Lijit

This was our third year having a booth at Blog World and it just keeps getting better for us. Instead of going on and on about what a great conference it was and how many times our company got mentioned in sessions or during keynotes, we thought pictures might do a better job of telling our story…

Our booth, along with the swag we were handing out, attracted quite the crowd. The  Purell was a big hit…either due to the fact that folks were shaking a lot of hands or that they agreed that Las Vegas was a dirty city.

But, one of the main reasons we go to Blog World is to be immersed in a world we love…that of blog publishers. Seeing their eyes light up when we explain and demo what we do is something that just can’t be described.

Not to mention all the opportunities we have for spreading our message to a larger audience…

However, probably our most favorite thing to do while at a show like Blog World is to thank our current users. Folks like the masterminds behind I Can Has Cheezburger, Neatorama, and WebUrbanist. And slapping a few stickers on cute mommybloggers doesn’t hurt the cause either. (Hi Extraordinary Mommy!)

A conference like Blog World takes a lot of energy. Not only is it a big show, but the fact that it takes place in Vegas makes it all the more tiring. To make sure we were up to the task, we made sure we had all of the essentials covered…

Thanks to everyone we met and to all those who told us how much they loved what we’re doing. Wear your Lijit shirts with pride and we hope to see you next year at Blog World 2010!

[Photo credits: Perry, Grace, Greg and http2007]

In the middle of 2007 I began a blog.

And, like more than 11,000 other people, I installed Lijit on my blog.

And, like more than 11,000 other people, I got an email from a person named Tara Anderson welcoming me to the Lijit family.

“This must be automated,” I thought to myself. So I replied to the email. “Hey Tara, I think Lijit is awesome. In fact, I have a couple of clients that this would work well for.”

A couple of hours later, Tara responded.

“Thanks, Micah! We think our wijit is pretty cool too. I would like to introduce you to Todd Vernon, our CEO…”

And, a few days later, I headed up to Louisville to meet the Lijit team. While there, I ran into Seth Levine, who was an investor in ServiceMagic , the first company I worked at in Colorado. We talked for a bit, and made plans to connect later.

Over the next few weeks, Todd and I continued to talk. I introduced him to a few of the clients I had worked with at Current Wisdom, and then one day at lunch Todd asked if I would be interested in joining the Lijit team. Initially, I was unsure, until Seth gave me this advice:

“Micah, you are an idiot. Take the job.”

So I did.

Now, almost two years later the time has come for me to move on.

I was asked to help run a 2009 Techstars company as their CEO (not Techstars itself), and after talking it over with, well, a bunch of my mentors, and with Todd’s support, I decided it was the right thing to do.

My time at Lijit has been amazing. We have grown from 1,000 publishers to more than 11,000. From 11,000,000 monthly pageviews to more than 325,000,000. From 12 people to just over 30. Other than Google, we are the most used search widget on the web.

And, what amazes me most, is we still reach out to each new user and welcome them to our family.

I am not leaving Boulder, and as I told the team at Lijit, “I’ll just be up the street.” I say the same to all Lijit users (both current and future), I am always available.

And, while I might be leaving Lijit as an employee; I am still a member of our family.

Thanks Lijit for the last two years. I’m excited to see whats next.

Little Ben Matson has been with our company for long enough now that we can easily make jokes at his expense. That’s always the true test, isn’t it? And fortunately for us, he can laugh at himself AND he has a blog designed to document his D&D adventures. Really…what more could we want from a co-worker?

Let’s not forget that Ben is an extraordinary team player who is willing to help out anyone at any time. Since he’s been at Lijit, he’s been put in many situations of extreme pressure and has passed all the stress tests with flying colors. Of course, he has yet to experience the famed Lijit Holiday Party. We’ll see how he does with that one. In the meantime, enjoy getting to know Ben. I can honestly say that the picture he provided me of his summer internship has to be one of the best of all time.

What is your Lijit contribution?

I am one of two Publisher Support Engineers at Lijit, and we do a variety of things around here. Whenever a blogger has a technical question, or runs into a problem with something, we work to provide the answers and solutions they’re looking for. Whenever we can’t handle an issue ourselves, we track down the people that can and make sure things get resolved properly. But my job is not just troubleshooting, I also get to trick-out the special accounts we create with a bunch of custom features for the different business development deals that go on around here. One of the things I really enjoy about my particular role at Lijit is seeing all the different ways our products get used, and all the neat things our company can do.

What is your least favorite word and why?

If I could remove any subset of words from the human vocabulary, it would be racial slurs. They are a bane on our advancement as intelligent and benevolent creatures, and generally come from a place of ignorance and hatred.

What is your favorite sound and why?

The ambiance of the natural world. When you can get away from all of the cars, all the humming electrical boxes, and all of the noise that society makes, you can hear what the world sounded like before the modern age. Admittedly, it is mostly just wind, but it can really have a profound effect on you if you let it. I also really like the sound of eggs cracking open.

What profession, other than your own, would you like to attempt and why?

Before joining Lijit I spent some time as an intern in an intergalactic mercenary syndicate with a focus on mounted dinosaur assault squads. They had their hands in everything from galactic warfare to spice smuggling, plus they had amazing dental benefits. Ultimately though, Lijit just made me a better offer.

Something you’re guilty of…

Living a total bachelor lifestyle. I very rarely cook for myself, or even buy groceries. I’m pretty sure the only things in my fridge right now are some shredded Parmesan cheese, half a jar of raspberry jam, and a couple beers. A few of the girls in the office have tried teaching me the ways of healthy and responsible food purchasing habits, but I have thus far proved untrainable.

Actually, Ben, speaking for many of the girls in the office, we think you’re highly trainable. Thanks for all you do, even when we continually bug you for tech support help. If you’re interested in learning more about Ben, follow him on Twitter, take a look at the outtakes from our photo shoot, or ask him if you can join him on the next quest to raid the Green Dragon’s lair. I’m sure he’ll let you play. He’s nice like that.

When I first got to know Stan James (Lijit’s Founder), we had a great conversation about a conference called Gnomdex in Seattle. I thought I had heard of such a conference in my startup days out in San Francisco, and sure enough I had.

In the late 1990s, I worked at a startup in Emeryville, CA. While there, several of the developers received an email from a guy named Chris Pirillo, and wished they could attend a conference in the corn fields of Iowa. It was called Gnomedex.

Lijit was a sponsor of the conference in 2007, and last year I attended. It was an amazing conference. Probably one of my favorite of the year because of Chris’ curation of speakers (including the guy that drove the Mars Rover!) and the community interaction of the attendees.

As I laid out my wishlist for conferences to speak at in 2009, Gnomedex was high on the list. Over the course of the year, Chris and I became better friends, and I was honored to be asked to speak at Gnomedex 2009. Talking about the impact blogging and community have had on my life (The presentation was entitled “How to be Awesome…er”) I really enjoyed speaking in front of the Gnomedex attendees, both in there and virtually.

Here are my presentation slides:

As always, it was great to connect with current and future Lijit publishers. Gnomedex has been a great measure of Lijit’s growth. In 2007 and 2008, we were the new kids, and most of the conversations I had about Lijit were filled with explanations of what we do, and why its interesting. Now, with our strong feature set and new monetization options, the conversations are much more focused on how to work together.

If you have a short list of conferences, please put Gnomedex on the list. Its an amazing conference, on par with SXSW (except without the size and craziness), and is the only conference that I lament missing sessions.

Cant wait for Gnomedex 2010!

This past weekend, Lijit was proud to be one of the sponsors for the ongoing Chicks Who Click conference series. San Jose, or to be more specific-downtown Palo Alto, was the setting for this installment of the (mostly) female gathering of those involved in social media and working in the tech industry.

There was a panel featuring Aubrey Sabala of Digg, Margaret Stewart of YouTube and Meagan Marks from Facebook. These three incredibly smart women talked about how they’ve trailblazed their way to fantastic careers by carving out roles for themselves that cater to their strengths. One of the key take-aways from this panel was the notion of “intelligent risk-taking” and that if an opportunity scares you, then it’s probably exactly what you need to be doing.

I spoke on a panel about being a woman involved with a tech startup. (There I am, in the middle, talking with my hands yet again.) Emily Olson of the delicious Foodzie and Suzanne Xie of the stylish Weardrobe joined me as we discussed the different challenges we’ve faced as being part of early-stage tech companies. Suzanne brought up the point that her background is in finance and coming from that kind of workplace, tech seems very open to women. Both Emily and I agreed that being female has helped with marketing our companies in both online and offline communities. A point that resonated with the audience is that if you’re going to have women users, it can be beneficial to have a female voice or face to assist with tech support or new customer outreach.

In case you haven’t experienced it, there really is a kind of magic that happens when you get a roomful of women (and a few men) together, talking about collaboration, connection and how tech can play an important part in building a business. Women of all ages shared stories of how they found jobs on Twitter, used Facebook to get the word out about their startup or formed relationships with major brands all because of their blog. It was an inspiring day, full of shared knowledge and newly-formed friendships. I’m grateful that Lijit was able to help make it happen.

Perry came to us from a corporate setting but we don’t hold that against him. As soon as he wheeled his bike into the office, we knew it was a good fit. Of course the fact that he can keep up with most of the cyclists in the office also wins him points all around. From his casual demeanor (he loves wearing old-school Vans with no socks) to his good humor, Perry has been a most welcome addition around Lijit.

Perry’s official title is VP of Market Development, but since he seems to know everyone in Boulder, we also like to call him the Jaunty Man about Town. And don’t even get him started about his glory days in the 90’s when he rode mountain bikes with Dan Cortese or hung out backstage with Perry Farrell (who, believe it or not, shares the same first name. OMG.) Fortunately, Perry agreed to take some time out of his busy schedule to allow us a peek into his psyche.

What is your Lijit contribution?

A muddy bike in a no-bikes allowed building… I have worked for large and small companies - I like to believe that I bring the best perspective/practices from each (and left the shite at the door…well, mostly).

What is your least favorite sound and why?

The sound of a frisbee banging into a car. For any of you who have played the game, you will know EXACTLY what I am talking about. When I was a kid, we used to play frisbee in the cul-de-sac where I lived. Invariably, someone would either over-throw or miss and that unforgettable sound would echo through the neighborhood…thankfully is was (usually) less damaging than one would think.

What turns you on, creatively, emotionally or spiritually and why?

I am not sure if it is a paternal thing, but I get really fired up when my kids take an interest in a sport and get super excited about it. My girls both locked onto Lacrosse (I never played…and am horrible) and my son took to cycling right away. While they have miles to go to be “great” at their respective endeavors, it inspires me to learn or better myself so that I can enjoy their growth alongside them. Wish me luck.

What profession, other than your own, would you like to attempt and why?

As Boulder-stereotypical as it sounds, I would LOVE to own a bike shop. People need to remember that cyclists put the U.S. into flight first (Orville and Wilbur). A bike shop caters to every demographic and has substantial breadth when it comes to customer interests - everything from the recreational rider to the pro-level cyclist…and the revolutionary anti-gasoline commuter to the hardcore downhiller. Many different customers creates a hyper-diverse and interesting place to work.

Something you’re guilty of…

My body is really bad at processing sugar, which does not work well given my moderate addiction to dark chocolate. The pros tell you there are anti-oxidants in chocolate, but I still think that the sugar wrecks me…such is life.

But the greatest thing about Perry is that he is willing to represent Lijit in the manner to which we’ve become accustomed. On bikes.

I would normally wrap this up by encouraging interested parties to check out Perry’s blog and Twitter stream. However, in this case, all you’ll discover is that he is woefully negligent with both.

But then again, he does have a wonderful wife and three really cute kids…which speaks more about him than any social media platform ever could.

In case you were wondering where all the honey bees have gone…look no further.

According to eyewitness reports, the swarm “arrived in tight formation, surveyed the Rio Grande across the street, found it unsuitable and then proceeded to colonize our tree.”

The guy in the white shirt is Bill, a wonderful guy and Lijit employee who alerted us to the swarm’s presence yesterday. After others in the building caught wind of the news, a small crowd gathered to enjoy the spectacle of nature until some do-gooder beekeepers came by to collect the bees a little while later.

A final close-up shot of the swarm, so you can fully appreciate just how Lijit we can bee…

Many thanks to Zach Conger, our resident Systems Architect and honey of a guy for rushing out to document this extraordinary event.

And yes, this does constitute exciting around our workplace. No judging.

Aditya holds the honor of being the first intern that we had at Lijit AND the first that we hired upon college graduation. That’s how important QA is to us. Here he is in the Lijit offices, working diligently on the white board, or for the purpose of this picture, pretending to be…

(And yes, Aditya is a little out of focus but it’s only because I was playing with my new camera and amazed at the focal capabilities.)

What is your Lijit contribution?

As part of the QA team at Lijit, I work on making sure that the Lijit product is as bug-free as possible. The best part of my role is that I get to see and test all of the cool features being added to our product before they are released to our publishers. The more bugs I am able to test and find, the better the quality of the product.

What turns you off, creatively, spiritually, or emotionally and why?

Not being appreciated for the work being put in. It is my belief that appreciating an individual’s effort, however small, helps to bring out the best. And this applies to any setting.

What is your favorite word and why?

In recent times, I think my favorite word has become ‘Verified!’ because that status on a bug means that the product is cleaner and of better quality. With releases becoming more frequent, it has become my new mantra.

What profession, other than your own, would you like to attempt and why?

Playback Singer in Indian movies because I love music. I think music has the ability to influence people’s moods and I would love to be able to do that. And since I have grown up on Indian movies (Bollywood!), it would be great to be a part of them.

Something you’re guilty of…

I am crazy about cricket and can never get enough of it. In the summer, I play the game at least 3 times a week (I wish it were sunny all year in Boulder) and watch pretty much any cricket match that India is involved in.

We love having Aditya around and hope that as his first job out of college, we haven’t set him up for future disappointment when he realizes other companies aren’t as cool as ours. Here’s to Aditya’s ninja-like QA skills and many more successful bug smashings! (Insert the Hulk’s menacing growl here.)

I don’t even know where to begin with introducing this one. Grace installed Lijit on her cute blog soon after moving to town and I reached out, via email, to thank her. Next thing you know, she’s working for us. Nice how things work like that in Boulder.

We’re so glad to have Grace’s youthful outlook and enthusiasm around the office. She’s a crazy mad tweeter and constantly blogs up a storm. With all of that Gen Y energy, how can she not help our company succeed? (Plus, she likes to pretend she’s tumbling for international judges.)

What is your Lijit contribution?

My title is Business Development, which means I help acquire new bloggers or publishers to understand and use Lijit while also helping to bring in any new business. I do a mix of customer support with our current users, account management, marketing and connecting with new bloggers not yet using Lijit. With that being said, I probably discover and talk with hundreds of bloggers each week!

What sound or noise do you love and why?

The sound of a wine cork popping open and/or a champagne bottle, then the fizzing afterwards. Not only is that sound related to celebrations and happiness, but I love me some wine.

What is your least favorite word and why?

When people (in real life) say out loud, “LOL”, “OMG”, or “WTF”. Why do you have to shorten and abbreviate? I’m right in front of you and you aren’t typing. Express yourself!

What profession, other than your own, would you like to attempt and why?

I’ve secretly been harboring this idea and I recently revealed it, so I’m going to keep going and see where it takes me. Drumroll…Traveling Food Critic. Let me tell you why. It combines all of my passions: I love to travel and explore different cuisines from around the world. I think that writing is a fantastic way to express yourself and I enjoy interacting with people, so if I could have all those bundled up to one profession I would love it. That is, I could still live-tweet, blog and v-blog my way around the world with my very own “Grace Happens” global culinary tour.

Something you’re guilty of…

Laughing at inappropriate times and busting into dance moves when no one else is dancing (ie: middle of a street, empty dance floor, in my chair at the office).

Grace is an amazingly unique individual and is doing wonderful things for Lijit. To get even more Grace in your life, be sure to check out her blog, Small Hands, Big Ideas (take my word for it…those hands are tiny), follow her on Twitter, or look for her traveling food show coming soon to either the Food Network or the Travel Channel. Thanks for all you do to make us smile every day Gracie!

Not soon after Ryan lost his kite, I told him he was the lucky next employee to be featured on our company blog. As you might imagine, this was enough to turn Ryan’s frown upside down. I was happy to return the favor since Ryan is continually bringing a smile to everyone’s face in the office. Whether he’s sharing his tea stash (seriously, it’s next to his desk) or teaming up to play foosball, Ryan is, as we like to put it around here, good sauce. Judge for yourself after reading his profile…

What is your Lijit contribution?

As part of Lijit’s Web team, I code some of the core components of our application that users see on a daily basis. 90% of the work I do involves some sort of acronym, such as “PHP” or “XML”, with the exception of “JavaScript”. I also contribute to foosball development in the office - being the “less skilled” half of any team I join - by helping to keep my teammate’s foosball skills sharp.

What sound or noise do you love and why?

One of my favorite sounds is someone asking me “Do you have lunch plans?” because I enjoy getting out of the office and getting to know my coworkers on a different level. And, by the time I’m asked that, I’m almost always very hungry. I also enjoy hearing “Let’s get some drinks” and “Yes, I will make out with you”.

When I work, I usually listen to downtempo music, followed by podcasts such as “This American Life” or “CastaBlasta”.

What turns you on creatively, spiritually, or emotionally and why?

Problem solving and overcoming challenges is extremely rewarding to me, and I’m lucky to be in a profession where that is essentially the job description. When coding through a problem, there are a few Zen moments, when everything makes sense and you know you are on the right track. It’s a good feeling.

Working out is awesome too - and can definitely get me going. I almost always feel great after a workout.

What profession, other than your own, would you like to attempt and why?

I’ve discovered that I enjoy teaching - not necessarily in an academic setting, but I enjoy explaining things and helping people learn and grow.

Something you’re guilty of…

Perhaps I make fun of Twitter too much. Or not enough?

I can be a heavier drinker - of caffeine.

Sometimes people can’t tell when I’m sarcastic. And I was really happy to answer these questions.

Although Ryan can be an occasional rule breaker, as evidenced in the above photo, he’s generally an upstanding guy who writes a mean haiku when he’s inspired. Also, while he may say he makes fun of Twitter too much, you can find and harass Ryan on there if the desire strikes you. I appreciate him being a good sport and taking the time to help make our blog that much cooler. Plus, I can attest that he’s a good guy to have hanging around.