This interview with Ian Swanson, the founder and C.E.O. of Sometrics, was conducted and condensed by Alex Monroe.
Can you briefly explain what Sometrics does?
Sometrics works with many different game publishers in three verticals: social games, casual gaming, and massive multiplayer online games. We help those publishers better understand their audience through very deep metrics and we also help them improve their revenue through what we call an offer solution that ties advertisements like Netflix to in game actions. So, we really have the total solution to help them better understand and monetize their audience.
How valuable is what you do to your customers?
It’s extremely valuable. From a revenue perspective, we have been able to help some of our customers lift their revenue by 20%, which is great for them. We’re talking about big companies, companies that are doing millions of dollars a month, and when you go to them and you give them results that are a 20% lift, those are real results. That is something that really affects their overall business.
What drew you to social media?
Before starting Sometrics, I was with a company called Userplane. Userplane was acquired by AOL and Userplane built out applications and products for social networks. I had a background in social media from the previous company I was at. Where I saw the opportunity was, Facebook opened up the platform in May 2007, and it was one of the first times you really had access to such a level of data that was before so hard to get at. And then with that data you would be able to use it in fashions that would optimize ads and optimize the games. I’ve been in social media for the past six years, where I’ve worked with literally tens of thousands of social networking sites.
What has been your worst experience being an entrepreneur?
Being a startup, the last three years have had their ups and downs. When we first started the company, the economy was booming. There were more resources out there and parties willing to invest. Then, September of 2008, things definitely changed. We went through a time period where we had to scale back the organization. One of the toughest parts of being an entrepreneur, especially in a start up perspective, is you build a company as if it’s your family and when you come to a point where you have to lay people off, it is a very tough decision. But, it also a necessary one that you have to do from time to time.
If you could describe being an entrepreneur in 3 words, what would they be?
Crazy, ambitious and drive.
What advice can you give to aspiring entrepreneurs?
There are two sides to it, where you would say stick with it, it’s tough. You definitely have your ups and downs. But if you think you have a good idea and are starting to generate traffic, go for it.
On the flip side of that, I think a lot of entrepreneurs don’t know when to let go. Some of the best advice I’ve ever heard is that you may think that this product or this feature is going to the best thing in the world and so you’re going to stay with it for the next two, three, five years. But it’s just for some reason not really going to pick up steam. Maybe your clients have changed or the consumers’ attitudes have changed, so you have to give it up. You need to move on to the next thing. Whether it’s changing your business plan or your market, don’t be afraid to change.
