| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Web marketing |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, California |
| Key people | Jared Reitzin |
| Employees | 50+ |
| Website | mobileStorm.com |
mobileStorm is an email and text-message marketing firm started by Jared Reitzin and based in Los Angeles, California.[1] To date, the company has sent more than 3 billion messages and launched more than half a million marketing campaigns.[2][3] Some of their clients include Overstock.com, NASCAR, American Idol and Kaiser Permanente.[3]
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In 1998, at the age of 19, Reitzin dropped out of college to start a record label called Katalyst Music Group.[4][5] Within Katalyst, Reitzin started a technology division where they built websites for larger labels.[4] Early in the company’s founding, Jonathan Schreiber, an advisor, inspired Reitzin's interest in mobile technology.[6] Reitzin says "[He] told me mobile is gonna be big... He explained the ecosystem to me and it got me fired up." Schreiber was able to provide Reitzin with his first project which was with Interscope Records; Reitzin would start mobileStorm around that project.[6]
mobileStorm officially launched in 1999 and incorporated in August 2000.[7] They raised $40,000 initially from friends and family and were entirely self-funded.[5] Reitzin states that “When I started mobileStorm, investors were throwing money at anyone who uttered the word "mobile." I think one of the best mistakes I never made was taking investment. I don’t think I would be around today.”[4]
In 2007, mobileStorm sought to expand and announced a Series A round of funding with eonBusiness and opened an additional office in San Francisco.[2][8][9] The San Francisco branch will focus on new accounts, sales, and customer service.[2][10] In 2008, mobileStorm was named the email service provider of FreemantleEnterprises, which manages shows like American Idol and The Price is Right.[11] mobileStorm’s former products include Stun!, which allowed small to medium sized businesses to build a database of customers and market to them via text messaging, email, voice and fax, and Bolt, a hosted service designed for large enterprises that deployed marketing, customer service, and transactional messaging programs.[4][7] The two platforms are currently integrated into "mobileStorm for Marketing."
mobileStorm has 11 core values that "dictate every action that [they] make and every customer interaction that takes place;" some of these include: Maintain Integrity at all Costs, Practice Transparency, Work Hard, and Have Lots of Fun.[12] In 2010, Reitzin got a tattoo of the company logo, a swirling tornado, on his right ankle.[13] He currently offers $1,000 to any employee that also gets the tattoo; to date, two employees have taken him up on the offer.[14]
Reitzin states "We have two parts to our business: our online which focuses on small business, and our direct sales group which focuses on mid-market customers. Our strengths lie in the verticals we first started in (entertainment, hospitality, nightlife, events, agencies, and healthcare), however today we service everyone from airlines to schools to retail."[4]
mobileStorm's cornerstone platform is "mobileStorm for Marketing" which provides a web-based, integrated platform for messaging via email, mobile, and social media.[15]
In May 2011, mobileStorm announced "mobileStorm for healthcare," a secure mobile messaging platform that allows transmission of protected health information to patients via mobile devices.[16] The service is the first HIPAA-compliant communication platform, meaning that it protects patients’ security and privacy.[17] In a case study with Kaiser Permanente, the company was able to save $275,000 at a single clinic by deploying an SMS appoint reminder solution.[18][19] Humana, a multi-billion dollar health company, is a beta client of the service. [20] mobileStorm forecasts that the mobile health market will reach over a billion users by 2020.[21]
Inc. Magazine named mobileStorm the "best company for sending text messages."[22] In 2008, mobileStorm won Vator’s "game changers" competition.[23] That same year, they were also named the Mobile and Communications Company of the Year by the Technology Council of Southern California.[24] In June 2011, mobileStorm was named #1 on Website Magazine's list of Top 50 Movers and Shakers in Mobile Services, which is calculated by aggregating averages for page views and daily unique visitors.[25]