R. Michael “Mike” Leo, Operative1

Chief Executive Officer and President
New York - NY United States

The big idea: In 25 words or less, please tell us how this Fast 50 Nominee is helping to address the planet's problems.

Mike Leo recognized and filled a services and technology gap in order for digital media publishers to tap into the full potential of digital advertising.

Please describe how this nominee is using business as a force of positive change. What technology, idea, or strategy is the nominee using -- and what problem, such as global warming, poverty, or pollution, does it address? (suggested length: 100 words)

Mike Leo – co-founder of aQuantive (now part of MSFT) and current CEO and president of ad technology and services provider Operative – is a digital advertising pioneer.

Armed with a deep knowledge of the fast-changing advertising industry, Mike has helped Operative grow from a small software company offering a single ad trafficking services solution to become a thriving provider of online advertising enterprise software, managed and consulting services for over 300 digital media publishing powerhouses, such as Fox Interactive Media (including MySpace), MSN, NBC Universal, CBS Radio, Reuters and Dow Jones.

Although large amounts of advertising money flow in and out of the publishing industry, it is an industry that lags far behind others in monetizing online advertising. Content protection concerns have hindered publisher’s abilities to embrace ad technologies compared to other industries like healthcare and finance. Surprisingly, many publishers are still using basic spreadsheets to manage online advertising orders and inventory, providing slow service to advertising customers that is prone to human errors. Post-It notes and Excel spreadsheets will not suffice any longer, especially as the economy is heading into a sour period. Automating operational process for online ad management such as trafficking, servicing, billing and customer service through a central hub will enable publishing to catch up with other industries in cultivating the immense profit potential offered by online advertising.

Under his leadership, Mike helped Operative create a unique market space that includes software, outsourcing management services and consulting professional services. In the online advertising industry, Operative does not have one direct competitor with the same tri-fold approach to solving the operational problems of high transaction media for publishers and agencies. As a result, Operative emerged as a lifeline to digital media publishers seeking to streamline the complex nature of executing, tracking, measuring and managing digital ad campaigns.

The major factor driving Operative’s success is an utmost priority for Mike: the people behind the company. Mike fostered the talent of 270+ digital publishing, technical project management, consulting, software and marketing specialists that make up the Operative team. Operative employees are passionate about the company’s ad technology and services and act in a true team fashion. They have demonstrated exceptional ability to quickly adapt to Operative’s booming growth since Mike joined the company four years ago. For example, at least 25 employees have worked in multiple functional departments within the organization.

Operative would not be in its unique position in the ad space without Mike and the talented team of specialists he helped foster. As advertising continues to evolve and business process management becomes even more complex due to the ever-expanding technology landscape, Operative and its cohesive team of professionals will be ready to adapt, thrive and succeed under the direction of one of online advertising’s proven leaders: Mike Leo.

What are the results, both financial and social? How has the nominee's business performed, and what impact has it had on the problem it addresses? (suggested length: 100 words)

Since Mike Leo joined Operative in 2003, he led the company to become a “must have” solutions provider for digital publishers (see client examples above).

In his role, Mike has utilized his unmistakable entrepreneurial drive and vision along with business acumen to spearhead corporate growth. With Mike at the helm, Operative has experienced doubled-revenue growth and has recruited some of advertising’s most recognizable talent. Operative’s incredibly fast growth and positive performance have earned it an industry-wide reputation, resulting in new business leads being funneled to Operative through major consulting firms and industry analysts.

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