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Media Strike Sports Network A Glam For The Guys

Strike three! Out! All new companies launch with hopes of streaking by the competition like a baseball fired from an ace pitcher’s arm. But things don’t always go so smoothly in the startup big leagues. Media Strike Sports Network, however, has arrived on the scene throwing heat.

 

Self-funded, this vertical ad network has already turned a profit in the first six months. The company’s gone from 0 to 600 publishers, somehow under the media’s radar gun, and now reaches over 23 million US users a month. CEO Chris Huse took the mound at pitcher-friendly KillerStartups stadium to deliver the goods on behalf of his startup. Play ball!

 

 

How’d you come up with the name for your company?

My co-founder and I met during the SAG Actors Strike in Chicago back in 2000 during our college days. We were both aspiring actors trying to get in the good graces of our local SAG office. 12 years later we were trying to come up with a name that incorporated Sports and our friendship, and Matt came up with Media Strike. We figure people will associate “strike” with baseball, and it also serves as a way for us to remember a simpler time before we were working stiffs.

 

What’s the very first thing you do at work everyday?

Drink my morning RedBull, everyday, without fail. Then I go on Reddit, then I go on Facebook, then maybe I start working.

 

 

How many people did you start the company with and how many people work for you now?

We currently have 4 outsourced employees in London, myself, and my co-founder Matt Simmons.

 

Remember the early days starting up? Maybe you can share one anecdote that describe the struggle you went through?

We had just landed our first big client, and the client had just sent over the IO (insertion order) for us to countersign and send back. When responding I meant to type, “We’ll get this signed and sent back to you shortly!”, but I actually typed “We’ll get this signed and sent back to you shorty!” Client probably thought she was dealing with Lil Jon or something.

 

How do you handle frustration? When/how was the last time you dealt with frustration?

All the time. A start-up is essentially a hurdle of frustrations. You have to get over them one at a time, can’t get over all the problems at one time.

 

 

What’s your office environment like?

Pretty laid back. We work out of my living room, so there’s a lot of Baja Fresh bags and RedBull canisters decorating the office.

 

How do you picture your company in 5 years?

Still bugging Killer Startups to cover us probably. No, hopefully we will have realized our goal of becoming the largest Male focused vertical ad network in the industry. We think companies like Glam have done a great job of capturing the Female market, and we want to do the same on the male side of things.

 

Who or what inspires YOU? Role models? Quotes? Running? Video games? Snack food? Give us the deets, dude!

Israel Montez is my biggest inspiration for too many reasons to fit into this article. Quote – “Go big, or go home” and “Rubbin’s racing” (of course).

 

How’d you fund this venture? VC? Self-funding? Crowd-funded? Where’d you get the money, man?

With money. No VC’s. Self-funded. Never been good in a crowd.

 

Got any great bootstrapping tips for the lean startups out there?

Never run out of money. I think Einstein came up with that one.

 

 

Do you consider yourself a successful entrepreneur right now? If not, what’s it gonna take to make you feel successful?

Yes, we are a profitable company. It’s my first venture that has made it to the point where I actually can afford to pay myself and employees.

 

Website you couldn’t live without and why?

KillerStartups.com and KillerStartups.com because it’s obviously the best website on the internet. And Facebook.com because I’m just really into stalking people.

 

That’s awesome to hear! Thanks! What about the mobile App you’re in love with and why?

Uber. You hit a button and a car comes and picks you up and takes you home. It’s the no-DUI app.

 

Dogs or cats?

Dogs. They know why.

 

iOS or Android?

Android.

 

What’s the greatest thing about your company/website/idea?

We help our publishers earn the ad revenues they deserve while slicing up our network into 14 separate sports channels which our clients find very appealing for targeting purposes.

 

Where can our readers get a hold of you? Facebook? Twitter? Google+? Personal blog?

Media-Strike or Chris.Huse [at] Media-Strike [dot] com

 

Photo Credits

Media-Strike

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