Dilip Venkatachari is the CEO of Compass Labs, an ad tech company that extracts insights from public social content. Dilip is an entrepreneur who has founded a few companies that have been acquired and has also held a number of management roles at internet companies including Google and Paypal. We recently spoke with Dilip about his experience and the future of Compass Labs.
The Makegood: Dilip, you have founded two tech companies that were acquired. What is it that draws you to the entrepreneurial lifestyle?
DV: There are three key things that draw me to the entrepreneurial lifestyle: (1) the opportunity to create value from scratch, (2) involvement with multiple aspects of the business, from high-level strategy to daily tactics and execution, (3) it’s never dull. Each start-up opportunity and situation is unique and presents its own set of challenges!
The Makegood: Compass labs, which was founded in 2009, is a technology company that extracts insights and value from public social content. What are the major points of differentiation when compared to other social media advertising companies?
DV: Compass Labs is a pioneer in developing technology to extract insights and value from public social content. Our artificial intelligence and predictive analytics algorithms and techniques allow us to more effectively target social audiences, which translates into a better performing campaign, in terms of the quality of the audience delivered and ROI, and an increased social IQ for the brand.
The Makegood: Compass Labs just announced a $6MM Series B, raised with the intentions of further developing technology, expanding sales and marketing, and moving into international markets. What can prospective clients expect to see coming from Compass Labs in 2012?
DV: Increased market traction with both large and small brand advertisers, as well as advertising agencies and new tools and features launched in our CLIQ social ad platform.
The Makegood: Recently a revamped version of CLIQ, the social media advertising platform, was released. Are there any initial results that you can share?
DV: Yes, our solution on average delivers advertisers a 20%-to- 50% cost savings, not to mention significantly improves engagement for the brand. For example, a recent auto campaign we ran saw a 45% increase in audience connections (users who “liked” or interacted with a post on the brand’s page).
The Makegood: Thanks, Dilip.
