Looking back … and looking ahead

Fifteen years ago, I co-founded CustomScoop to provide a better media monitoring service. My partners and I were tired of the old-fashioned paper clipping services that would mail news stories sliced from hard copy newspapers every couple of weeks. It was slow, it was expensive, and it was impossible to budget for accurately.

CustomScoop started out by giving clients access to the web versions of newspapers and magazines. In 2000, many publications weren’t completely online, but there was enough content that anyone who wanted affordable, timely, and accurate news clippings was inclined to use a service like CustomScoop.

Over the years, we have grown in size – more publications, more staff, and more clients. We have also added social media content, robust analytical tools, and human analysis.

The past decade and a half has been a great ride for me, and we have accomplished far more than I would have imagined when I started the company out of a spare bedroom in my apartment in Concord, New Hampshire in the summer of 2000.

It’s therefore with considerable pride (coupled with a wisp of nostalgia) that I’m able to announce that we have sold CustomScoop. It wasn’t an easy decision since it’s like letting go of one of your children, but I know that the company is in good hands.

There will be significant investments in CustomScoop’s technology that will help ensure it continues to deliver superior results for clients and achieves an even greater leadership position in the marketplace. More announcements will follow in a couple of months once the integration with our new partners is complete.

Like most of you, I’m anxious to see how the company evolves. I will miss working on a daily basis with the team we assembled – many of whom have been with us for a decade or more. But I know that CustomScoop is in good hands and well-positioned for future growth.

Today’s news was made possible by all of the hard-working team members we have had over the years, the support of our clients and resellers, and the backing that my partners and I received from our families – even in those early days when this seemed like some hare-brained idea. A hearty “thank you” to all of them.

Now it’s time for me to take my own next steps. While I’m not going away entirely — I’ll remain a consultant to the CustomScoop team — I do have the opportunity to explore new ventures. I will still continue to do some other consulting, and I’ll keep on publishing my daily presidential campaign newsletter for Primary Digest to give political junkies their first-in-the-nation fix.

Beyond that? All I know is that there’s a bright future ahead for CustomScoop and for me.

Source: PTD