Jeremy Ostermiller
Altitude Digital
Started with $500 in 2009 to help publishers benefit from online advertising. The Denver firm moved into video ads and raised $22.5 million from investors. But with tough competition and a consolidating industry, Ostermiller stepped down in November but remained on the board. In August, the company merged with Genesis Media. Ostermiller is now CEO of Edison Interactive, the Denver firm behind an advertising software platform geared for taxis and ride-sharing services, such as Uber and Lyft. The company is testing in South Africa and has its technology in “1,000 Ubers in Europe.”
On raising money from investors
“We were a venture capital-backed technology company. Our investors, like all investors, have a return they need to hit. We had over 10 offers in a matter of 16 months, but we
could never get our investors to get on the same page. We were getting offers for 6x, 7x and 8x and they wanted to hold out for a 10x return. I had a hard time with that. I’m not a greedy person. I wanted to do what was right for the company and the people. I wanted to take an offer on the table. They had other ideas.”
On leaving
“As an entrepreneur, I’m kind of a rebel. I started the company because I didn’t want a job. It felt like a job probably two years after we took the VC funding. With VCS involved, they want you to be laser focused — and that can be a blessing and a curse. It felt like a job when I couldn’t continue to innovate and push the needle, when I was being told what to do and not being able to lead.”
Regrets?
“It’s OK to ask for help. One of my mistakes early on is I thought I knew it all. Ask for help if you need it.”
On what he learned
“The only thing constant is change. Being comfortable is the enemy. The way I look at this is if you’re not looking two years ahead, you’re two years behind. What I really learned is to trust your first instinct because it’s probably right. There were a lot of times I’d doubt myself, wait two to five months to fire someone. The first instance is when you should act. Performance is more important than loyalty.”
Advice to startups
“Focus on your MVP, the minimum viable product. I see all the startups trying to kill it on version one. Just get something out there to customers. See if it sticks. Your customers will tell you where to go. Don’t worry about the bells and whistles.”
Next up
“(Edison Interactive) was the perfect scenario for me, to not only continue in a CEO position, but offered a majority shareholder position in the company. But another piece was the technology was 12 years in the making. The (Edison technology) is on version 4. If I can tell entrepreneurs anything, it’s that building technology is probably the hardest thing you can do.”