Trigger investors will double money: Russell
AFTER burning through $21.58 million in starting two companies, Andy Russell, the founder and CEO of Trigger Media, told investors he is going to forgo collecting a salary from the startup and is no longer seeking new rounds of funding.
Trigger started InsideHook, a men’s fashion and lifestyle site, and FEVO, an events company — but some investors are getting anxious for a payday.
After all, it’s been six years since investors initially backed Russell and five since InsideHook and FEVO were launched.
“I don’t know if he’s an entrepreneur or a huckster or a dreamer,” one investor told Media Ink.
A second investor seems a bit more supportive of Russell, saying, “I think everyone knew it was a long-term thing. [Russell] ended up starting fewer businesses than we thought, but I don’t think anyone is calling for his head.”
“I understand their concerns,” Russell said of the irked investors, but he insisted his investors will be rewarded for going the distance.
Russell said he ended up starting fewer companies because the board felt it would be wiser to spend the money on building the two companies already underway than starting a third entity.
The five-man board includes Eldridge Industries Chairman Todd Boehly, Eldridge President Tony Minella, hedge fund exec Brad Gerstner, Vincent Mai, the exCEO of AEA and now the chairman of the nonprofit Sesame Street, and Russell.
“At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if you start five companies and three of them fail, or if you start four companies and two of them fail,” said Russell. “All that matters in the end is if you make money for your investors.
“When someone trusts me with their money, I am not going to let them down,” he said.
Russell is predicting long-term investors will easily double their money.
The executive pointed to his previous — and profitable — experience.
Russell mentioned his time as a partner with Bob Pittman in the Pilot Group right before starting Trigger in 2011.
Pittman is on board as an investor in the new firm.
Among the credits Russell ticks off at Pilot are the $1.7 million the firm invested for 80 percent of Daily Candy, which returned $93 million when it was sold to Comcast for $125 million, and the $10 million invested in gaming company Zynga, which went public with a $7 billion valuation.
“That’s why I was able to raise this kind of money [with Trigger]. I had a lot of success in the past,” said Russell. “It’s not like I came out of nowhere.”
Among the Who’s Who of investors he tapped: hedge fund titan Paul Tudor Jones; former Morgan Stanley CEO John Mack; the Newhouse family’s Advance investment fund; and Ali Pincus, the estranged wife of Zynga founder Mark Pincus.
Russell said that, while he is no longer soliciting investment into Trigger, he is bringing new outside investors into InsideHook and FEVO.
In fact, investors have pumped another $5 million into FEVO and an added $1 million into InsideHook, Russell said.
He said he expects both companies will be sold “within one to two years,” with the first sale happening “within the next six months.”
Russell declined to pinpoint which company would be first.
He said if the sale comes off, his investors will easily double their original investment. “By the time both companies are sold, it’s my opinion that all investors will be very happy. The investment will return far north of two times.”
Ortiz on ‘Run’
Rodale has picked a new Runner’s World editor-in-chief — Betty Wong Ortiz, ex-editor-inchief of Fitness, formerly published by Meredith.
Ortiz becomes the first woman to hold the top job at Runner’s World, prompting speculation that the title will be getting more in touch with its feminine side.
Ortiz succeeds David Willey, who is stepping down later this month after 14 years on the job.
Bart Yasso, a veteran dubbed the Mayor of Running — and the magazine’s chief running officer — earlier this year said he would retire in 2017 after a 30-year gig at Runner’s World.
At the end of 2015, Rodale shut down its hard-core long-distance title Running Times effective with the January/February 2016 issue. Rodale is likely to face new competition for the hearts and minds of women runners. Former Lonely Planet Managing Editor Rebecca Warren was recently tapped to succeed Jessica Sebor as editor-in-chief of Women’s Running, published by the smaller Competitor Group.
It comes at a time when women are embracing running as never before. According to Running USA, of the 17 million race finishers in the US last year, 57 percent were female.