Dec 12, 2008

30 under 30: The young and the restless in DM

DMNews gathered the best and brightest ‘whiz-kids' in the industry to present its first-ever “30 under 30” list -- thirty finalists that were judged on their proven ability to lead teams, initiate change and growth, drive measurable results for companies or clients and deliver fresh insight into the marketing challenges in the direct, database and interactive marketing industry. Topping the list? Jeff Arbour, SVP, North America, the Hyperfactory.



Nathaniel Stevens, founder, Yodle, 25



In 2004, when Nathaniel Stevens was attending Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania, he noticed an opportunity for a lead generation business in local online marketing. While working as a summer intern at his father's auto dealership in Connecticut, he realized that buying search keywords didn't necessarily translate into inbound phone calls. Eventually, he dropped out of Wharton to explore this gap.



Stevens came up with a system to use a unique bidding algorithm to calculate customers' online search behavior to hone a company's online advertising campaigns. The resulting company was Yodle, which uses the technology to drive new leads by phone to local small businesses through unique, and therefore trackable, phone numbers.



Headquartered in New York, Yodle now has offices in Boston, Atlanta and Charlotte, and has a presence in 25 major cities. In the first quarter of 2008, Yodle posted a 700% year-over-year growth rate and the firm now has more than 1,000 clients.



“Nathaniel is a natural-born innovator, and we are all very proud of this well-deserved honor,” said Mike DeLuca, SVP of sales and marketing for Yodle, “It's amazing how far Yodle has come – from an idea he had in 2004.”