| Media Mentor: Pamir Gelenbe |
| Thursday, 18 September 2003 | |
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Media Week 19 September 2003 - Pamir Gelenbe is Director of Corporate Development and Co-Founder of Flytxt. Inspired by a vision of how one-to-one marketing will forever be changed by the advent of mobile telephony, Pamir drives the Company's product and business strategy. How would you describe yourself in three words?Inquisitive, sociable and eccentric. My name is usually tough enough for most people, as I usually have to pronounce it at least twice when I call someone I don't know. It's a Turkish name and the confusing part is that I was born and grew up in France. More confusingly, people sometimes mistake my accent for an American one because of the time I spent studying and working over there. What was your first job in media? My first job in media was with Juno Online Services, a start-up free e-mail provider based in New York. Juno was a fantastic experience: a genuine early dotcom (founded in 1995), with all the perfect ingredients of the typical dot com cocktail: Over $80m of VC money, a fast growth curve, no real revenue model, some big egos, plenty of intra-office dating and many smart, fun people. At Juno, I got first-hand insight into the challenges faced by a fast growing company and I learned from some of the mistakes that can be made. I also built some friendships and realise the importance of people in business. What does it take to make it big in media? What do I know? Probably creative flair, strong business skills and, most importantly, a passion for what you do. I also believe that an affinity with technology will become more important as interactive and wireless technologies are on their way to change the face of broadcast, outdoor or print media. What was the best piece of advice ever given to you? There are three pieces of advice which I feel strongly about. Firstly: "Do what you enjoy: it's likely to be what you are best at." it took me a long time to apply this to my own life, but I don't think I'd ever go back now. Secondly: "It's all about people". Successful businesses are successful because they have the right people at every level. Never, ever, compromise on people. Thirdly: "It's not about how to succeed: it's about how to stand up again after you've fallen." Life would be dull if we didn't have to sweat, hurt and keep trying before succeeding. Who is the person you most admire in the media industry? Probably Takeshi Natsuno, the founder of I-mode, the world's most popular mobile internet service, for dreaming up a competely groundbreaking media channel and bringing it to life in record time. I recently learned at a conference that mobile advertising on I-mode in Japan will soon exceed Japanese radio advertising in total spend - and that's happened only five years after I-mode was launched. © Copyright Flytxt Ltd 2006. Unauthorized use of any content constitutes a material breach. |
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