“Focus on your value prop & execute!”

Kathy is currently the President and Co-Founder of Local Response, a company that helps marketers respond to social intent. At Local Response she is responsible for positioning, go-to-market, revenue generation and general operations.

Prior to joining Local Response, Kathy was a Founder and Chief Revenue Officer at Media6Degrees, a Social Targeting company. At Media6, Kathy developed the positioning, strategy and go-to-market blueprint for the company. She successfully took Media6 to market and drove the company from pre-revenue to $20 million in revenue and $100 million valuation in 2 years.

MO: How does LocalResponse work?

Kathy: LocalResponse is the first platform to help marketers respond to social intent, defined as a social media moment: a Tweet, a status update on Facebook, a photo on Instagram, a checkin to Foursquare and many more. We believe that publicly expressed intent is the strongest consumer signal for brands.

MO: Can you share with our readers a bit about the process of taking a company from ideation stage to generating significant revenue with top tier advertisers?

Kathy: it is a long and difficult road to take a company from just being an idea in a PowerPoint deck into a revenue generating business. In ad tech, we usually start with a theory about a certain type of data. We built the technology to support the theory and then we go to market and sell it to advertisers. Then you work hard to perform for your clients always, refining & fine tuning along the way.

MO: What advice would you give to a startup seeking investment?

Kathy: Do your homework on the types of companies a particular VC has invested in, in the past. It will save you a mountain of time to seek investment from a VC that understands your business from the outset.

MO: Where does your entrepreneurial spirit come from? What was the first business that you ever helped launched and what early lessons did you learn?

Kathy: I think from my drive to control my own destiny. My first business was launched in 2007. I learned that you have to take a leap of faith and be willing to take risks to be an entrepreneur. In my business 90% of start-ups fail, so having a unique offering isn’t enough. You have to have the right team, solid technology and passion to succeed.

MO: How do you bring ideas to life?

Kathy: Passion for what you are doing is key to bringing ideas to life. That and believing in what you are doing (both in the idea and yourself) is the only way to bring an idea to life.

MO: What’s the most exciting thing on the horizon for you personally or professionally?

Kathy: Professionally, building and scaling my company in 2013. It’s an exciting time in the lifecycle of a start-up. Personally, continuing to try and balance home, family, baby, health and work!