{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"NC Tweener Talks","title":"Brian Handly, Founder & CEO of Reveal Mobile: \"They Paid Me to Take It Off Their Hands\"","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2956,"description":"Brian Handly, founder and CEO of Reveal Mobile, joins me for a story-driven look at more than 25 years of building advertising technology in the Triangle.\nBrian started as a level one support engineer at Accipiter in 1997, became VP of operations within two years, and sold his stock just before the dot-com crash. When the company was about to be shut down, he bought it back, and the parent company paid him half a million dollars to take it. He rebuilt it, sold it to aQuantive, and spent three years at Microsoft after its $6 billion acquisition.\nFrom there, Brian spun StepLeader out of Capital Broadcasting, watched the TV broadcast industry consolidate out from under it, and pivoted to location data and attribution. That became Reveal Mobile, which now focuses entirely on measuring out-of-home advertising like billboards and digital screens. Brian explains how a billboard actually gets measured and shares the company's revenue, profitability, and fundraising numbers candidly.\nThe conversation closes with why AI and zero-click search may be a tailwind for out-of-home, plus Brian's advice on honest investor updates, building a culture of autonomy, and being present when opportunity shows up.\nTimestamps\n00:00 Welcome & sponsors\n01:34 Scot's intro: meet Brian Handly\n03:47 From Missouri to Raleigh and NC State\n04:55 Accipiter: level one support to VP of Ops\n05:49 CMGI, Engage and the dot-com rocket ship\n07:16 Overheard in Wilmington: selling at the top\n08:57 Getting paid to buy back Accipiter\n10:16 aQuantive, Microsoft and the double dip\n12:45 The sweating servers story\n14:21 Three years at Microsoft\n17:26 Retirement lasts six weeks: CED mentoring\n18:25 Capital Broadcasting and the StepLeader spinout\n21:03 Broadcast consolidation and \"give me 6 months\"\n21:26 Beacons, location data and the birth of Reveal\n24:08 The churn problem and the move to out-of-home\n25:19 Acquiring Mira\n27:43 Reveal today: revenue, profitability and a Q1 punch\n30:17 Why agencies make sticky...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/UEzoK7N1siD9YRaSVBWfZ8B3suSS2aonEIZ5NwBH1Gs/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS80NjBh/YWVhZTA4ZTUyY2Fl/MDdhNzQwZWFhNDI4/MDc3Zi5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}