Having to innovate and “re-innovate” is nothing new at FreeWheel, which Diane Yu helped to create in 2007 after leaving Google/DoubleClick. But even the CTO herself is rather amazed at the company’s evolution to a platform serving both buyers and sellers.
“Thinking back 12 years ago, I wouldn’t imagine that we’re doing the FreeWheel NOWFRONT,” Yu says of the company’s recent event, at which it raised the public curtain on FreeWheel Media. In this Beet.TV interview, she also talks about the need for gender diversity in the workplace, or “balance for better.”
Having started as a technology company serving publishers, “It’s very exciting, moving to the buy-side,” Yu says. “FreeWheel can as a platform provide the end-to-end solution from marketers and agencies all the way to the sell side. Which is pretty exciting if you think about it, the dramatic change.”
The company’s evolution requires broadening its view of the industry and, more to the point, the view of the buy-side.
“We have to think from a marketer and agency lens because they have a very different need,” Yu says. “As a platform, to enable that we need to reinvent and that’s basically what my team is working on. Reinvent our platform to be able to see through the marketer’s lens.”
What’s much easier to recognize are the benefits to be gained by having a diverse workforce, according to Yu.
“I’m actually a big believer in balance for the better,” she explains, referring to the #BalanceforBetter theme of the 2019 International Womens Day. “So we have to provide the better balance for any organization to thrive. We started since day one of FreeWheel. We have a foundation where we believe we have to bring the diversity…have the female technologists as well as the male technologists together to build a platform for the better.
“As we continue on that mode we will be able to be very successful, be a strong organization, with a strong culture where everyone with all different backgrounds are welcome here. Which is a great culture to be in.”
This video is part of Beet.TV’s coverage of The FreeWheel NOWFRONT: Media Reimagined. For more coverage from the series, please visit this page.
