Tumblr: Rick Webb

About The Company:

Tumblr is a re-envisioning of tumblelogging, a subset of blogging that uses quick, mixed-media posts. The service hopes to do for the tumblelog what services like LiveJournal and Blogger did for the blog. The difference is that its extreme simplicity will make luring users a far easier task than acquiring users for traditional weblogging. Anytime a user sees something interesting online, they can click a quick “Share on Tumblr” bookmarklet that then tumbles the snippet directly. The result is varied string of media ranging links and text to pictures and videos that takes very little time and effort to maintain.

About Rick Webb:

Rick Webb currently serves as a consultant to Tumblr on Marketing and Revenue, a mentor to Tech Stars NY, and as a venture partner at Quotidian Ventures. Finally, Rick is the founder and CEO of Secret Clubhouse, a tech coworking space in Williamsburg, NY.

In 2001, Webb co-founded The Barbarian Group, an award-winning digital ad agency. He served as its COO for the first ten years of the company’s existence. Webb left in 2011 to pursue angel investing in, and writing on, technology and advertising. He is an angel investor in Foursquare, Branch, Circa, Percolate, Docracy and others, along with two TechStars graduates, Nestio and Timehop. He is an advisor to several other tech startups and marketing services companies, including Sherpaa, Hard Candy Shell, and Small Girls Big Business PR.

Webb is the writer of a tech column for the NY Observer and Betabeat and an avid blogger on technology, advertising, economics, politics and the government. He graduated from Boston University with a degree in International Economics in 1992. He serves a board member of the VCU Brandcenter, one of the most renowned advertising graduate schools, and was named as Creativity Magazine’s 50 most creative people in marketing (2008). He was born and raised in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Q&A With Rick

Why are you an entrepreneur?

Because the relationship between Advertising, the Media and Tech is broken, and I am obsessed with trying to fix it. Advertising has supported our media since the dawn of Media, and as we move to the internet that connection has been broken. As a trained economist, I’m passionate about making this link work again.

What can a fellow learn from you?

I speak extensively about the economic relationships between advertising, media and tech. Here is a recent set of slides from a recent talk about the matter. I look at the connections between these three entities and how they are changing and evolving. This has super practical applications for any startup developing a product that expects to live off of advertising. Additionally, with my decade of operational experience, I can talk about setting up your sales department, and finally how selling through to agencies works.

What will your fellow be exposed to?

Marketing, fundraising, sales, venture capital

What do you expect out of a fellow?

I have three jobs – I run a coworking space in Williamsburg, I am a venture partner for the VC Firm Quotidian Ventures, and run marketing at Tumblr. I would expect the fellow to work with me on any or all of these, depending on their passions. It could really go either way. I’d work with them on this but some possibilities are venture work, small entrepreneurial work on the clubhouse, or marketing initiatives and leadership support at Tumblr. It’d be fun to find a large meaty project to work on.

What makes your startup unique?

By traffic, Tumblr is second the largest website in New York, and one of the highest valuation companies in the city. It’s also remarkably small and nimble, with less than 150 people. The opportunities to learn about all parts of the company are extensive.