Along with the rest of the world, Mediavine has been watching Russia’s war on Ukraine unfold with horror. Let me state unequivocally, we stand with Ukrainians and anyone else speaking …
When we say full-service ad management, we mean it.
There’s so much that goes into the ads you see on your site, from the technology and code to the business side of things.
We love showing you the nuts and bolts of Mediavine and letting you get to know our team, which is the reason for behind the scenes posts like People Operations at Mediavine as well as why we started our Behind the Vine series. In our first installment, you met Software Engineer Alex Roth.
Today we’re excited to let you hear about another aspect of Mediavine’s operations, this time from one of our four co-founders, Matt Richenthal!
You might already know Matt from his weekly, a-pun-dant posts in our Facebook group to announce our newest publishers. He also joined us on the blog last summer when we switched to a new payment system. And if you’ve ever had a payment issue, it’s possible that you have emailed with Matt.
We’re so happy to have you back on the blog, Matt!
Tell us your name and where you’re from.
Matthew Levi Richenthal. I’m originally from Chappaqua, New York and currently reside in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
How and when did Mediavine start?
Mediavine started back in 2004 as a content writing and Internet marketing/SEO company. We have evolved a tremendous amount since then.
What does being a Co-Founder mean? What do you actually do in any given day?
It means I get to sit back and marvel at the amazing work of all the incredible employees we’ve hired over the years. They’ve taken this company to levels about which I legitimately never could have dreamed.
On a daily basis, my tasks include: Overseeing content on owned-and-operated websites TV Fanatic and The Hollywood Gossip, while still writing some on the latter; staying on top of advertising partners to make sure we are being paid on time; managing expenses and payroll concerns; assisting various departments in any way I can; trying to think of the puns that are worthy of intense cringing by all unfortunate enough to read them.
How has your job evolved since Mediavine started implementing ads on bloggers’ sites?
As mentioned above, I continue to work on our O&Os because one can — nay, should! — mock their content, but hopefully still appreciate their traffic… but the financial/payroll responsibilities have exploded since our number of employees and publishers have sky-rocketed, while the overall number of balls in the air have increased from approximately one to approximately 219.
What is the one thing you want publishers to know about what goes into the Mediavine technology they use daily?
The main reason Mediavine was so successful long before we had a single publisher was because Eric “I Like to Tell People I Look Like Bradley Cooper When I Really Just Look Like Matt” Hochberger created his own Content Management System for use on our O&Os.
At the core of Mediavine has always been this innovative, easy-to-use, unique technology — and the expansion of our engineering team has only emphasized its importance even more. Our engineers are always thinking about two things and two things only: What will make life easiest and most rewarding for our publishers; and how do we stay one dozen steps ahead of whatever is coming next on the Internet.
Describe the future of Mediavine in 3 words.
Look out, Internet.
What are the most exciting things you’re working on and how do you see them positively impacting Mediavine publishers?
I’m looking ahead to obscure holidays and other calendar-related events in order to up my New Publisher Announcement Game on Facebook in the hope of positively impacting the moods of all who read these posts, even if only for a few fleeting seconds.
What do you do for fun when you’re not working?
Orange Theory Fitness, Basketball, Dragging my daughters around by their bean bag chairs, Playing hide-and-seek with these same daughters, Downloading books I never actually read.
Do you have any pets? What do they do for fun when you’re working? 😀
A dog named Sadie. She eats whatever chew toy I’ve given her for that period of time and then stares at me inquisitively until our next walk.
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