Our profile feature takes a look at some of the global professionals working across performance marketing, shedding light on the varying roles and companies across the flourishing industry. This week we head to London to meet Daphna.
Name:
Daphna Giniger.
Job title and company:
UK Director at ironSource.
In one sentence, how would you describe what the company does?
ironSource connects people and apps across every platform and device, managing the discovery, distribution and delivery of web, desktop and mobile applications – and they do this over 7 million times a day.
What are the company’s unique selling points?
Our platform was built for developers by developers, so we have an intimate understanding of their needs. We offer app developers superior reach and targeting when it comes to user acquisition, and we’re also the best in market for the successful installation of their apps. With over three billion successful installs to date, we’ve proven our ability to connect users and apps effectively.
Within the last six months/year, what stands out as the company’s major milestones?
It’s been an exciting year – we’ve continued to grow at record speed, hiring over 165 people in 2014 to take us to over 500 employees. Even at this size, however, in many ways we still think like a start-up and we run an internal innovation lab within the company – called ironLabs – where we grow B2C apps to help us keep our edge and refine and hone our B2B offering.
We also expanded our global presence over the last year, and we’re now active in the Asian, American and European markets.
In February 2015 we closed a round of over $100M, and while that’s obviously a huge deal, it’s really only one more step for us on the journey of growing and expanding our business. Our goal is to capitalize on our market leadership to truly disrupt the industry and revolutionize the way people discover and interact with applications.
Duration in current role:
8 months as UK Director.
Where are you based?
London, England.
Previous performance marketing-related companies you have worked at:
Before I began working for ironSource, I was VP Publishers and then CMO at ClicksMob, a mobile performance company. Prior to that, I worked at an app discovery company called Appsfire.
What are your main job responsibilities?
I’m spearheading the development and growth in the UK for ironSource. My primary focus is on building strong relationships and developing partnerships with new publishers and advertisers who could benefit from ironSource’s offering, while establishing a presence in Europe’s largest media market.
Take us through what you get up to on a typical working Monday:
The first thing I do every morning, whether it’s a weekend or weekday, is check our numbers on my phone. It’s important to check not only how the company has done the previous day, but also to see how our clients have done. I like to start my day by making sure everything is under control, and I think that’s the mentality of most performance advertising professionals.
My day usually involves meetings with existing and potential partners, and while I’ve said numbers are important in a company, they are also not everything. My days consist of cultivating important relationships, so I can fully understand the larger, overall goals for each of my clients.
What top three websites can you be found browsing during your lunch hour?
I try to use lunch for casual meetings, or to hang out with colleagues rather than eating in front of my desk. If I am on my computer, it’s usually emails, the ironSource dashboard, and a bit of TechCrunch for industry gossip.
What are your top three tips for someone looking to get their hands on a job like yours?
- To be hungrier than your competition, work harder and run faster than the person who is running beside you.
- Answer your emails fast. It can be a pain, but that extra response before bed, or that quick response right when you wake up, makes a huge difference, especially in a global marketplace. Your ability to work fast and efficiently makes you seem easy to work with. There’s so much competition today, with people spreading their attention over different projects that being fast increases the chance of attracting attention to what you’re working on by a significant amount.
- Choose the company not the position. It’s very difficult to succeed when you dislike, distrust or just don’t have chemistry with the people you work with—choose a team that shares your passion, and success will follow.
Career-wise, where do you see yourself in three years’ time?
ironSource is a great place to grow. On one hand, ironSource is a corporate company in its size and its muscle, but the company culture is absolutely that of a start-up in terms of growth, and mentality. It means that there are always new projects, new markets and new opportunities to grow. I see myself establishing and growing our EU presence until I return.
Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you?
Before my wedding I enlisted a few friends, and together we spun out no fewer than 876 chocolate chip cookies in a single day as giveaways for our guests.