PandoDaily recently interviewed Conduit CEO Ronen Shilo, following reports that JP Morgan acquired a $100 million stake in Conduit at a $1.3 billion valuation, making the company Israel’s first $1Billion+ internet comapny.
In the interview, Mick Weinstein reflects on the company’s impressive growth since 2005 launch, and where Shilo hopes to take things from here.
Conduit’s cash cow is its toolbar, which the company says has been used by more than 200,000 sites, including MLB.com and Miniclip, to reach 250 million users, but its also developing a number of new products.
The article‘s conclusion is that Conduit — despite the current internet IPO and buyout wave — is playing the long game, looking to leverage its massive reach and cash position to build a sustainably profitable business that remains under founder and employee control for years to come. CEO Shilo is inspired by Mark Zukerberg’s holding onto firm control of Facebook in his own running of the company. He is quoted as saying: What interests me most is the fact that Mark Zuckerberg is about to be worth $28 billion – and still maintain operational control of the company… As someone who has been concerned about maintaining control of my company from the beginning, I completely understand and empathize with what Zuckerberg and his financial gurus have structured. My partners and I control over 50% of Conduit; I wouldn’t have it any other way, and I don’t think we could have achieved what we did otherwise.
For the full PandoDaily article click here.
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