FF 013: 'Make Bets And Believe In What You Are Doing' with James Borow @ Shift & Brand Networks

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Finance, Venturecapital, Tech News, News, Siliconvalley, Technology, Investing, Startups, Business

4.4 • 637 Ratings

🗓️ 18 September 2015

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

James Borow is Chief Product Officer at Brand Networks which delivers social marketing and advertising to 650 enterprise customers, following their acquisition of Shift where James was CEO and Co-Founder and led the business to being the No 1 marketing software company for social advertisers with clients such as Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook. James was named a semi-finalist for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur Of The Year Award in 2014, and is a thought leader in digital advertising, with articles in Forbes, The New York Times, Bloomberg and Business Insider. James is also an active angel investor, having invested in Kixer, a mobile advertising platform, Gradient X, a mobile DSP (acquired by SingTel) and Conversion Logic, an online advertising attribution platform.

In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

1.) What were James' entrepreneurial origins and what was his aha moment?

2.) How did James get his first clients and what were the hardest aspects of growing the business?

3.) What was it like working with these tech titans like Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin?

4.) Shift obtained $14m in VC funding. How did James meet his investors? How was the fundraising experience for James? What were the surprises and challenging aspects?

5.) Shift was acquired by Brand Networks for $50m but what were James' reasons for selling? Was there any clash between James and his investors when it came to the sale?

6.) What advice would James give to founders contemplating selling their business to larger acquirers?

Items Mentioned In Today's Show:

James' Fave Book: John Adams by Dave McCullough

James' Fave Apps: Snapchat, Business Insider and ProductHunt

As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and James on Twitter here!

If you would like to see a more colourful side to Harry with many a mojito session, you can follow him on Instagram here!

Transcript

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0:00.0	What's up everybody and what a fantastic founders Friday we have in store for you today.
0:04.5	You're listening to The 20 Minute VC with your host Harry Stebbings.
0:07.9	And today's episode is courtesy of our dear friend Clark Landry.
0:11.5	Thank you so much for introducing us to today's guest.
0:14.1	I'm very proud to welcome James Borough to the 20 minute VC.
0:18.4	James is chief product officer at Brand Networks, which delivers social
0:22.9	marketing and advertising to 650 enterprise customers. Following the acquisition of shift platform,
0:29.5	where James was CEO and co-founder, where he led the business to being the number one marketing
0:34.3	software company for social advertisers with clients such as LinkedIn,
0:38.9	Twitter and Facebook. If that wasn't enough, James was named semi-finalist for Ernst and Young's
0:44.3	Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2014 and he really is a thought leader in the digital advertising
0:49.8	industry with articles in Forbes, New York Times, Bloomberg, and of course, Business Insider.
0:56.5	However, James also sits on both sides of the table as he is an active angel investor,
1:01.2	having invested in Kixir, Gradient X, acquired by Singel, and conversion logic.
1:07.3	But before we delve into stage show, let me stop and tell you about Vidar Law.
1:11.6	They are a boutique law firm that is focused on allowing tech start-ups to grow without interference from any legal aspects.
1:18.6	And you know what is so great about them? They do fixed fees. They do not want to surprise you with unexpected bills, meaning you can call them up and not have to worry about billable
1:28.1	hours and know that your bill is not going to be unexpected and will be the same every single
1:33.2	month, allowing you to focus on what matters, which is making your company as successful as possible.
1:39.7	So you can check them out at www.vdh.com, or you can email my personal friend and partner at Vidar Law at C-Virner, W-E-R-N-E-R at VidarLaw.com.
1:54.7	However, back to this day show and it is now time to welcome James Borough, Chief Product Officer at Brand Networks.
2:06.5	You have now arrived at your destination.
	...

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