David A. Steinberg

For other people named David Steinberg, see David Steinberg (disambiguation).
David A. Steinberg
David A. Steinberg
Born 1970
Occupation Founder and CEO of Zeta Interactive, former CEO InPhonic

David A. Steinberg is the founder and chief executive officer of Zeta Interactive, formerly XL Marketing Corporation, one of several companies that he started. Zeta Interactive is a big data-driven marketing and CRM company that integrates data, technology and marketing services to help brands acquire, grow and retain customers.

Biography

In an interview with the New York Times, he explains the types of companies he acquires and his expectations for entrepreneurs.[2] In 2012, Inc Magazine highlighted Steinberg's corporate strategies and direction,[3]

Career

In 1993 David Steinberg founded Sterling Cellular, Inc. in the basement of his house in Bethesda, Maryland with the use of maxed out credit cards and a parental loan.[4] Sterling Cellular grossed $1.3 million in sales its first year in business. It was a business that sold cellular phones with high quality customer service. Sterling offered free, on-time delivery and a warranty/repair program from day one and a free loaner phone program from its third month. By 1997 Sterling Cellular grew to 12 retail locations and $22 million in sales.[5]

Recognizing the opportunity that the internet provided for selling cell phones, Mr. Steinberg broke up Sterling Cellular. He sold off the retail chain and telemarketing operations of Sterling Cellular and founded Inphonic, Inc. Over a seven-year period, Inphonic grew into the largest seller of new cell phones on the internet with over $300 million in revenue.[1][6] As the public face for Inphonic, he was praised for creating and growing the online business that dominates online sales for cell phones.[1][7] He was vilified for the growing the business too rapidly at the cost of customer service and revenue.[8] This contributed to the downfall of Inphonic when the financial crisis of 2007–2010 began in 2007 with the credit squeeze on all companies.[9] In November 2007, InPhonic filed a Chapter 11 petition in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.[10]

After Inphonic, Steinberg secured support to start a new corporation CAIVIS Acquisition Corp. Per their website, CAIVIS Acquisition Corp is an investment firm looking to purchase small companies in the internet space and combine them in order to maximize their opportunities.[11] CAIVIS acts like a holding company to achieve an economy of scale for the standard infrastructure required for every internet business: such as human resources, legal and accounting departments. At the same time there is a multiple arbitrage play in combining the smaller companies into a larger business. Small companies typically command a PE of 5 while larger companies command a PE of 10. In a recent interview,[12] CAIVIS's strategy is outlined by Mr. Steinberg.

Zeta Interactive, (formerly XL Marketing Corporation) is a successful example of the CAIVIS strategy. Several small companies with marketing expertise in different facets of online marketing were acquired and combined to create the firm. The company is now a full service big data, customer acquisition, and Customer Relationship Management solutions firm. XL Marketing in June 2012 it announced a successful capital raise of $70 million to fuel its growth.[13] Recently it acquired rival Intela [14] and the Adchemy Actions division [15] with that $70 million. In January 2014, XL was re-branded as Zeta Interactive to bring together the full range of big data services under one company.[16] On January 30, 2014, Steinberg moderated a marketing panel hosted by Zeta Interactive forum on the changes in advertising and marketing over the years, using Apple's 1984 commercial as a benchmark.[17] John Sculley was a panelist with advertising executive David Sable, Global CEO of Young & Rubicam; Jessica Gelman, Vice President of Customer Marketing & Strategy; The Kraft Group—the owners of the New England Patriots; and Hooman Radfar, Chairman and Co-Founder of marketing firm AddThis.[18]

He has served on the Washington & Jefferson College Board of Trustees.[19]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "The Great Persuader". 2005. Retrieved 2009-12-29.
  2. ↑ Bryant, Adam (2013-05-09). "newyorktimes-interview". The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-05-10.
  3. ↑ Leigh, Buchanan (August 22, 2012). "The Rise & Fall & Rise (Again) of David Steinberg". Inc Magazine. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  4. ↑ "When 2 Heads are Better than 1". 2001. Retrieved 2010-01-20.
  5. ↑ Martin, Heather (1997-03-31). "Sales Force". Retrieved 2009-12-29.
  6. ↑ "Wireless gambles paying off". 2005. Retrieved 2010-01-20.
  7. ↑ Fass, Allison (2003-11-18). "Wireless Frenzy". Forbes. Retrieved 2010-01-20.
  8. ↑ "Consumer Complaints". 2007. Retrieved 2010-01-18.
  9. ↑ Clabaugh, Jeff (2007-11-08). "Inphonic Files Bankruptcy". Retrieved 2010-01-18.
  10. ↑ "Inphonic LinkedIn". 2007. Retrieved 2009-12-29.
  11. ↑ "Caivis Website". Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  12. ↑ "David Steinberg: How A Versatile Entrepreneur Networks". 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-29.
  13. ↑ "bloomberg-xlmarketing". Bloomberg. 2012. Retrieved 2012-06-18.
  14. ↑ "techcrunch-intela". 2013. Retrieved 2013-12-13.
  15. ↑ "techcrunch-adchemy". 2013. Retrieved 2013-12-13.
  16. ↑ "World Class Big Data-Driven Marketing & CRM Company Rebrands To Zeta Interactive". Press Release. PR Newswire. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  17. ↑ Kelly, Keith (30 January 2014). "Ad flashback: Apple’s 1984 Super Bowl commercial". New York Post. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
  18. ↑ Iftikhar, Bilal (30 January 2014). "Super Bowl 2014: Advertisers lose yardage". Crain's New York. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  19. ↑ "W&J: Board of Trustees". W&J College Website. Washington & Jefferson College. Retrieved 2010-02-28.

External links