Name: Lou Weiss
Company: AirMedia Inc.
Age: 28
With the Company: For 2 years
Previous Title: Senior Product Manager
Degree: BS, Management, Wharton
Lou Weiss's job has "absolutely ruined reading the morning paper" for him. As content guy for New York-based push technology contender, AirMedia Inc., Weiss's mission is to deliver the news while it's still news. To that end, his "Content Gang" works around the clock to sift through a flood of information from content partners such as CNN, Quote.com, and Sportsline.
What does a Content Guy do?
I don't actually develop or collect content. We sell immediacy and context. Immediacy is: if TWA Flight 800 goes down at 3:07 p.m., AirMedia broadcasts it at 3:08 p.m. Context is: we give you your weather forecast on a multimedia map.
In the case of content, can you have too much of a good thing?
Sending too much content is as use-less as sending none. We deliver the 20% of the data that tells you 80% of what you need to know.
Besides too much, what's the biggest content faux pas?
Instead of considering the relative value or time-sensitivity of the information, Web site developers and content providers will say, "Well I could do a cool Shockwave presentation with that."
What makes a Content Guy more than just a regular guy?
I can't help being the most well-informed guy I know. That's great at cocktail parties.
A version of this article appeared in the August/September 1997 issue of Fast Company magazine.
