Len Short is truly an online marketing pioneer, heading up marketing at Charles Schwab, AOL and then (PRODUCT)RED. He is now leading Chug, a car buying search engine, as its Founder and CEO.
Len later joined (PRODUCT)RED as its Founding CMO. In this capacity he worked with U2′s Bono, as well as Steve Jobs and a number of other notable celebrities whom Len encouraged to lend their brand equity to bolster RED’s cause.
Earlier in his career, Len worked at NW Ayer where he focused much of his attention on non-profits. Fast-forward a decade and he was the CMO at (PRODUCT)RED. Giving back is clearly in Len’s DNA. He shared the following advice for emerging entrepreneurs who have limited time and money but an unlimited passion to give back philanthropically. “With Red, Africa wasn’t my cause. It was Bono’s cause and Bobby Shriver’s cause. I found an opportunity to take some unique skills that I had (and) to apply them to that model. I invested two years of my life…and it became my cause. The most important things people can give are their talents and innovation. So as an entrepreneur, (talent) is the most valuable currency.
Bono said, ‘Well, OK. I understand your plan but I want a friend of mine who is a marketing guy to vet your plan,’ and I said, ‘Oh yeah, who’s that?’ and he said, ‘Steve Jobs.’ Steve was amazingly helpful and supportive.
RED… is a for-profit endeavor, the profits just go to Africans, not to anybody else. It has made and distributed over $180 million in profits that have all gone…to buy ARVs (antiretroviral drugs). Look at your talents and see what they can lend. Later on give your money away.”
(PRODUCT)RED continues to be immensely successful, having directly impacted the lives of over 7.5 million people. The organization is on track to make the children born in 2015 the first AIDS free generation in decades. Given RED’s immense marketing impact, I asked Len what he would do differently, if he were launching the project today. “If I did it again, I’d be even more adamant about staffing it and creating a culture of relentless, hard-nosed focus on creating results. That goes for pretty much any enterprise and certainly a cause should have the same hard-nosed approach that business does. That was our going-in proposition.”
In addition to its Co-Founder, Bono, (PRODUCT)RED enlisted the support of a number of notable personalities. Due to Rincon Venture Partners‘ focus on sourcing deals within the Southern California ecosystem, we often see deals in which one or more celebrities are involved. From an investor’s standpoint, we view this as a mixed blessing. Even so, I found Len’s counsel regarding how to appropriately manage and maximize an organization’s relationship with high-profile celebrities to be a bit surprising. “Celebrities are tricky. I think it is borrowed equity. Essentially a successful entrepreneur will always be purely driven by a vision. They won’t let distractions or shortcuts distract them. It’s easy to talk yourself into, ‘So and so is interested and it will help me.’ I am not sure it ever does, unless there is a natural connection. The same rule applies, borrowed equity isn’t yours.
I can’t really think of a great case history where a celebrity has really driven a startup. Other than RED, I mean Bono, I wouldn’t call him a celebrity, he’s a force of nature.”
www.businessinsider.com
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