Red Ventures

Red Ventures

Type	Privately-held
Founded	Charlotte, North Carolina (2000)
Headquarters	Charlotte, North Carolina
Key people	Ric Elias, Chief Executive Officer Dan Feldstein, Chief Marketing Officer Mark Brodsky, Chief Financial Officer Dale Lancaster, Chief Technology Officer
Services	Online marketing services Customer acquisition marketing
Employees	450
Website	www.redventures.com

Red Ventures is an American marketing services company incorporated in the State of North Carolina. The company acquires customers for providers of home, consumer, business, automotive, remodeling, financial and educational services. These service providers include DirecTV, ADT Security Services, and Sirius Satellite Radio. In terms of revenue, as of 31 December 2007, Red Ventures is one of the fastest growing private companies in the United States, with growth of 5,863.9% from 2004 through 2007.

Red Ventures’ corporate headquarters is located in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company also has locations in New York, New York; Dallas, Texas; Miami, Florida; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Guatemala City, Guatemala.

Vertical markets

Red Ventures operates businesses in the following vertical markets:

• Home Services
  • DirectStarTV
  • Security Choice
  • Home Services Corp.
• Consumer Services
  • Radio Sales Group
• Business Services
  • Premier Growth Solutions
• Automotive
  • Modern Consumer
• Home Remodeling
• Financial Services
• Education
  • Education Enrollment Services
• International
  • Direct Solutions

Brief history

• 1999: Red F, the precursor to Red Ventures, was founded by Ric Elias and Dan Feldstein, who met while working at Cendant Corporation.
• 2000: Following the dot-com implosion of mid-2000, Red F, which began as an online discount and loyalty program, evolved into a marketing consulting firm. Clients included BellSouth, LendingTree and DirecTV.
• 2003: Elias and Feldstein launched another business, Red Ventures. The idea behind it was to acquire new customers on behalf of service-related brands, beginning with DirecTV.
• 2004: Red F was ranked twenty-first overall and first among marketing companies on the 2004 Inc. 500.
• 2005: Red F was sold to its management team so Elias and Feldstein could focus on developing Red Ventures
• 2007: Red Ventures was ranked fourth overall and first among advertising and marketing companies on the 2007 Inc. 500.
• 2008: Red Ventures acquired Modern Consumer, which operates a lead generation and distribution network for the automotive finance market; and Red Ventures was ranked 17th overall and second among advertising and marketing companies on the 2008 Inc. 500.

Corporate culture

Red Ventures’ corporate culture combines a focus on measurement and profitability with an entrepreneurial mindset that promotes new ideas and innovation from its employees. The organization is flat, with decision-making dispersed among small, autonomous divisions formed around the company's verticals and marketing channels.. More than 90% of employees arrived with no expertise in their current fields; the company’s preference is to hire talented people and train them. On average, Red Ventures hires 3% of applicants following multiple, extensive interview sessions with a cross-section of employees.

Philanthropy

In 2006, Red Ventures embarked on a philanthropic project called Lives Linked. The mission of the nonprofit organization is to help reduce world poverty by using technology to improve the child sponsorship programs of international aid organizations.

Corporate achievements

Red Ventures and members of its management team have received several awards honoring them for their accomplishments:

• In Inc. Magazine's 2008 "Inc. 500" list of the nation's fastest-growing private companies, Red Ventures ranked 17th overall and second among advertising and marketing companies. (August 2008)
• In Inc. Magazine’s 2007 “Inc. 500” list of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies, Red Ventures ranked fourth overall and first among advertising and marketing companies. (September 2007)
• CMO Dan Feldstein was named to the Charlotte Business Journal’s “Forty under 40” list (June 2007)
• DirectStarTV President Joe Peterson was named to the Charlotte Business Journal’s “Forty under 40” list (June 2008)
• Christy Durbin, president of Radio Sales Group and Education Enrollment Services, was a recipient of the Charlotte Business Journal’s Women in Business Achievement Award (July 2008)
• Red Ventures was ranked third among large companies on the Charlotte Business Journal's 2008 Best Places to Work list.

References

Red Ventures is sometimes referred to as RedVentures.