In another blow to Gannett's crucial digital strategy, a source has just told me that PointRoll CEO Jason Tafler is leaving March 15. The news essentially confirms Gannett Blog reader reports in recent months about a high-level change at the advertising services subsidiary.
Tafler has already given notice to Corporate, my source says. His exit appears in line with a final payment -- known as an earn-out -- to him and to other PointRoll top-level executives. Other senior employees also are on their way out, this source says. I've been given the name of one likely successor to Tafler, but I don't have that nailed down yet.
Tafler was named CEO in January 2008, replacing Chris Saridakis, who had been promoted to GCI chief digital officer. Saridakis, in turn, had been PointRoll's chief executive the previous three years.
GCI bought PointRoll in June 2005. Although GCI does not break out revenue figures for the company, my readers describe PointRoll as a cornerstone of GCI's overall digital portfolio. What's more, PointRoll's high-level management shakeup would follow the departure -- as yet unreported by GCI -- of the founder and CEO of consumer tracking software subsidiary Ripple6, Sang Kim.
These reports of executive changes also come as GCI failed to fill the chief digital officer spot, which Saridakis quit last spring to become CEO of the marketing subsidiary of e-commerce firm GSI Commerce.
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| Tafler |
Tafler was named CEO in January 2008, replacing Chris Saridakis, who had been promoted to GCI chief digital officer. Saridakis, in turn, had been PointRoll's chief executive the previous three years.
GCI bought PointRoll in June 2005. Although GCI does not break out revenue figures for the company, my readers describe PointRoll as a cornerstone of GCI's overall digital portfolio. What's more, PointRoll's high-level management shakeup would follow the departure -- as yet unreported by GCI -- of the founder and CEO of consumer tracking software subsidiary Ripple6, Sang Kim.
These reports of executive changes also come as GCI failed to fill the chief digital officer spot, which Saridakis quit last spring to become CEO of the marketing subsidiary of e-commerce firm GSI Commerce.
Earlier: Post-Saridakis, pointed questions about PointRoll. Plus: In farewell, Saridakis attacks paywall strategy
Hello, board of directors?
ReplyDeleteYeah, where is the Board of Directors on this and on the lack of a digital chief?
ReplyDeleteIf digital's the future and where the current revenue gains are, it would seem that Dubow and Martore would have lined up replacements by now.
Then again, if you're a digital or marketing whiz, would you work for Gannett?
Not to worry. Corporate will just appoint some other lifer to run Pointroll. It really doesn't require a high IQ to run a computer program.
ReplyDeleteJason Tafler was a waste. Thank God he is going. He never made one decent decision. Not sure what is going to happen as the entire management team have not shown up in weeks.
ReplyDeleteI heard that ShopLocal is taking over all technology and development at pointroll. Who made that bonehead decision? Sandy our new Ceo?
ReplyDeleteDigital is the future. Just not Gannett's. It's becoming abundantly clear that the top ranks are getting pushed out. That's usually the pressage to a merger.
ReplyDeleteWe have seen Ms. Martore once at Pointroll only once and according to Jason Tafler "Gannett is nothing without us". So, why hasn't she come back? What is Gannett afraid of?
ReplyDeleteJason Tafler's favorite book "Toyota Way"...enough said!
ReplyDeleteMr. Hopkins,
ReplyDeleteI just read Saridakis' comments on Gannett paywall strategy. What makes him a very good leader is his candor. He is not afraid of anything and it has certainly paid off for him.
I wish he were still here (at Pointroll). Only a few of us have had the opportunity to work closely with him and he was an outstanding leader. Jason is a nice guy, but everyone knows he was always in the shadow of Saridakis. Now with Saridakis gone, we have all witnessed the wheels coming off of Pointroll and we see that Gannett is further up our asses.
I only hope that Gannett finds someone of the stature of Saridakis to replace Jason. As your prior posters write, Pointroll is not in good shape right now. All the employees can tell that we are leaderless. Today most people received their Q4 bonuses and we all suspect that there will be many departures over the next few weeks. It has been quite a difficult time here last month and it will get worse if Jason's replacement is someone we already know. None of them have the leadership qualities required to run a company like Pointroll.
Could someone -- in English -- explain what PointRoll is and how it makes money?
ReplyDeleteMany of us honestly don't know if it is an ad aggregator or ...
A simple explanation, anyone?
Thanks
My hazy definition of its business follows: It creates online ads that expand when you "mouse" over them. From PointRoll's website, here's the company's "about":
ReplyDelete"Founded in May 2000, PointRoll has been instrumental in the evolution of digital engagement, pioneering technology including the expandable banner ad, in-banner video, and numerous technologies that enabled marketers to create, deliver and measure display ads as rich and full featured as a microsite without disrupting the user experience."
But I'll be someone else can provide a better explanation.
So that's what pointroll does! I could never figure it out either. Are they the ones responible for all the crappy expanding ads on our local paper websites? If so. Why the hell are they taking home bonuses? That shit is second rate.
ReplyDeleteI can confirm 100% that Martore offered Tafler the Chief Digital Officer role at Gannett and that he has now officially turned it down. Rumor from insiders is that he is going to join Saradakis again at GSI commerce in a big role. Stay tuned...
ReplyDeleteJason told Pointroll people yesterday that our profit has doubled in the past 3 years. I've heard we make $70M in profit each year so I can see why Gannett is worried. We only have 300 or so employees so Gannett has really got a ton of profit out of a few people that work damn hard day and night! I for one am burnt out!
ReplyDeleteWhether you like Tafler or not, Saridakis set him up well and he is walking away with $6M+ from what I hear at corporate. It makes me sick to my stomach that they are paying these annoying ad guys so much money while getting rid of our community publishing editorial jobs by the day. Do you know how many people that could pay for to produce unique content?
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ReplyDeleteI thought Tafler had abandoned the office and hadn't been seen in weeks?
ReplyDeleteHe hasn't been around much lately, but Jason has been in the office this week and led our all hands call yesterday in Conshy. Despite what some of you say, he seemed fully engaged and even joked about the blog. He hired me a few years ago and is the only reason why I'm still at PointRoll despite the long hours and hard work. He knows the industry cold and I don't know who else here or at Gannett could really drive our innovation and growth like him... this is a demanding business with insanely high maintenance clients and it moves at the speed of light.
ReplyDelete1:50 In this all-hands call, did he address his future plans?
ReplyDeleteIn his All Hands Jason said, "if you don't like it here at Pointroll, you should leave"! Hardly the words of an engaged leader. He fly's out to Mexico with the top sales people tomorrow for a well needed vacation for Jason and his top management and a handful of sales managers. What a joke. Gannett should have canceled this trip as we are in bad shape here. While we are sit here covering for him, he is taking vacation for the past EIGHT weeks!!!
ReplyDeleteJason has been a waste for us. I actually think 1:50p is actually Jason Tafler himself. He reads this blog like no tomorrow. We should check our ip addresses from our log files and see if Tafler has been posting to the blog.
Jason go back to Canada you weak and lowly manager. Too afraid to tell everyone that you are running back home. Good leadership.
Lets see. Jason Tafler took off middle of last December and has just reappeared this week. Hmm, doesn't sound like someone who is actually interested in Pointroll anymore.
ReplyDeleteJason was never offered the Chief Digital role as he is considered too junior and was almost fired from Pointroll a year ago when Saradakis was asked by Dubow to get Point roll back on track.
I do not work at Point roll, but as a member of the Digital team, we see a lot and hear a lot and none of us at Gannett have been impressed with Tafler. He lived in the shadow of Saradakis and now that he is gone, I think we are seeing the Tafler is not as good as everyone thought he was.
Everyone knows he is moving back to Canada. Rumors are that Gracia Martore wanted a change of leadership at Pointroll and did not do anything to keep Tafler around.
If Saradakis doesn't hire him, I think we will know why.
So is PointRoll in such bad shape that you wouldn't recommend working there? If I don't report to tafler, what's the risk? One man does not make a whole company.
ReplyDeleteI work at PointRoll and we are excited to see Jason Tafler leave. He did not mention his departure at yesterday's All Hand, but we all know he is out of this place and we couldn't be any happier. Even if you do not work for him, he affects your moral. We ARE worried about who the next leader will be as there really is no one unique and inspiring at PointRoll.
ReplyDeleteEveryone talks about the leadership we had when Chris Saridakis was the CEO and I will say that he was unique and we were spoiled, even if Chris was tough. A colleague here mentioned to me that she was dining with her family at a local restaurant, Season's 52 in KOP and recently bumped into Saridakis. She did not even think he would know her, but he knew her name, when she was hired and even her personal interests. Chris even went out of his way to pay for their dinner and quietly left the restaurant. He was always so grateful to the employees.
Now, no one expects anyone to do that, but it is those little things that makes someone like Chris a hard act to follow. We all knew Jason wasn't the best leader and were quite upset when Chris appointed him.
We all think Jason will be better off somewhere else. He hasn't been here anyway. We are worried that Gannett will get too involved and micro manage everything we do. According to Jason, Gannett has the microscope on us every day.
2:39PM are you making this up? I don't think you really have a clue as to what is going on as Gannett is doing whatever it takes to secure the current PointRoll leadership team (which is not working from what I hear). I also work in Digital and have heard this from someone on the Gannett senior team myself. How could you be so clueless as to think they want to watch their most valued digital asset go down the tubes? As someone wrote earlier, this company generates more profit than all other gannett digital assets combined. Let's see how fast that $70M in profit falls when a Gannett person takes over!
ReplyDeleteIt continues to amaze me when folks write about what a great leader Saridakis was. Folks he is an entrepeneur but not a great business leader. He can write all teh good bye memos he wants but he did NOTHING during his time in Digital. THere isn't one success story that he created, not one. So enough already. He knew someone's name, that is admirable and i respect that but he couldn't actual run a company or lead a creative digital team to save his life. Sorry if that hurts but its true. Now on the other hand he is a great investor and he knows how to spot growth potential.
ReplyDeleteHow many employees work at PointRoll?
ReplyDelete4:11 I wish someone could explain where these $70 (and other) million profit figures come from. Gannett doesn't break out revenues by business unit, much less net earnings. Gannett's net income for all of last year was $591 million. If PointRoll really accounted for 12% of all that, then Corporate would be insane to let management there fall apart.
350 employees at pointroll... and yes, you got your numbers right. As Saradakis once said, the business runs at unheard of margins and is very unique.
ReplyDeleteIf insiders for Gannett Digital are reading this board please take note, there is not one executive at Pointroll today that should be allowed to step into the role of CEO, especially not the COO or the SVP of Sales. The executives at Pointroll are all weak decision makers, and even worse managers of personnel. Chris Saridakis was a good leader and does have an uncanny knack for making people feel appreciated when he speaks to them (regardless of what he says behind closed doors… comments like pool pissers spring to mind). The one thing that Chris had over any of these dopes is that he was with Pointroll when it was a start-up and when it was filled with passionate entrepreneurial people who were all driven to succeed. In fact, Chris was with double-click when they were a start-up as well so he knows how to manage a group of hungry hard working people.
ReplyDeleteNeither Jason nor any of the weak executives with Pointroll today understand what motivates the majority of the company (the operations and account management teams) none of these people understand how a start-up should be run, yet they are trying to instill this mentality once again. With the proper leader this team at Pointroll could do really great things but that management team needs to be totally rebuilt from the ground up. Managers come and go yet they are constantly going down the same paths (six sigma, Toyota way, empowerment, etc.) to what they think will be the magic elixir, when all they need to do is respect the people in Finance, Technology, and Operations/Account management the way they respect the executives and the sales team.
The team mentality and mutual respect is what made Pointroll desirable to Gannett, and this is something that Jason knows nothing about and therefore he has not been able to rally his troops. Someone stated earlier “One man does not make a whole company…” this could not be farther from the truth when you are talking about a company the size of Pointroll, Jason’s lack of understanding, compassion, and down-right nastiness has made the company one of poor morale and has had people looking over their shoulders for 3 years. Someone should check all of the current executives employment records and see how many of them ever managed a large group of people for an extended period of time. I would bet that none of them has managed more than 5 direct reports for more than 1 year, and this one fact explains why they do not understand what is important to majority of the 300 people that make up Pointroll.
Good bye Jason Tafler! Cannot wait for that deadbeat to leave. We also know PointRoll is an pretty rough shape. We see that the volume was at an all time low for January 2011. Most of the sales reps have said that their month was terrible. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize the PointRoll is falling apart.
ReplyDeleteSandy Dondici is so desperate that he has basically asked the ShopLocal technology idiots to actually take over our software development.
Jason can go kiss our asses. We never liked the guy. As for the rest of the management team, they all are selfish and out of touch.
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ReplyDelete5:06PM It sounds like you are very bitter that these people made a fortune and generated a ton of money for Gannett while you got the short end of the shaft. Why don't you form a union over there like we do at Gannett? That would show them.
ReplyDeleteGood bye Jason... Good Riddance!!!!
ReplyDeleteAnyone at PointRoll want to keep a track of people who will be leaving? I predict Jason Tafler, Rob Gatto, Sandy Dondici, Catherine Spurway, Max Mead and about 8 sales people will be leaving within a few weeks. Vikram Sharma will take over for us.
ReplyDeleteHey Jason...Nice of you to show up at the office today. Have fun in Mexico you loser.
Sarah Ripmaster was telling other sales reps that without Ford and her team, Jason Tafler and the rest of the management team who are receiving this special payoff would have received nothing this year.
ReplyDeleteQuite honestly, we believe her, although we can't stand her whining and complaining, she has saved this company. Hey, maybe we should make Sarah our new CEO!
WITHOUT SARAH POINTROLL WOULD SAVE A TON OF MONEY!!!
ReplyDeleteShe is on the "don't ask, don't tell" T&E and over inflated commission plan.
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ReplyDeleteI hear they're bringing back Joe Sabol to run Pointroll. He and Vikram Sharma will be our saviors!
ReplyDelete8:31PM Reading through this... didn't this guy just get paid $6million while you worked your ass off for pocket change? Who's the loser you moron? Forget Mexico - if I were him I'd be on a private beach in Bora Bora while you drool over a $2 beer at the Jersey Shore.
ReplyDeleteIt must be real nice that the PointRoll executive management team is vacationing in Mexico right now. It is so nice of Sarah Ripmaster to arrange everything for each of them, while we all sit in the snow and sleet in Conshy.
ReplyDeleteI heard the bill for this little soiree is costing over $20,000 a couple for 4 nights. It appears that there will be 9 PointRoll executives and 5 sales people and all of their "spouses or significant others". That seems like a lot of money to spend as your going away party. Sounds like Gannett should look into this expense item.
Oh, and to boot, this management team is hosting the PointRoll sales conference in two weeks. Another $500,000 expense.
There is one woman who works at PointRoll who walks around telling everyone (and showing everyone) her fake boobs. Her famous quote "PointRoll helped me pay for these puppies".
ReplyDeleteNice job Jason!