Case Presentation - MojoPages
(People Powered Yellow PagesSM)
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
5:00pm – 8:00pm
Please sign up at SDMITEF site: www.sdmitforum.org/
(Note that there is a fee for attendance, please see the bottom of this page)
Case Presentation Overview
Imagine you are launching a national brand that requires creating and sustaining online communities for partners in major metropolitan markets, and you’re doing it with a small marketing staff and no experience in traditional (offline) marketing and brand building. However, you do have a level of funding many companies your size would envy; a large impressive distribution channel, and significant advertising commitments from national media partners who see your service as an important new source of competitive advantage. What next steps would you take to best leverage this opportunity while minimizing your burn rate?
MojoPages is positioning itself as the next generation of online yellow page services by combining a social network with a business search engine. Its distribution model of co-branding with major media partners ensures scalable revenue.
About mojopages.com
"It all began when I was searching for a good moving company. Since my friends had no suggestions, I turned to the Yellow Pages. Just out of college and low on dough, I went with a local moving company, which was backed by the BBB; boasted the best rates in town, and had a catchy name! Unfortunately, this company took twice as long as promised to get the job done, and worse, they charged me triple the price originally quoted over the phone.
That’s when I got the idea: what If only there was a way to know how businesses are truly treating their customers? A way to know which businesses are the best? That's when I began dreaming of an online community where people could share their knowledge and experiences to help one another find the best local businesses and stay away from the worst. Shortly thereafter, MojoPages was born."
-Jon Carder
Founder of MojoPages
For more information, visit: www.mojopages.com
Business Challenges for Forum Discussion
1. How to best leverage the hundreds of millions in TV and Radio ads provided by media partners to build online communities and a brand.
2. How to best attract and retain engaged online community members who will contribute reviews and help spread the Mojo.
What will you learn?
1. Insights on the next generation of online search and community building.
2. Insights on how to leverage both online and offline media in building a national brand.
3. How to best augment limited in-house marketing capabilities.
4. How to best utilize media partnerships.
Who should attend?
Entrepreneurs and other professionals involved in internet businesses and/or building brands or user communities for their company.
Marketing and advertising professionals involved in traditional and online branding.
Entrepreneurs interested in how to integrate traditional offline and online media in building a brand.
Who will be presenting?
Presenter:
Jon Carder, Founder and CEO, MojoPages
Jon Carder has a proven track record of starting, growing and managing highly successful Internet companies. Baby’s Heaven was Jon’s first Internet business which he launched while attending Point Loma Nazarene University. Baby’s Heaven quickly grew into one of the Internet’s most visited baby websites, generating more than $2 million in sales in its second year. Baby’s Heaven was acquired in 2002 by Baby Universe.
He founded MojoPages.com in 2006 after experiencing the shortcomings of the traditional yellow pages. MojoPages.com is a disruptive technology to the traditional "Yellow Pages" industry. By combining an online Yellow Pages directory with Social Networking and powerful web 2.0 tools consumers can now locate the BEST business in their neighborhood and beyond.
In between Baby's Heaven and MojoPages.com, Jon founded Client Shop, which assisted consumers in getting the lowest home loan prices by having banks compete for their loan.Client Shop facilitated more than $10 billion in home loan requests per year, and was later sold to Internet Brands (NASDAQ: INET).
Moderator:
Marco Thompson, Managing Director, Express Ventures; CTO and Founder, Wind River Services
Marco brings to Express Ventures broad technology expertise across the software, hardware, wireless and networking fields, and extensive business experience founding and running diverse technology companies. He has operational experience up to $50,000,000 revenue run rates, and he has led marketing & sales strategy development for diverse technology enterprises.
Marco continues to hold the title of CTO at Wind River Services, now a division of Intel. Wind River Services has been recognized as a market leader in building consumer devices supporting digital video and audio standards.
Panelists:
Reid Carr, President, Red Door Interactive
Reid has been providing strategic direction for Red Door Interactive, a marketing and advertising firm, as well as heading up new business and marketing efforts for the company, since 2002 when he formed the company.
Reid has focused on advertising and the interactive/Web development space for more than ten years, but is presently focused on helping clients make their Web strategies profitable. This is the concept of "Internet Presence Management" that he is developing and sharing with clients and the general public. To share his knowledge, Reid is a monthly columnist for iMedia Connection; an expert blogger for FastCompany magazine on management and leadership, and he writes a weekly blog on social media topics for San Diego News Network.
Susan Huberman, Chief Marketing Officer, MOD Consulting
As the founder of MOD Consulting, an outsourced, strategic marketing consultancy, Susan Huberman puts her 20+ years of strategic marketing management skills to work for her clients. A marketing expert who has held senior management positions in both small and large companies across a variety of industries including packaged goods, consumables, high tech, retailing and Etailing, manufacturing and services, Huberman has considerable expertise in brand development, customer proximity and integrated demand generation planning. Most recently, Huberman was the Vice President of Corporate Marketing for Entropic Communications, a semiconductor company revolutionizing connected home entertainment. During her tenure at Entropic, Huberman ran all facets of corporate communications including branding, public relations, web, events, strategic intelligence, and positioned the company for its initial public offering (IPO) in Dec. 2007.
Jason Knapp, Vice President, Integrated Solutions, Fox Audience Network (FAN)
Jason Knapp is the Vice President of Integrated Solutions for the Fox Audience Network (FAN) division of News Corp, which manages delivery of all display advertising for MySpace and its network of over 700 independent websites. At the end of 1999, Jason helped start Strategic Data Corp (SDC), which pioneered sophisticated display ad performance optimization and held many of the top online ad networks as clients. News Corp acquired SDC in 2007 and subsequently launched FAN where Jason led implementation of its ad serving system. Since then, MySpace ad performance has skyrocketed and FAN has become one of the 5 largest US ad networks.
Full bios of the speakers may be found at www.sdmitforum.org/events.shtm
Presenting Sponsor - Knobbe Martens
Media Partner - San Diego Daily Transcript
Event Details
Date:
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Time:
5:00 – Networking reception
6:00 - Case presentation
7:30 – Audience Q&A
8:00 - End
Location:
Salk Institute
10010 North Torrey Pines Road
La Jolla, CA 92037
Cost:
Members and sponsors of MITEF – FREE (Registration still required)
General Public - $40
MIT Alums - $25
CONNECT members - $25
Students - $15
At the Door - $50
Contact:
Karen Winston
kwinston@connect.org
858.964.1346
Register through www.sdmitforum.org
