication services. Delivered $36M in revenues in 2007 with annual growth of 23% in online advertising and 22% in digital syndication; signed new clients including ABC, Acura, Bank of America, CBS, Chevrolet, Chevron, Discovery, Dodge, Ford, Kellogg, Levi Strauss, Mercedes, Michelin, Nissan, Ray-Ban, RBS, Revlon, Starbucks and Unilever; diversified customer-base away from financial services (decreased dependency by 14%) and towards computers, telecommunications, media and auto categories. Grew online audience by 14% to 13.6M avg. monthly visitors in 2007; grew cross-platform page views by 47% to 1.3B page views in 2007. Grew reach (>20%) and revenue by launching the Reuters Affiliate Network, a premium advertising network targeting business professionals; secured key affiliate deal for over 3M US Guardian visitors. Led team of over 30 people across advertising sales, advertising operations, business development, programming and signage operations with support from globally-shared product, marketing, editorial and technology services; inherited team and plan late in 2006 and closed out year ahead of revenue target; increased size of ad sales team by 100%; re-organized it into 5 regions covered out of 4 offices. Improved customer service, scalability and efficiency by implementing revenue operations platform that optimized sales workflow from lead to cash across customer relationship management (Salesforce), inventory management (Operative), forecasting (Rapt), yield management (Rapt) and collection functions.
Energized Reuters brand through marketing partnerships and innovation-led publicity with awareness among the general public in US rising from 34% in 2006 to 42% in 2007. |
| Employer: | THOMSON REUTERS |
| Position: | Vice President, Media Strategy & Development |
| Time period: | January 2003 - April 2004 |
| Description: | Developed and presented media strategy and supporting business plan to senior management; investment approved. Coordinated management processes of $240M business including monthly performance reports and annual business plans. Sourced and managed relationships with strategy, audience research and product development consulting companies. |
| Employer: | BERTELSMANN |
| Position: | Director, Business Development |
| Time period: | August 2000 - September 2002 |
| Description: | Negotiated licensing deals worth over $1M for mobile and online exploitation of game-show formats. Performed and presented research and analysis of market, product catalogue and financials for turn around plan for company’s international distribution business (~$100M annual sales); plan approved. Conducted review of $1M investment in joint venture production company with UK celebrity “Naked Chef” Jamie Oliver; acted as single point of contact in complex relationship with Jamie Oliver team. Created business plan for development of Jamie Oliver brand in US across Bertelsmann platforms. Represented FremantleMedia on Bertelsmann investment team; provided operational perspective in assessment of possible investment in studio and digital cable channels. Collaborated with FOX sales to secure interactive sponsorships worth $650K for show American Idol. Represented FremantleMedia in Bertelsmann synergy committee meetings during integration period of RTL Group, Europe’s largest TV & radio group (~$3.5B annual sales). |
| Employer: | BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP |
| Position: | Summer Associate Consultant |
| Time period: | June 1998 - August 1998 |
| Description: | Developed international distribution strategy for US TV production and distribution company. |
| Employer: | BMW |
| Position: | Research & Development Apprentice |
| Time period: | June 1997 - September 1997 |
| Description: | Jointly developed and implemented real-time virtual reality environment for visualization of crash, vibration and aerodynamics simulations.
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EDUCATION
| University: | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Time period: | 1998 - 2000 |
| Degree: | Mechanical Engineering, MSc |
| University: | University of Dublin, Trinity College |
| Time period: | 1992 - 1998 |
| Degree: | BAI in Mechanical Engineering |
| University: | University of Dublin, Trinity College |
| Time period: | 1992 - 1998 |
| Degree: | Mathematics, BA |
Stephen's Startups (1)
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Thomas Ryan
CEO at skinnyCorp / Threadless