Ben T. Smith, IV Named Chief Executive Officer of Digital Media Partnership
ShopCo, the owner and operator of the Find n Save® local shopping sites, announced today the appointment of Ben T. Smith IV as chief executive officer. Smith, a veteran Silicon Valley entrepreneur, has been selected to spearhead the newspaper industry’s major effort to extend its considerable national reach for retail advertisers to the digital realm through the formation of ShopCo.
“Ben is a highly-regarded leader with significant entrepreneurial and product development experience,” said Mary Junck, chief executive officer of Lee Enterprises and a member of ShopCo’s Board of Directors. “He brings a strategic approach to product creation, market trends, team building and management that will be a tremendous asset to ShopCo as we build this company.”
“We are thrilled to have an executive of Ben’s caliber and experience take the helm at ShopCo,” said Steve Hills, president and general manager of Washington Post Media and board member of ShopCo. “He is a digital content, product and transaction expert with a tremendous background and record of success leading in the technology marketplace and local online advertising space.”
Smith joins the company after serving as co-founder, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of MerchantCircle, a fast-growing, profitable local internet media company he sold in 2011. Before MerchantCircle, Smith held various senior leadership positions at Borland Software, including senior vice president of Corporate Development, Strategic Advisor and chief executive officer of spin-off CodeGear. He was chairman and chief executive officer at Spoke.com where he remains on the board of directors. He also serves on numerous boards of technology and digital ventures in Silicon Valley, including mobile companies Glu Mobile and formerly worked with the board at Tapulous. In addition, Smith advises other technology and media companies, as well as venture investment funds, including Accelerator Ventures, where he is a Venture Partner.
“After working with great teams to build several Silicon Valley start-up companies alongside leading media companies, I look forward to working with some of the most influential media properties and their advertisers to provide innovative shopping solutions for consumers on the web for tablets, mobile devices and social environments,” said Smith.
Smith started his career as an engineer at IBM. He then worked in management consulting at Ernst & Young before moving to A.T. Kearney, an 85-year old strategy consulting firm, where he helped lead their Technology practice, as well as their Venture Investment Group alongside EDS. He became one of the youngest partners in the history of the firm and was selected as one of the 25 most influential consultants in the world in 2002. Smith was a senior advisor to the Secretary of Transportation, serving the White House after 9-11. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Davis and a MBA from Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business.
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Silicon Valley VC Ben Smith IV named CEO ShopCo Venture to reinvent segment of digital shopping @bentsmithfour @findnsave @venturebeat #CEO
ShopCo is a shopping partnership backed by Advance Digital, A. H. Belo Corporation, Community Newspaper Holdings Inc., Cox Media Group, The E. W. Scripps Company, Gannett Co., Inc., GateHouse Media, Inc., Hearst Corporation, Lee Enterprises, MediaNews Group, The McClatchy Company, and The Washington Post Co. The investor media companies reach more than 80% of marketplaces within the United States.
Find n Save® offers local media affiliates a full-service, local online shopping platform, designed and deployed to provide a standardized marketplace for national advertisers and an engaging shopping experience for consumers.
For more information, please visit https://www.findnsave.com.
About Find n Save®
Find n Save® is a dynamic and powerful local search platform where consumers can find the best local shopping offers…regardless of source. Leveraging the power of local media and advanced search and database technology, Find n Save® is the most comprehensive and extensive local shopping solution. Whether it’s through sophisticated search functionality, email notifications or social media outlets, consumers can always locate the best deals via Find n Save®.
For inquiries, contact:
Joanna Kulesa
Kulesa Faul, Inc.
408-806-9201
Joanna@kulesafaul.com