SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Maven CEO James Heckman announced today that Avi Zimak will be the company’s Chief Revenue and Strategy Officer. Zimak will lead global strategic initiatives, including all revenue functions and go-to-market strategy across the company’s coalition of hundreds of premium brand partnerships and owned properties.
In less than two years since launching the publishing, distribution, and advertising platform, Maven’s ecosystem now reaches over 100 million consumers monthly, including premium brands such as Sports Illustrated, TheStreet, History.com, Maxim, Yoga Journal, Ski Magazine, Oxygen, Biography, and over 300 other independent journalists and publications.
Zimak built a revenue-focused career with traditional publishers, such as Condé Nast, Hearst, New York Media, and Time, Inc., and also led sales and strategic growth for the innovative distribution platform, Outbrain, building the business from start-up size to hundreds of millions in ad revenue, and led growth to nearly a billion users.
At New York Magazine, Zimak quickly turned the print-focused, traditional sales model into a digital-focused business, significantly increasing revenue in under three years, helping lead to the last month’s acquisition by Vox Media. He intends to lead a similar turn-around effort for Sports Illustrated and other traditional publications that have recently migrated to Maven’s digital ecosystem.
“As Maven aggressively pursues value for our premium content partners, nothing is more important than scaling distribution and major ad brand partnerships,” said Heckman. “Avi Zimak brings a terrific track record of delivering both and we believe his leadership will benefit all stakeholders partnered with Maven, bringing to the table an ideal blend of major media pedigree and digital innovation.”
“Authenticity, quality and trusted journalism are more important today than ever and Maven has created a single technology, dual-revenue and distribution platform for consumers, advertisers and premium publishers to come together during the most competitive media landscape our industry has ever faced,” said Zimak. “I couldn’t be more excited to join this veteran executive and engineering team, in creating a sustainable model, to ensure independent, premium journalism not only survives but thrives through the constant challenges technology and consolidation presents.”
Former Maven CRO Andrew Kraft continues to focus on integrating Sports Illustrated and TheStreet with Maven.
About Maven
Maven (maven.io) is a coalition of Mavens, from individual thought-leaders to world-leading independent publishers, operating on a shared digital publishing, monetization and distribution platform, unified under a single media brand. Based in Seattle, Maven is publicly traded under the ticker symbol MVEN.