After selling Pepperjam in 2009 to GSI Commerce (NASDAQ – GSIC) and announcing my departure from the company in early 2010 I have been quite active through a combination of angel investing, public speaking, and consulting.
At the same time there has been a growing desire inside of me to get back in the game.
In fact, it was early last summer..just a few months after leaving Pepperjam that I knew that I wanted to throw my hat back in the ring as a CEO so I went on a multi-month junket talking to friends and colleagues I met over the years – I presented them with some of my ideas and asked for advise. After they gave me advise…I considered it carefully…and then moved on to the next person. For some of the people I met with….like Josh Kopelman from First Round Capital (founder of Half.com) I continued to ask more and more questions. Others like Michael Hourigan (COO at Thomas Peak Capital), Bobby Soper, (Mohegan Sun), Corey O’ Brien (Elected Official / Entrepreneur), David Siminoff (Silicon Valley Legend / the Wall Street Journal called him the smoking Gun), and several others…..I continued to leverage these amazing advisors as sounding boards over several months as I developed and refined my ideas.
When all was said and done I’m not certain which ideas were absolutely mine and which ones came from my friends and advisors….all I know is that I definitely drove the process and I’m beyond proud of the end result.
Yesterday I officially launched ReferLocal.com.
Here’s the consumer pitch….
ReferLocal is a member-only local digital advertising platform featuring exclusive deals and offers from local businesses. Unlike other local deal Web sites that focus narrowly on 50-90% off daily deals at local restaurants or spas (no worries – we offer daily deals at those locations too!), we take the concept of deals to the next level by opening up the opportunity to all types of local advertisers, including plumbers, lawyers, dentists, hair stylists, landscapers, wealth managers, casinos, arenas, sporting venues, yoga instructors, karate schools, locksmiths, colleges and universities, accountants, air conditioning technicians, florists, photographers, chiropractors, dog walkers, contractors, painters, optometrists, clowns, tutors, pet groomers, and just about any other local or professional service business looking for new customers in your neighborhood.
Here’s the advertiser pitch….