Almost three years after selling Ronning Lipset Radio to TargetSpot to form the largest internet advertising radio network in the country, TargetSpot Chief Revenue Officer Andy Lipset tells RBR-TVBR he and original Ronning Lipset partner Eric Ronning (TargetSpot EVP, Emerging Media) are leaving the company. Lipset will be leaving at the end of June; Ronning will stay on through October.
“We’ve been here for two and a half years. The company is in awesome shape and we just feel like now is a good time to step back from the business and start looking at other things we want to do together,” Lipset tells us.
He assures us they are not being forced out by any stretch of the imagination: “This was purely an Eric and Andy decision. We’re entrepreneurs. We’ve got a bug to create and do more. It’s hard to do that when you are operating a business. We’ve been working at a startup speed for the past eight years. This company is younger than my oldest daughter. Eric and I have fortified this business. It’s in excellent shape and we feel like we can leave the kids at home, come back from the movies and the house won’t be destroyed.”
Lipset adds that they have some ideas and thoughts, but nothing concrete is in place after their exit. “We love this industry. We love this business and we want to do things that compliment it and help it—that’s what we’re thinking about right now.”
Eric and Andy still have an equity stake in TargetSpot and with all of the recent deals it has made with radio groups and internet broadcasters, they should be well-off, no matter what venture they end up in next. The two plan on taking the summer off and catching up on things with family and friends.
TargetSpot will be interviewing to replace their positions in the coming weeks and months. TargetSpot CEO Eyal Goldwerger will be leading that charge.
In January, TargetSpot closed $8 million in its third round of equity financing. This round was from Union Square Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, CBS Radio and Milestone Venture Partners. The funds will be used to fuel growth investments in TargetSpot’s ad technology and expand its network and sales force/support teams to better serve new and existing clients. Specifically, TargetSpot plans to enhance investments in targeting applications, analytics, and multi-platform consumer engagement.
