I'm the Director of Business Development for a technology startup called ZEFR based in Venice, CA. We build enterprise-level technology that helps media companies, content rights holders, and brands better understand and monetize their audiences on YouTube. It's my responsibility to source, evaluate, negotiate, and execute partnership deals with top tier companies in TV, film, music, sports, and also brands.
Why did you choose this profession?
I caught the startup bug 3 years ago, when I took a job at Ustream (a live video platform). I quit my job in management consulting, moved to LA with 2 weeks notice, and helped open a new office to expand the company's reach into entertainment. It was during the ~2 years I was there that I realized I loved being part of a startup, building a company and inventing new things. When the opportunity arose to join a younger startup that needed help getting deals done in media and entertainment, I jumped at the chance. It's been a wild ride already, but I love it.
What more do you wish to accomplish in your professional career?
I'd like to be part of a founding team and build a company from the ground up.
Tell us about a decision or change you made that turned out to be a positive career move.
There have been a couple times where I've been faced with the same tough decision -- go to a big well known company, or go to a small company without "brand recognition" but where my impact could be much larger.
Both times I've picked the latter-- my senior year I signed with Kaiser Associates instead of Accenture, and when I left consulting I turned down an offer from Google to go work for Ustream.
Both were very hard decisions but I believe I picked correctly both times. My decision making process valued the potential experience and how much I would learn more than the name on the resume. In both cases my impact at the companies became huge and I grew very fast as a professional, which was exactly what I had hoped when I picked the riskier bets.
How has Haverford influenced your professional career?
More than anything else, Haverford taught me how to think and analyze. Those skills are much more important than knowing "things" right when you get out of college. Anyone can learn "things", and you'll learn new things every day. But learning how to analyze a problem/situation and react to it is very hard, and Haverford did a great job of teaching it to me.
