• by Felicia Greiff , April 7, 2016

Patz, who spent more than 20 years with Microsoft, will lead the global revenue team as well as client and account services. Deichert's responsibilities include managing revenue and sales ad operations and optimizing company processes.

Real-Time Daily caught up with Patz via email, asking about his new role and his perspective on some hot topics.

Real-Time Daily: How will your experience at Microsoft inform what you do as CRO of Rubicon Project?

Patz: At Microsoft, I helped implement and bring to market a number of new, innovative business models in a dynamic, competitive marketplace: mobile, SaaS, IPTV, and of course enterprise software with large strategic clients all across the globe.

We continually ensured that we developed our team, organization, processes and solution selling capabilities to fuel exponential growth and deeply satisfy our clients and partners.

In many ways Rubicon Project is experiencing the same incredible growth now that we saw at Microsoft’s peak, and it is clear that we have the same potential to really define the future of our industry.

When businesses grow as rapidly as Rubicon Project has--surpassing more than $1 billion in managed revenue in 2015, reporting positive net income, doubling GAAP revenue and increasing non-GAAP earnings per share by 400% and so on--it is critical to ensure you develop the right structure to scale continued future growth.

RTD: What are Rubicon Project's plans for the year?

Patz: In 2016, Rubicon Project will remain focused on driving growth and adoption of its advertising marketplace--one of the largest open marketplaces in the world, now connecting more than one billion consumers with the most premium publishers and applications developers and more than one hundred thousands brands and advertising agencies globally. 

I'm looking to continue our strong marketplace success, expanding our global cross-company focus with our clients, and ensuring that continue to invest in the right areas--like mobile, where we are already one of the top three mobile exchanges in the world, and video. There are also tremendous programmatic opportunities in television and out-of-home, and we’re planning on seizing that.

RTD: Is header bidding going to change everything?

Patz: Header bidding has clearly been a hot topic lately. And although it is not a panacea, header bidding is an important capability that we are innovating and delivering to the market.  

Our recently introduced FastLane header-bidding feature is a perfect example. It enables Rubicon Project to sit much higher in the ad stack of the Web publisher or mobile app, which allows the strength and scale of our buyer demand to create much greater demand for impressions...

Header bidding is not new, but publishers are seeking partners that innovate, rather than stand still. Which is why we were thrilled to unveil the industry’s first mobile header bidding solution earlier this year, and why we were first to market globally with a Google AMP certified header bidding solution in March.  

RTD: What's your outlook on the ad-tech industry?

Patz: Whether you look at the feedback from the stock market, a Lumascape, or the 3800 companies in the March 2016 Chiefmartec.com marketing technology landscape, including ad tech, it’s absolutely an evolving vista with concerns about long-term health and viability....

In addition, the rise of ad blockers and the disconnect between the consumer experience and the advertising experience must be addressed by empowering the consumers with greater control of their advertising experience.

Given these market realities, the future, from where we sit, looks very promising.

The industry will continue to shift more and more to programmatic channels for buying and selling media. And while many “fast follower” point solutions with limited capabilities have struggled to differentiate themselves in a competitive market where customers want fewer, more comprehensive solutions, Rubicon Project has developed a full-stack solution for buyers and sellers...

Differentiation, quality, a commitment to innovation and service will define the future of ad tech. I couldn’t think of a better place to be as we continue to redefine the future of consumer engagement.