Photo: Mark Miranda
It was two years ago that I first met the guys behind Specific Media: brothers Russell, Tim and Chris Vanderhook (l. to r.). Back then, as if it was so long ago, the Irvine, California-based online advertising company was fresh off its retargeting initiative after the dotcom crash and about to breach the $100 million sales mark.
Today, they're celebrating 10 years and going out with a bang. "It kind of got out of control," admits co-founder Chris. "We had a 10-year in New York and the UK, and [we decided we] had to do something here." The anniversary party was held last night at the SmogShoppe in Culver City, a smog-check center turned private event venue, complete with a red carpet, a live band, open bar and more.
When I first interviewed them, they were modest about their startup and the title they were being given as "millionaires." "It's a nice thing to hear people say," said co-founder Russell, "but in reality we're not where we want to be." That was in 2007, and before they'd branched out internationally, something they had set their sites on at the time.
Specific Media now has a presence in more than a handful of countries, including the UK, Denmark, France, Germany and Norway. In March 2008, they acquired a European company with similar offerings. Where the U.S. is more advanced in the online advertising industry, Specific Media was able to almost start fresh in the European market, basically following the same steps that led them to success in the U.S. "Europe was a great foothold," says Chris. "It was like a horse race where you knew who won. You could just press rewind and do it all over again."
Looking back over the past 10 years, the Vanderhook brothers never imagined they'd be where they are - especially considering their 1999 launch stemmed from boredom working odd jobs and $99 charged to Chris' credit card. Sure, they launched a successful company as mere teenagers and twenty-somethings, pioneered the pop-up ad, quickly grew a multimillion-dollar company and even got their "ass kicked by Google," said co-founder Tim (temporarily, of course).
But things have changed, and for the better - that's even in the down economy. "International is doing extremely well and Specific Media is doing well overall," says Chris. "Ten years ago I was 20 and honestly didn't think we'd be in business this long. But we kept seeing the opportunity."
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