ARI KAUFMAN

VISIONARY GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY EXECUTIVE AND LEADER OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE TEAMS

  • Early-Stage
  • Turn-Arounds
  • Platform/Roll-ups
  • Exits / IPO
  • Corp Dev / M&A
  • Structured Finance
  • Strategic Selling
  • Market Development
  • Executive Management
  • Leadership
  • Coaching
  • Partnerships
  • P&L
  • Team Building
  • Account-Based Selling
  • Culture Development
  • Technology Development
  • Demand-Based Marketing

Ari has served in various CXO capacities to start and acquire companies, lead turnarounds, and substantially grow technology companies to create maximum shareholder value. As CSO, he drove IssuerDirect [NYSE: ISDR] to IPO, established a platform and acquired four additional companies. As founder, he grew interactive lead-generating advertising firm ThinkAcquisition to $100M in billings before exit. As President of InfoNow, Ari engineered the management buy-out of LocationInsight with private equity financial support and as CEO sold Placeable to a strategic buyer. As General Manager for LookSmart [NYSE: LOOK], Ari grew the paid search platform responsible for $250 million in revenue. As CRO, Ari increased first-party ad serving revenue at TruEffect (f/k/a MatchLogic) by 340% over three years. Ari was a founder at Zacks.com, where he launched the first ad-supported financial web site, achieved $120M topline in four years, and pioneered the online advertising industry.

TRANSACTION AND CAPITAL EXPERIENCE

  • £135M IPO for IssuerDirect
  • Completed four acquisitions for WIlink plc roll-up platform
  • Secured $16M series A for Sojern
  • Secured $8M series B for Pixorial
  • Secured $6.5M series A for Placeable
  • Executed $5M management buy-out for LocationInsight
  • Raised $4M series seed for Spout
  • $4M series A for First American Title and 5x multiple exit
  • 5x EBITDA exit for ThinkAcquisition

GROWTH AND TURN-AROUND EXPERIENCE

  • Increased Placeable top-line revenue by 25% and reduced customer churn from 16% to below 4% over 2 years
  • Shifted LocationInsight revenue composition from 75% one-time fees to 85% recurring
  • Increased InfoNow average contract length from 12 to 20 months
  • Launched LookSmart private label SaaS solution and increased company revenue by 40% in one year
  • Increased TruEffect revenue by 340% over three years
  • Grew ThinkAcquisition to $100M billings

“Ari has led startups, turn-arounds, and early-stage growth companies for 25 years and has made a career out of successfully anticipating the future of growth sectors.”

Denver Business Journal

EXPERIENCE

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, SPOUT

Denver, CO – 2017 to 2023

  • Raised $4M series seed
  • Invented the first real-time quantitative device to detect lead in drinking water for in-home use

OPERATING PARTNER, NEXAQUIRE

Denver, CO 2017 to 2018

Operator-led investment team sponsored by Insignia Capital Group to acquire digital media, martech and adtech companies. NexAcquire Search Fund was sponsored to acquire up to $100M of assets.

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, PLACEABLE

Denver, CO 2012 to 2017

  • Secured $6.5M series A; subsequent strategic exit at premium multiple
  • Increased top-line revenue by 25% and reduced customer churn from 16% to below 4% over 2 years

PRESIDENT, MODEL N (f/k/a INFONOW)

Denver, CO 2010 to 2012

  • Executed $5M management buy-out with PE investment sponsor
  • Pivoted commoditized legacy web locator business into successful local search marketing SaaS provider
  • Shifted revenue composition from 75% one-time fees to 85% recurring
  • Increased average contract length from 12 to 20 months

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, PIXORIAL

Denver, CO 2010

Secured $8M Series B for this Facebook video application company; subsequent acquisition at a premium

GENERAL PARTNERS, TRAILBLAZER VENTURES

San Francisco, CA 2008-2009

  • SearchForce:          Leadership of SEM automation and bid optimization company
  • Sojern:                   $16M Series A and GTM development for online publisher of air-travel profiles
  • All.com:                 Funding advisor to peer-to-peer online media file sharing and social network

GENERAL MANAGER, LOOKSMART

San Francisco, CA 2007-2008

  • Managed $150MM P&L
  • Launched private label SaaS solution and increased company revenue by 40% in one year

CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER, TRUEFFECT (f/k/a MATCHLOGIC)

Denver, CO 2005-2007

  • Increased revenue by 340% over three years
  • Catapulted business forward to lead advertisers into the age of data ownership and privacy

CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER, INNOVATIVE DRIVEN (f/k/a INTEGRO EBUSINESS CONSULTING)

Denver, CO 2003-2004

Established Microsoft partnership and doubled company revenue pipeline in first year

VENTURE PARTNER, TRAILBLAZER VENTURES

Denver, CO 2001-2003

  • ThinkAquisition: Grew digital lead-gen agency to $100M billings on top of $1M series A and delivered successful exit for 5x EBITDA in less than two years
  • First American: Secured $4M series A and sold for 5x revenue after two years

CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER, ISSUERDIRECT [NYSE:ISDR] (f/k/a WILink plc)

London, UK 2000-2001

  • £135M IPO on the London AIM exchange
  • Executed the acquisition of four global competitors

CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER / EVP INTERNET OPERATIONS, ZACKS.COM & ZACKS INVESTMENT RESEARCH, INC.

Chicago, IL 1996-2000

  • Founder – spun-off Zacks.com from Zacks Investment Research, Inc.
  • Bootstrapped business from zero to $120M revenue in four years
  • $100MM+ valuation on the public market prior to the internet bubble-bust

TECHSTARS MENTOR AND BOARD ADVISOR

Denver, CO 2010-present

  • RideIQ (funded)
  • Chainstarters
  • DataNerds (acquired)
  • Attentive
  • Blank Slate

BOARD MEMBER, JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT

Denver, CO 2015-present

EDUCATION

PURDUE UNIVERSITY, Bachelor of Science

CORNELL UNIVERSITY, Veterinary Science

LICENSE AND CERTIFICATION

SOMMELIER – Court of Master Sommeliers, Americas. 2022

RECOMMENDATIONS

Brian Heinze, Head of R&D – Spout

“Working alongside Ari was a transformative experience. His contagious energy is inspiring. He moves fast with great confidence, decision-making, and negotiation skills, always propelling the team forward. Ari truly is a visionary with the entrepreneurial skills to back his ideas up. I’m grateful for his mentorship and proud to call him my friend. I confidently recommend Ari. He is an exceptional leader.”

Anders Jacobson, Venture Capital Investor – Spout

“Ari has built a very solid team to deliver on an ambitious vision and targets, solving a very important issue in the world of water. Ari and the team have since we invested shown a phenomenal ability to work through problems, pivot and build out a completely new product addressing a challenge which has not been solved previously. The solution and product they have now arrived at has the potential to take a market-leading role providing a very compelling platform to grow and provide investor returns from.”

Will Sarni, Angel Investor – Spout

“I have had the privilege of working with Ari over the past six years in developing an innovative water tech solution to address a “wicked water problem.” Ari has the unique ability to quickly identify a technology solution and business model strategy, but more importantly, execute the strategy with discipline and passion. I have learned much from Ari and am grateful to have him as a mentor.”

Jonathan Ewert, Private Equity & Corp Dev – Placeable

“Ari is a successful executive with deep expertise in online media, SAAS technology and venture development. Ari and I worked together at LookSmart, where Ari was GM of Publisher Services and operated the CPC text ad serving platform licensing business. Ari is passionate, innovative and has a strong market and client focus in everything he does. He is a big-picture visionary as well as highly skilled executive operator that articulates clear objectives and leads a company towards meeting its goals. I would recommend Ari to any emerging business or turn-around that is looking for a hands-on manager of operations that can benefit from both his inside and outside skills. He is as strong in front of clients as he is in front of boards, executive peers, and subordinates.”

MEDIA

WIRED MAGAZINE

Waterlyzer Offers Access to Water Quality Data in the Wake of the Flint Crisis

DENVER BUSINESS JOURNAL

Investment lets Denver’s Placeable focus on growth

STREETFIGHT

Street Culture: How Placeable Employees Own the Company’s Culture

DENVER BUSINESS JOURNAL

Denver biotech startup’s ‘game-changing’ gadget could solve this problem for water utilities

DENVER BUSINESS JOURNAL

Denver tech company Placeable puts itself on the map

HIGHLINE BETA

ABInBev backs SPOUT in the 100+ Accelerator

NEWSDESK-UK

Bluewater announces investment in Denver, Colorado-based Microlyze to support product development and commercial rollout

SOURCE

Start-ups win funding to deploy in water-scarce cities

DEATH OF A SALESMAN – EMAIL IS NOT YOUR FRIEND

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ART OF SELLING?

THERE’S AN ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM, AND IT’S YOU!

Ari Kaufman

ari@arikaufman.com

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