As part of XBIZ World’s “Execs of the Year” special issue, the digital media market's most prolific businessmen share their thoughts on the top trends that propelled business this year.
A natural decision-maker equipped with hard-earned experience and unrivaled ability to steer the ship, these exemplary talents define this consummate professional in every area he pursues. With unbound passion this powerful executive was born to lead and driven to succeed.
Our team has grown to include individuals I consider family, proving the motto true that if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. -Jack Avalanche, Traffic Pimps
Each of the executives we spoke to below is among the finalist nominees for Businessman of the Year in the digital edition of the 2018 XBIZ Exec Awards.
What was your greatest accomplishment as a businessman?
Clement
Bang.com
“My greatest accomplishment as a businessman was definitely building a team capable of achieving a strong steady growth of sales and bring today’s weary consumer to pay for porn in an era of free porn and scams. We’ve focused on solutions rather than excuses. It’s in my DNA. When I see a challenge ahead of me, all I think of is methods to overcome that roadblock. I’ve had many challenges since my start in this industry back in 1998. I’m very proud that my humble beginnings have spurred into an international enterprise bringing together top talent from around the globe. We’ve now pushed our boundaries to create a trustworthy and recognized brand. Bang.com is a source of great pride for me, offering great value to its patrons. I’m very confident we have built, what is to become a strong brand in adult entertainment for many years to come. You can certainly count on me to put forth all the efforts and resources necessary into making that happen!”
Gian Carlo
BitterStrawberry
“First of all, I’d like to express my gratitude for this recognition. It confirms that we’re on the right path, especially in an industry where you have to be at the forefront of innovation to really succeed. Developing a product that can make a real difference in the market offers a competitive advantage which is difficult for others to replicate. This is one of the greatest accomplishments I had and this drives me forward even as I encounter rough patches in my journey. But more than pursuing this goal, making money from doing what I love, achieving success by my own rules, being able to travel wherever I like, meeting new people and deepening cultural understanding while establishing professional contacts all over the world, is what really defines success, as I see it.”
Michael Reul
TrafficPartner
“There is not one ‘greatest’ accomplishment per se, but rather many that go together. Building up the TrafficPartner.com Group with my partners from zero in 1998 to 400 highly motivated employees is definitely the greatest overall success in my book. The integration of so many amazing portfolio companies that we’ve invested in within the past years, is a challenging but also highly rewarding job. I guess it’s of greatest importance to always critically ask yourself what you can do better and how you can keep innovating your company in this challenging market.”
Greg Clayman
Flirt4Free
“I chose to focus on more of a team accomplishment, given if there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years it’s that most often, a solid team can outpace any single individual, all day long. I’ve been fortunate to have been a witness to many exciting accomplishments over the years, however. One of my favorites is when we had the goal of taking the business to the next level. We knew a major part of making this accomplishment successful included expanding our staff as well as finding a new home for everyone if we’re going to succeed at such an endeavor. At the time, we couldn’t fit another workspace into our current office and we knew it was no longer suitable for our needs. We looked high and low and approximately two years ago, we found our new home in Westlake Village, Calif., which now houses over a hundred employees and covers approximately 16,000 square feet. VS Media’s new state of the art facility provides us with plenty of room today as well as an opportunity for growth tomorrow. This is certainly one accomplishment that makes me proud to have achieved as I’m reminded of it every day when I enter the office.”
Jack Avalanche
Traffic Pimps
“The greatest accomplishment as a businessman would easily be seeing the little company we started in 2003 grow into the success it is today. Coming into our 15th year we see unprecedented growth at our core and expansion into new fields once thought impossible. Our team has grown to include individuals I consider family, proving the motto true that if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.”
Stan D'Man
ModelCentro
“What I have learned is that success is never a solitary thing. During my time evolving the company, I have benefited from all the input, hard work, feedback and effort of hundreds of other people I work with every day. I’m excited about the three years of my own effort that have gone into making ModelCentro a success from scratch, but my greatest accomplishment without a doubt is the impact it has had on the 185 people who continue helping me grow Centro Ventures and our business relationships. Creating a brand that helps so many people prosper in-house while watching so many performers as their efforts are all being rewarded is a great feeling, and it’s definitely what I am most proud of accomplishing.”
Mugur Cosmin Frunzetti
Studio 20
“My biggest accomplishment as a businessman is helping younger people around me grow and become themselves, successful managers and entrepreneurs. I am happy to see they learn from me and fight to enlarge their horizon and push their limits to the level of excellence that brings success.”
Nick Chretien
CrakMedia
“Thanks to a dedicated team and a ton of sweat, we’ve managed to become one of the biggest companies in web traffic monetization and in online marketing solutions. I am also grateful to our numerous partners that followed us faithfully in the last 11 years. And that’s what I think my greatest accomplishment to date is, and the one thing I’ve continued to be most proud of: converting competitors into long-term partners. As for me, on a personal note, I’m always looking to reach new milestones and surpass them, for the sake of the company, and for the sake of my valued business associates. Some may say I’m not afraid to go against the grain or break the mold — especially in the field of new technologies, methods, and the process of finding new ways to implement them in our industry. Nobody in this industry lasts when innovation goes stale. That’s why I’m passionate about what I do. I think it’s fair to say I’m also passionate about understanding what needs to be done from a business standpoint, and I’m thankful for having the insight to look ahead to the future — while not just simply focusing on now. I never lost sight of this mantra over the past decade. In fact, that’s why I chose to display this sentiment in an inspirational quote on the walls of one of our largest conference rooms at the office: ‘When the wind of change blows, some people build walls, others build windmills.’”
Steven Grooby
Grooby
“My greatest accomplishment as a businessman was the realization that not everything I thought, or did, was necessarily the correct action for my business — and taking the time to attend shows, network and listen to other people, make allies and to hire the most pro-active and positive people who supported the company as much as I did. At that point, our business started to flourish.”
