An Education

March 11th, 2010
Our February New Hires

Our February New Hires

The first day on a new job is like the first day of school. You come in, curious of how you will get up to speed quickly and be able to hit the ground running. You wonder where you will fit in and if you will be given the tools to be successful.

Here at the Rubicon Project, we want our team members to be knowledgeable about our business and our industry. We do not believe in teaching people how to do one thing and one thing only: their job.  We believe in teaching people more than they need to know to be successful in their day to day tasks. For example, if you come on board as a sales person, we won’t just teach you how to pitch a client. We will teach you how our optimization works, what languages we code in, the history and reasons for building the business, and who our top customers and partners are. We want all our employees to have a well rounded knowledge base of what goes on here (across departments) and where we are headed as a business.

That being said, new hire training is intense! Taking place over an entire week once a month, new hires from every department last through 14 hours of training. Based on a small college class model, the trainings are interactive, informative,  and human. The trainers (all internal folks representing different departments) are able to share stories, anecdotes, and answer questions from the small group in a workshop setting.

Graduating from the Rubicon Project’s new hire training program is no small feat. We are proud to say that every single one of our team members has experienced and successfully completed our intense new hire program. It is part of why we have been successful in creating this unbelievable team. Also, it is part of a larger philosophy of continued education that we will talk more about in later posts. We want our team members to constantly be growing, learning, and pushing themselves. So far- they haven’t disappointed us!

Quotes from our recent new hire training graduates:

“All of the training presentations have given me a great insight into Rubicon’s product suite, future goals and company culture and values. In addition to this everyone I have encountered in the office has been not only a master in their field but able to offer insights into the online advertising industry as a whole. I feel welcomed, excited and ready to get sucked in!” -Nina Harvey (Publisher Solutions, UK)

“Training, for me, was a great way to see how this company works as a whole! I feel like everyone is really empowered by all the support that is given to each other. I know there’s going to be a lot of work moving forward but I know I’ll get the help whenever it’s needed.” -Monica Fonseca (Finance, LA)

“Training has been like learning a new language, but the team has been really encouraging and super patient with me. I’m really stoked to finally be part of the Rubicon family!” -Natalie Yoo (Publisher Development, NY)


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Someone Know’s Where We Work: And Likes It!

March 3rd, 2010
Our NYC office

Our NYC office

Recently, a blogger from Office Snapshots reached out to us because he heard that we had a pretty cool office space. While we did blush- this is true! When designing our offices, we were very strategic about how and why we did certain things. Some examples:

1. No one at the Rubicon Project has an office: We wanted to create a communicative culture where people can learn across to their neighbors to ask questions, share ideas, and build community.

2.  The decor is modern and colorful: Life is way too short to be trapped in a beige colored cubicle. We wanted a space that was exciting and portrayed the personality of our team members.

3. We give people a place to relax: Whether it is a dart board, a free vending machine, or toys like flying helicopters and footballs, our team has moments to take breaks- everyone in this world who works hard deserves one!

4. Our offiices have clutter and personality: Some people bring photos from home, others sit on ball chairs, some are cleaner than others. We don’t want our desks to look like a cookie cutter replica of one another. As the blogger mentioned “I love that this office looks like it is actually worked in”. This is true :)

5. There are places to collaborate: Instead of typical conference rooms, we created space all over every office for people to sit together comfortably in small groups. Round tables, bean bags, and couches are a staple of how we interact here.

Big thanks to our NYC office for being the highlight on Office Snapshots. If you would like to read it first hand, please click here.

If you are interested in the original post from our CEO’s blog that inspired the blogger to reach out to us click here.


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Battle of the Bands: Industry Support of a Good Cause

March 3rd, 2010
Our NYC team at Battle of the Bands hosted by Citymeals-on-Wheels

Our NYC team at Battle of the Bands hosted by Citymeals-on-Wheels

There are two things that we love: being involved with groups making a difference and spending time with other industry folks. Our NYC crew came together on Thursday, February 25th to attend and help sponsor a Battle of the Bands fundraiser for Citymeals-on-wheels. Having volunteered with the organization at the end of last year, we knew first hang how important the work they are doing is. We mingled and rocked out to industry bands- all in the name of a good cause. Certainly a night our team will remember!

Citymeals-on-Wheels hand delivers meals to homebound elderly New Yorkers on weekends, holidays, and times of emergency- times when many vulnerable seniors would otherwise go without food. One in four elderly New Yorkers is living alone, too poor to buy food, or too frail to shop and cook. Home delivered meals allow them to keep their independence and dignity while remaining in their own homes and neighborhoods.

Citymeals delivers more than 2.1 million meals each year. There are 17,000 frail New Yorkers who rely on this lifeline of good and human company, and the need is growing everyday. One hundred percent of the ticket sales and sponsorships for this event will be used for the preparation and delivery of meals. Judging by the hundreds of industry folks there- it was a huge success!

Other industry sponsors: Comcast Networks, Turner Broadcasting Systems, A&E Television Networks, Discovery Communications, Fox News, the Neilsen Company, NFL Network, Scripps Networks, GroupM, Hallmark, Invision Inc., NBC Universal, WGN America, ABC Family, BET, Bloomberg, CBS, ESPN, Google, MTV Networks, Rainbow Media, TV One, Univision, Active International, Canoe Ventures, DIRECTV, Fuse TV, Icon International, Ipsos Mendelsohn, Music Choice, SOAPnet, TRA, and Zenith Optimedia. Cheers to them!


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Happiest of Hours

February 19th, 2010
Team Members at the Daily Pint

Team Members at the Daily Pint

The team at the Rubicon Project is full of amazing, talented, and dedicated folks who work very hard. That being said, sometimes we all just need to cut loose! Every quarter, the company sponsors a happy hour (sometimes at the office, sometimes at a local venue) where our team can get together to chow on some grub and enjoy some adult beverages, if they so choose.

Last week, our LA team headed to the Daily Pint in Santa Monica for some pizza and beers from around the world. It was great to see people from different departments getting competitive on the foosball table, new people mixing and mingling trying to get to know everyone, and  small groups talking excitedly about business and growth. The feedback we always get from these events is that people love a chance to get out of the office and enjoy the other people who work here- we truly do have a great team! Until next quarter…


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Dishing Up Hope

February 11th, 2010
Courtney Chapman and Solomon Ko making a difference at the Midnight Mission in Downtown LA

Courtney Chapman and Solomon Ko making a difference at the Midnight Mission in Downtown LA

Margaret Mead once said “never doubt that a group of thoughtful citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Our old friends at the Midnight Mission on LA’s Skid Row have been hit harder than ever with the economic downturn, a combination of dwindling donors and record numbers showing up looking for hot food and place to sleep. They reached out to us for help in a time of crisis and we responded with 100 team members willing to help. We greatly look forward to continuing to work with the Midnight Mission to help those who need it most.

Over the course of 2 months, 100 Rubicon Project team members will take turns heading to the Midnight Mission for lunch service. In those 2 months, we will serve approximately 2,500 homeless and needy folks who come to the Mission for a warm meal at lunch time.

The amazing people who work over at the Mission (many of whom are graduates from the drug and alcohol rehabilitation program they promote) inspire us every time we go there. They make work fun, and remind us how important it is for organizations and companies to give back to the community in which they exist. Join us!

Some Facebook quotes from our team members:

Kate Hennig: Community Service day at the Rubicon Project: serving lunch at the Midnight Mission

Brad Rodriguez: Just finished volunteering at the midnight mission with my awesome coworkers from @rubiconproject

Courtney Chapman: dishing up some lunch at Midnight Mission in Downtown LA


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What Does it Mean to Manage?

February 4th, 2010

office-space“It is a fine thing to have ability, but the ability to discover ability in others is the true test.” -Elbert Hubbard

The word “management” reminds us of the movie Office Space. Reverting to the age old image,  managers are supposed to be corporate drones who sit in their office, have a fancy title,  sip coffee, and report to their higher ups. Forget that! Truth be told, that image just doesn’t fit into our work ethic or our culture.  Still, the question is tough- what does it mean to be a manager?

On Tuesday, January 26th all of the leaders at the Rubicon Project (anyone who manages anyone) spent an entire day learning what it means to be responsible for other people. The wonderful Mr. Jason Seiden visited our LA headquarters, helped us talk through our problems and issues, provided brilliant insight into where we can improve, and even made us laugh! The entire day proved to be one of the most important for furthering developing our leadership as we push this company forward.

Sometimes we discussed topics as a large group, other times we broke into small groups of 4 or 5 to talk about everything from what we do to block communication or listening (often times not on purpose) to how a manager keeping their head out of the weeds is beneficial for your entire team.  Jason got us out of our of comfort zone and got us thinking creatively and realistically about how we can create the best environment for our team possible.

Ultimately, our team members are our biggest assets and we will do any and all we can to make sure they are successful, supported, and inspired! As team members in this company, we all believe it is our duty to push each other to be the best we can be. The leadership training session led by Jason is a perfect example of this aspect of our culture in action.

Besides being an author, Jason is available for corporate and leadership coaching and we couldn’t possibly give him a higher recommendation. Thanks Jason!

Quotes from our leadership team:

“I loved working in small groups, it made the session extremely relatable. I think my team will really benefit from what I learned during the session , especially when we reviewed decision making and effective communication. Seeing it up on paper and talking through scenarios really allowed me to visualize how to apply everything in the real world.”

“I really got a lot out of the training session. I was glad to see everyone be so open and honest. It was good to see others appear to be struggling with some of the same issues I struggle with. A lot of times, I feel like I am the only one who is, at times, struggling as a new manager.

“I walked out of the session feeling a profound sense of urgency not to ‘do’ (my team can do that) but rather to ‘manage’, the act of being able to get a group of people to achieve a set of goals by providing a detailed set of objectives, creating the right work environment, and maintaining an overall positive attitude among the group through motivation and support. Thank you!”


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500 Billion Things to Celebrate

January 28th, 2010
Josh Durst and Laura Elkayam are all smiles: Happy 500 Billion team!

Josh Durst and Laura Elkayam are all smiles: Happy 500 Billion team!

Last Friday, January 22nd 2010 was a BIG day for us at the Rubicon Project. After 2 and a half years in business (and going from zero to 100 miles an hour) we hit a milestone we are very proud of. As of the evening before, we had officially served 500 billion ads. That’s a big number, and none of us forget what it took to get here.  As a way to acknowledge the hard work of our entire team, we treated everyone to bagels, Starbucks coffee, mimosas, and a kick ass email to the whole team from founder and Chief Operating Officer Craig Roah about our huge milestone. Our team responded with the trading and sharing (through email and in person) of stories and dreams of what is to come. We are charging ahead, looking to the future, and ready for our next big adventure.

Since we want to use our culture blog as a way to give you insight into what we are doing here and the personalities of our team members, there is no better way than sharing a few of the facebook status updates that our team members shared with their family and friends on this glorious day!

Marin Steinbrenner: 500 billions impressions…. go RUBICON!! Starbucks, mimosas, and bagels. SOOOO happy it’s Friday!
Erin Mayo: 500 billions impressions served!!! Mimosa and Bagel Friday @ tRP, my favorite day!!!
Mallory Portillo: Huge milestone at work today! 500 Billion impressions served and counting. Great job Rubicon! To many more…
Ryan Dranginis: rubicon project just passed 500 billion impressions optimized!


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Communication: Engineering Style

January 21st, 2010
Our very own Interfaces team!

These guys rock: Meet our Interfaces team!

Here at the Rubicon Project, we have many different ways of communicating to the group at large. From “all hands on deck” team meetings, to monthly newsletters, to emails from our founders, to our internal communication tool called Yammer, there is never any lack of information flowing throughout the organization. It is a goal of ours to make sure that are team members feel a part of the business (not just their department), and that they know where we are headed as a company (and why!), plus our current wins, losses, and areas for improvement. Transparency and communication are definitely 2 of our core values we have put a lot of effort into over the last two and half years, and the results are very promising! Our team members know what’s going on, feel empowered, and know how they can personally contribute to our growth and future.

The best part about creating a culture of communication is when our team members take it upon themselves to communicate what is going on in their department to the rest of the organization, through their eyes. Our most recent addition is a fun and informative blog from our Interfaces Engineering team. This group of guys has no shortage of personality, and their blog shows it! The blog is a combination of  new info about projects and releases they are working on (and will be working on), sharing of thanks for hard work and collaboration, and even weekly Simpson references. It gives the rest of a glimpse into what is going on (and what we should be proud of!) in our biggest asset: our technology! Huge thank you to Dave Johnson, our UI engineer and very own budding author. Keep making us laugh Dave!

Although we can’t share our blog with you (internal only, sorry folks), we are very open about the communication strategies we use internally- look for more Rubicon Project culture blog posts about this topic in the future!


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Rubicon Project Supports Toys for Tots

January 15th, 2010
Our very own Ryan Dranginis (USMC)

Our very own Ryan Dranginis (USMC)

Our holiday party was a big success but we are especially proud of our partnership with the program Toys for Tots, sponsored by the United States Marine Corps Reserves. Our friends over at Think LA reached out to us during the holiday season, as donations were lagging. We stepped up, along with other companies in the LA internet space, to make the drive a major success.

Since the goal of Think LA is to promote and support world class collabortation, innovation and creativity among the marketing, media, entertainment, and advertising industries of Los Angeles, coming together for a toy drive seemed like the perfect opportunity for us to get involved- especially in our LA community! Thank you to Think LA for including us in this wonderful act of kindness and allowing us to “pay it forward”.

Although a much smaller operation (in size, not in heart) our New York office held a coat drive to support New York Cares, a non-profit in their city that supports those in need, including the homeless and at risk children. Our team members from LA sent coats back east to add on to the impressive collection our NYC office accumulated. Great job everyone!


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Rock and Roll All Night

January 14th, 2010

holiday-party-2009-kurt-spoerer-and-date2On December 5, 2009 the Rubicon Project celebrated two things: the holiday season and our amazing team members (and the people who love them). Every holiday season, the Rubicon Project takes an evening to celebrate a year of hard work, new team members, our relationships with our customers and partners, and a whirlwind of challenges and (of course) solutions! Each year, the party gets a little bit better, as our team grows and new faces get to experience what is undoubtedly our best event of the year.  For 2009,we out did ourselves with the theme. the Rubicon Project channeled our inner prom king and queen and held an 80’s prom, complete with a tubular 80’s cover band and costumes galore. It looked like a prom fashion show right out of the late 80’s, with every costume being better than the next. The band, Neon Nation, rocked music to the tune of the Beastie Boys, Michael Jackson, and Guns and Roses. They nailed the decade with their set list and costumes, while all of us had a hard time believing it wasn’t 1988. After a night of dancing, schmoozing, hilarious costumes (we have the pictures to prove it!), and great memories, one thing is certain- we can’t wait until next year!

Since we always look for creative ways to give back to those in need, we asked all of our team members who came to the party to bring a toy to donate to Toys for Tots, a US Marine Corps sponsored chairty group that organizes a toy drive during the holiday season for children in need. We ended up having so many toys the boxes overflowed, and we are looking to do even better next year! A sincere thank you goes out to our team members for their generosity.  Not only can they hit the dance floor but they also give back when there is a need. Go Rubicon!


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