Allen Lew's Thoughts » Business

My new job at Rubicon Project

Allen Lew — Wed, 12 May 2010 01:58:18 +0000

If you haven’t heard the news yet, I am leaving my current job at the Los Angeles Urban League after a good three years with the company. At the league, I was at times a youth mentor, interview coach, webmaster, and then also found some time to do my regular job of fixing computers and providing technical support as a member of the IT department.

However, I recently received an amazing opportunity to join up with The Rubicon Project, an internet company with a “mission to automate the $65 billion global online advertising industry.” There I will be working alongside their Engineering Team doing Quality Assurance for the Project’s platform. It’s a great new opportunity to work with great new people, but it’s also bitter sweet to leave a place you have been working at for a little while. To all my coworkers at the League, good luck to all of you. And to all my new coworkers at Rubicon, I look forward to meeting all of you.

If you want to know more about the company, I’ve enclosed a Youtube video of the Rubicon Project’s HQ after the jump:[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brbAtR3jn-4[/youtube]

Monetization Models for Video on the Internet

Allen Lew — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 18:38:09 +0000

I had a brief discussion with a friend about making money with Internet video. We looked at a couple of business models for a nonprofit to make money online and realized there were a couple of ways anybody could make some money with Internet video. Here are some suggestions for almost anybody to earn revenue from video on the web:

Take advertising on your site and/or videos. This probably isn’t feasible as a nonprofit (Update: this is possible with a nonprofit), but online advertising revenues will give you a somewhat decent amount of money for the amateur and is the most common video revenue model. In addition to ads on the producer’s website (generally provided by a third-party), most video hosting sites like Youtube or my personal favorite, Blip.tv, allow ads to be inserted before and after videos, and at designated times during the video.
Post the videos (or excerpts) on Youtube and Myspace. As a nonprofit, Youtube and Myspace will allow you to collect donations. For example, take a look at this page from the Anaheim Ballet. They have a donation button on the their page and on each of their video pages with Google Checkout integration. Also, having a Facebook Cause and/or Page as well, as they allow you to collect donations as well. Even if you are intending to sell the videos, having a small presence on these sites can at the very least draw some attention to your videos (and a random donation as well).
Creating an online video store- This is probably the most technically challenging option. It is possible to create an online store that sells video downloads using ecommerce software like Ubercart, a Drupal module for ecommerce, and others like Magento. You can also sell some of your stuff on iTunes and other services using a company like TuneCore.
Post videos online, but sell physical media (DVDs, booklets, etc.) – This is the model now for most television stations, including PBS. For example, the show Frontline on PBS is available online in its entirety, but is also sold as a DVD online, along with teachers guides, and other supplemental materials. You can even have these items made on demand via new websites like Lulu.com that print and make CD/DVDs and books when some one orders them.

So those are just some ideas I had about making money online with video. They are not mutually exculsive items (for example, 1 and 4 are completely complementary to each other). Feel free to also post a comment with any other ideas.

A nice list of non-profit web tools

Allen Lew — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 05:21:00 +0000

Read/Write Web has a terrific list of non-profit web tools. This goes along great with some of the previous guides I’ve linked (see “How we set up a non-profit by the seat of our pants” and Startup Guides).

“How we set up a non-profit by the seat of our pants”

Allen Lew — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 21:26:46 +0000

A few months ago, I wrote up a list of Startup guides where people like Evan Williams and Nick Denton gave a list of which web apps they were using to help their web companies. I also said they were good for a nonprofit, as well as a startup. Well, after scouring the web for a while, I found this guide to “setting up a non-profit by the seat of our pants”. As time goes, I’ll probably write of these myself soon. Stay tuned.

Craigslist Bootcamp 2007 in Berkeley

Allen Lew — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 15:40:27 +0000

My previous boss in Berkeley, Sylvia, introduced me to the nonprofit scene in the Bay Area, taking me to 501 Tech Clubs from NTEN and the Craigslist Foundation. I enjoyed this scene, so I made it a priority to come back to Berkeley for the Craigslist Foundation’s 2007 Nonprofit Bootcamp. It’s a fantastic conference with tips on starting a nonprofit, marketing it, and much more.

At first, I didn’t realize how Bay Area oriented the conference would be, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised as nonprofits generally have tight budgets for travel. This made it a bit harder for me to network with other conference attendees, as I wouldn’t really get a chance to see them in the future. However, I did spend a lot of time talking to the salesmen in the sponsored areas. Obviously, they were trying to sell me their services, but I still enjoyed talking to them and the services they provided. In particular, I liked discussing with NPO Orbit about Salesforce customization, TriNet about HR outsourcing, and Mobilecause about getting the nonprofit mobile services. These are all services that would seemingly work with any nonprofit, and though I haven’t worked with them yet, they all look promising.

So all in all a good conference. Sadly no pictures. I’ve heard there was a possibility of a Los Angeles area bootcamp; I’m up for joy with that thought.

Startup Guides

Allen Lew — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 06:49:51 +0000

A few blog posts about some other software and Internet services that might be useful for starting up a company (or nonprofit).

Read and Write Web’s Software for Virtual Teams
Nick Denton’s (owner of Gawker and Lifehacker) Startup Kit
Evan Williams’s (founder of blogger.com) list of business web apps
Added: The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Web 2.0: Top 25 Apps to Grow your Business

In summary, you’ll need these applications the most:

Email- Gmail is the most popular.
Calendar to keep track of time- Google Calendar couples with Gmail, both can be used with your domain
Project Management to keep track of what needs to be done- Basecamp and FogBugz
VoIP for cheap Internet phone calls. Skype is the most recommended, though Jajah and Gizmo Project seem to be gaining.
A blog- They’ve recommended Typepad and Blogger, but I still recommend WordPress (there’s also a hosted version)

You Should Watch the Super Bowl Like It’s Your Job

Allen Lew — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 06:29:49 +0000

ABC News: You Should Watch the Super Bowl Like It’s Your Job- “Smart, savvy business people pride themselves on keeping up with current events, politics and celebrity gossip so they always have interesting tidbits to contribute to small talk at meetings, parties and social outings. They know that idle chitchat is awfully valuable in building professional relationships because it allows people to connect on a relaxed and personal level.” (via Micropersuasion)

Companies I’d like to Profile (but don’t exist)

Allen Lew — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 08:50:02 +0000

Companies I’d like to Profile (but don’t exist)-Great ideas for Internet companies to startup Related posts:“How we set up a non-profit by the seat of our pants” The “danger” of Online Surveys A nice list of non-profit web tools Related posts: