Didn’t mean to hijack the thread… this example is an interesting analogue to how venture capitalists and entrepreneurs create businesses to take on risks, and I think this is the main reason I found the example interesting.

Being an entrepreneur, taking risks on new ventures, et. al. is nothing new: what could be new is finding new people and ways fund entrepreneurship…

For the record, I don’t consider my nearly-29-year-old self part of “Gen Y”.

Anyways, Thomas Jefferson and I are working up some cloud computing initiatives that are going to be huge.

He really “gets” social media.

; )

I’d venture a guess that the $350k pitch investment was also covered somewhat by the production company; since Cordner et al have the expertise/connections to get in the room, the production company provides investment capital.

Taylor: maybe the “new entrepreneurialism”/funding model we’re thinking of isn’t about “Gen Y” at all…it’s about old people like Mike B. and Cordner that can *make things happen* without so much risk/inexperience.

- Why is only a % of the $350-500K out-of-pocket? I apologize, but I’m not knowledgeable about the ad account competition process.

I’ll get the ‘official’ answers from Traffic and (re)post them, but here are my guesstimates:

- The pitch team was recruited in the 2-3 months leading up to the pitch, consisted of 15-20 people. The agency will eventually size up to 120- 130 people.

- Bets were made when Traffic was formed for the purpose of winning Mitsubishi. Q4 2007.

- It typically costs $350-500K to compete for an auto account. This was probably the range of Traffic’s investment, though only a percentage of that was out of pocket costs.

- Downside was the bet. It was hedged by a $12 mil Toyota strategy account Cordner and Powers had already landed (status in the wake of winning the Mitsu acct TBD). It was also hedged by the fact that Cimarron could absorb significant production costs as overhead.

I am curious when the agency acquired and recruited the necessary talent: before or after landing Mitsbubishi? When did Traffic’s founders make their bets, and how large were their bets? What was their downside if they failed to land Mitsubishi?

(btw, I love the blog, Ethan Bauley pointed you out to me…)