Entrepreneur Of The Year

Glamorous pursuit

When Samir Arora arrived in Silicon Valley from India at the age of 19, he already knew he wanted to make a difference in the world of technology.

And it didn’t take him long to get started. After bagging groceries, he found a marketing job at Apple, then left to become CEO of an Apple spinoff called Rae Technologies. After several job changes, he struck on a new idea, and along with Fernando Ruarte, he co-founded Glam Media Inc. The firm offers a lifestyle hub with a better way for advertisers to connect with audiences on the Web by delivering the ad-targeting, serving, optimization and reporting technologies that brands need to achieve the audience engagement not possible through traditional advertising channels.

They pioneered Vertical Content Networks, a revolutionary media model that connects premium brand advertisers to targeted niche audiences online through a large and growing network. The company launched in 2005 at New York Fashion Week with content from 12 network publishers; less than two years later, Glam.com displaced iVillage, the industry leader for nine years, to become No. 1 in the women’s category, and by 2008, it was ranked a top 10 comScore Web property.

Today, Glam Media operates two networks — Glam.com for women and the Brash Network for men — which encompass more than 900 online publishers. In the past year, it has invested heavily in international growth, launching new offices and localized networks in Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada and Japan.

Glam Media continues to innovate, extending brand engagement to online video and microblogging. In 2008, it launched GlamTV, and it recently launched Tinker.com to help people stay on top of events, such as TV show premieres or sporting events, in real time using Twitter and other social Web sites.

How to reach: Glam Media Inc., (650) 270-2186 or www.glammedia.com