Why Your Next Board Mem...

Editor’s note: Aileen Lee is a partner at venture firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, where she focuses on investing in consumer internet ventures. You can read more about Lee at KPCB.com and follow her on Twitter at @aileenlee . Good questions have been asked lately of tech companies without gender diversity on their boards of directors. While women comprise 51% of the population , they make up only 15.7% of Fortune 500 boards of directors, less than 10% of California tech company boards , and 9.1% of Silicon Valley boards . Why should we care? For one, women are the power users of many products and it’s just smart business to have an understanding of key customers around the table. Could you imagine a game company without any gamers on the leadership team or board? If you’re not aware, studies also show companies with gender diversity at the top drive better financial performance on multiple measures – for example, 36% better stock price growth and 46% better return on equity. And, studies show the more women, the better the results. This is likely because teams with more females demonstrate higher collective intelligence and better problem solving ability. So it’s probably not a coincidence the world’s most admired companies have more women on their boards than the average company. There is a group of public companies that gets these insights – they are quietly adding some of the smartest women in Silicon Valley to their boards of directors. And most are not making much noise about it, perhaps they want to benefit from their savvy while their competitors are asleep at the wheel. I was impressed by a move by AutoNation , the country’s largest auto retailer ($4.6B market cap). They did an extensive search and last year added Alison Rosenthal to their board – an off-the-F500-radar-screen, Brown and Stanford educated, early Facebook team member who led FB’s core BD activities for 5 years in social, growth, international and mobile. Why add a 30-something female to a male board with an average age of 58? Mike Maroone , AutoNation’s President and COO explained, “We looked at our board [and realized] it’s male dominated, while women make over 50% of the purchasing decisions in our business. And, the travel, music and news industries have been transformed by digital. We’re trying to transform the auto business and connect with the thinking of the digital generation, and we need this level of insight at the board level.” AutoNation is not alone in identifying next gen talent that adds diversity of gender, thought, age and experience to the boardroom, long the domain of (male) titans of big business, law and finance. LinkedIn ($9.1B) was ahead of the curve when they added longtime Netflix CMO Leslie Kilgore to the board in 2010. And in the past year, TripAdvisor ($4.1B market cap) added former Google International exec Sukhinder Singh Cassidy to the board of directors; HomeAway ($2.1B) added Google Ads head Susan Wojcicki ; LuluLemon ($9.3B) added FB local-and-mobile exec Emily White ; Starbucks ($36.5B) added 29-year-old Clara Shih , CEO of Hearsay Social and author of The Facebook Era; and Scripps Networks Interactive ($6.9B) just announced the addition of Gina Bianchini , CEO/founder of Mighty Software. Of this, LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner says, “Some boards may look for candidates already on other boards, or CEOs of other companies. In the case of Leslie’s seat, we were looking to add someone with specific expertise, CEO or non-CEO, to complement our board – and the results from broadening our consideration set have been outstanding.” Christine Day , CEO of LuluLemon, offered similar sentiments. “We wanted a board member who understands how our target guest thinks, is a leader in the world of digital innovation and social, and understands steep growth. Emily is part of a new generation that is going to change the game.” Ebay ($45.1B market cap) also recently added Facebook product marketing exec Katie Mitic to their board. Of this, CEO John Donohoe told me, “We were looking to add people who understand the web of the future and our consumer (50% of whom are women), and who are product and tech savvy. Katie is a 12 out of 10 on these. And, we have a strong commitment to attracting, developing and retaining female leaders. There’s also a cultural impact outside of the boardroom – it’s inspiring to our team members and community to see someone like Katie on our board.” By adding new blood to the boardroom, these companies are getting a four-fer, or more: 1) gender diversity, and in most cases, age diversity around the table; 2) better understanding of core customers; 3) Social-Mobile-Local expertise and insight into digital platforms like Facebook, Google, Apple, Amazon, Twitter, Path, Square, Flipboard and Pinterest that are fundamentally changing business; and 4) hyper growth and rapid innovation DNA. These factors are driving a trend to change board composition. And from what I’ve heard from CEOs, the smartest companies will continue to diversify their boards rather than “checking a box.” Initiatives like 20by2020 will also help. There’s an opportunity to make your board, and your company, smarter by adding diversity, especially of gender. And if you’re at a smaller company, there’s a greater likelihood that your board lacks diversity – and that’s an opportunity to seize, especially if your company counts on females as key users. Savvy companies are quietly changing up their boards of directors and teams, and this is giving them better collective intelligence, more community admiration, and better financial results. PS if your company would benefit from new DNA in the boardroom, there is great talent to consider. Here are just some examples of female leaders who are savvy about digital innovation, customer experience and hypergrowth. I’ve listed talent with experience from larger companies, as startups are generally less able to share their talent: Allison Johnson , former VP Global Marketing Comm, Apple Anne Raimondi , VP Marketing, SurveyMonkey Amy Chang , Head of Global Product, Ads Measurement, Google Barbara Messing , CMO, Tripadvisor Caterina Fake , Founder, Pinwheel; cofounder, Flickr and Hunch Carolyn Everson , VP, Global Marketing Solutions, Facebook Heather Harde , former CEO, TechCrunch Jennifer Bailey , VP WW online stores, Apple Jessica Herrin , CEO/founder, Stella & Dot Jessica Steel , EVP of Business & Corporate Development, Pandora Joanne Bradford , Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer, Demand Media Julie Bornstein , SVP, Sephora Digital Katie Jacobs Stanton , Head of International Strategy, Twitter Kerry Wharton Cooper , CMO, Modcloth; ex VP eCommerce, Walmart.com Lori Goler , VP of People and Recruiting, Facebook; ex marketing, eBay Marissa Mayer , VP of Local, Maps and Location Services, Google Raji Arasu , VP of Technology, eBay Selina Tobaccowala , VP of Product and Engineering, SurveyMonkey Stephanie Tilenius , Global Commerce Strategy, Google Tina Sharkey , Chairman and Global President, BabyCenter [ image via Flickr/Bill McChesney ]

Volkswagen iAd: Tiguan ...

Here is a neat iAd from Volkswagen which ran in the Auto Esporte tablet magazine recently. Created for the Tiguan, the iAd showcases the Park Assist II feature that is now available, even off road. The iAd challenges readers to place their finders on the target spots which triggers the Volkswagen Tiguan to “self park” Related Digital Buzz Posts: Volkswagen Tiguan Website Volkswagen: The People’s Reviewer Volkswagen: Virtual Test Drive Inside Print Ad

Samsung’s DV300F Dual-V...

Many of you may remember that I was straight-up infatuated with Samsung’s MV800 point-and-shoot . And why wouldn’t I be? It’s absolutely the best point-and-shoot if your favorite subject to shoot happens to be yourself. While Samsung’s latest camera isn’t quite as narcissistic, the new DV300F announced today still has a pretty awesome trick up its sleeve. This is one of Samsung’s Dual-View offerings, meaning it sports a 1.5-inch screen up front to accompany the usual 3-inch LCD display (which doubles as a viewfinder.) What sets the DV300F apart, however, is its WiFi capabilities. You’ll be able to share pics and clips directly to Facebook, Picasa, YouTube, etc. If you’re not in the mood to go public right away, you’ll also be able to upload the entirety of your SD card to your PC with the Auto PC Backup tool. The 16-megapixel camera is capable of 5x optical zoom and comes equipped with a 25mm wide-angle lens. You’ll also find the expected microSD slot present. Color flavors include black, silver, navy and red and each can be had for $199. Shipping is expected to begin in March.

Mobile Marketing Associ...

It was announced today that the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) has added three new members to its global board of directors — including Curt Hecht, CEO of VivaKi’s Nerve Center; Tobin Ireland, group director, commercial development, Vodafone Group; and Joe Kennedy, CEO & President of Pandora. The three new mobile industry leaders were elected to fulfill the 2012-2014 term.  ”I want to welcome Curt, Tobin and Joe to their new positions on the MMA Board and thank them for their commitment,” said Greg Stuart, CEO MMA. “They are pioneers in their respective fields and the unique perspective, expertise, and leadership that they bring to the MMA Board will be critical as we work shoulder-to-shoulder to build mobile into the most effective marketing channel there ever has been.” Here’s a quick overview and background for each new addition . . . Curt Hecht is CEO of the Nerve Center, VivaKi’s hub of new media companies and ad serving, analytics and performance media tool capabilities. He is focused on developing the next generation of technical platforms to allow Publicis Groupe and its clients to migrate from analog media processes, and scale their digital marketing efforts as both media channel and consumer become digital.  Curt is also the Groupe’s primary liaison to digital media companies such as Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Canoe (Cable MSOs) and telco companies, architecting open and scaleable platforms that can be activated by all of VivaKi’s agency networks.  Prior to leading VivaKi, Curt was Chief Digital Officer at Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG), a subsidiary of Publicis Groupe. Tobin Ireland joined Vodafone in 2010 and serves as the London-based global mobile operator’s Group Director of Commercial Development, where he is responsible for global commercial strategy and new business development. This includes mobile marketing and mobile commerce where Tobin has been leading industry efforts to create an open m-commerce ecosystem supported by all mobile operators. Tobin started his career at McKinsey & Company specializing in retail and media turnarounds as has subsequently served as the Commercial Director of BSkyB (where he spearheaded early interactive TV advertising) and as Chief Marketing Officer of AOL Europe. Tobin is also an active advisor and investor in early stage digital media businesses. Joe Kennedy joined Pandora as CEO & President in 2004 following a five-year stint at E-LOAN, where he was President and Chief Operating Officer. From 1995 to 1999, he was the Vice President of Sales, Service and Marketing for Saturn Corporation, which he grew to over $4 billion in revenue and established as the top brand for customer satisfaction in the auto industry. Joe joined the initial start-up team at Saturn, four months after its founding, as a marketing manager and held positions of increasing marketing responsibility over the course of his 11-year tenure there.  Joe holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Princeton University, where he dabbled in music theory and learned to compose his own Gregorian chants. He is Pandora’s resident pop music junkie. Joe has also been playing the piano for more than 30 years, most of which has been spent attempting to master Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.”

Shazam Ditches The Mont...

Back in late 2009, then-free music identifying service Shazam made a rather drastic change to their business model: they went freemium. Everybody got 5 free song identifications per month… but after that, they’d have to cough up for premium app, “Shazam Encore”. That worked well enough for a while — then the competition rolled in, and gave away what Shazam was trying to charge for. Shazam responded with an experiment: they’d remove the tagging limits in their app, with a single “sponsor” covering their costs in exchange for ad placement — but only for Android, and only until the end of the year. Seems that worked well enough, as Shazam has just removed the tagging limits in their iOS and Android apps indefinitely. Shazam’s launch partner in all of this is Capital One, so don’t be surprised if a B-list celebrity pops up to ask “What’s in your wallet?” every time you stumble out of the bar bathroom and try to ID the tail-end of that song that has been stuck in your head for four days. (Oddly, eBay was supposed to be sponsoring the Android side of things until 2012. What happened there?) Both the iOS and Android apps should have their monthly limitations removed as of this morning. As for the folks who already purchased the premium app: you’ll continue to get unlimited tagging, won’t be subjected to ads, have access to some fancy features like the auto-synced LyricPlay feature, and you get the warm, fuzzy (but nowadays rare) feeling that comes from actually, you know, paying for something. Crunchbase SHAZAM ENTERTAINMENT Company: Shazam Entertainment Website: shazam.com Funding: $32M Shazam® is the world’s leading mobile discovery application - enabling consumers to experience and share content with others across mobile devices and the Internet. Launching eight years ago as the first mobile-specific service to help people discover new music, Shazam has now expanded beyond its music roots to enable viewers to interact with broadcast media and brands, via its Shazam Audio Recognition Advertising (SARA) initiative. Headquartered in London, UK, Shazam’s services enhance the... Learn more