People, every show

Stephen Messer

Co-founder & Vice Chairman, Collective[i]. On 1 show, 1 appearance. The Shows tab opens the full record on each.

founderexecutiveinvestor@smesser ↗LinkedIn ↗collectivei.com ↗Wikipedia ↗

In 1996, Messer co-founded LinkShare, a pioneer in online affiliate marketing, and served as its CEO and Chairman until Rakuten acquired it for $425 million in 2005. He later co-founded Collective[i], an enterprise platform that applies artificial intelligence and neural network modeling to forecast and accelerate B2B sales and revenue.

What they said10 Shows1

Everything Stephen Messer said on any show that made the record, most notable first. Each card names its show and opens the statement there.

TOP FOUNDERS Assertion Not checkable as stated

Messer: 5% of global B2B economy passes through Collective[i] daily

“We usually just disclosed about five percent of the globe's B to B economy is passing through us every day.”

Stephen Messer Jan 12, 2023 ▶ 9:33 He Sold his First Company for $425m, Here's What He Did Next

TOP FOUNDERS Insight

Messer: Launching an AI company requires north of $100 million

“AI companies, you're usually talking about, you know, usually north of a hundred million dollars to get these companies off the ground.”

Stephen Messer Jan 12, 2023 ▶ 14:12 He Sold his First Company for $425m, Here's What He Did Next

TOP FOUNDERS Insight

Messer: Collective[i] scales as a data network, not SaaS

“We are not a SAS business. We're a data network business. We scale in a vastly different way.”

Stephen Messer Jan 12, 2023 ▶ 19:40 He Sold his First Company for $425m, Here's What He Did Next

TOP FOUNDERS Assertion Contradicted

Messer: LinkShare held 96% of global affiliate market at acquisition

“We were the first affiliate marketer. We became the global player. I think when we finally sold the business to Rakuten, it was Probably. 96% of the affiliate market globally and still is today.”

Stephen Messer Jan 12, 2023 ▶ 2:39 He Sold his First Company for $425m, Here's What He Did Next

TOP FOUNDERS Assertion Partly supported

Messer: LinkShare is Rakuten's top revenue generator outside Japan

“So when we came there, it was the first American acquisition they had made. And I think to this day, it's probably still the greatest revenue producer outside of Japan that Rocky has ever had.”

Stephen Messer Jan 12, 2023 ▶ 2:53 He Sold his First Company for $425m, Here's What He Did Next

TOP FOUNDERS Assertion Not checkable as stated

Messer: Collective[i] never raised a $20M Series A

“There is no twenty million dollars series A. It's actually much more money than that into this company.”

Stephen Messer Jan 12, 2023 ▶ 14:07 He Sold his First Company for $425m, Here's What He Did Next

TOP FOUNDERS Disclosure

Messer: Collective[i] ACV is usually above $100,000 at $9,000 per manager

“Usually you're looking at per, per manager, roughly around 9000 dollars a year per manager. So depending on how big your team is. So our ACV is usually above a 100,000 dollars, but we have SMBs all the way up.”

Stephen Messer Jan 12, 2023 ▶ 13:17 He Sold his First Company for $425m, Here's What He Did Next

TOP FOUNDERS Disclosure

Messer: Founders netted more than $100 million from LinkShare sale

“Well, let's hope one, I hope we made more than that, which we did.”

Stephen Messer Jan 12, 2023 ▶ 15:25 He Sold his First Company for $425m, Here's What He Did Next

TOP FOUNDERS Assertion Not checkable as stated

Messer: Collective[i] has roughly 140 full-time employees

“About a 140 in the company.”

Stephen Messer Jan 12, 2023 ▶ 10:56 He Sold his First Company for $425m, Here's What He Did Next

TOP FOUNDERS Assertion Not checkable as stated

Messer: Only 15 to 20 Collective[i] employees are non-engineers

“Maybe 1520.”

Stephen Messer Jan 12, 2023 ▶ 11:58 He Sold his First Company for $425m, Here's What He Did Next

One line per show, most statements first. The link opens Stephen's full record on that show: the calibration, argument clarity, speaking style and every statement made there.

Show	Role there	Eps	Statements	Record
TOP FOUNDERSLEDGER	Co-founder & Vice Chairman, Collective[i]	1	10	0% 0/2	full record on Top Founders →