Friends since attending Montreal-based McGill University together, current Airborne Entertainment CEO Garner Bornstein and
President and CMO Andy Nulman set out six years ago to create a cutting-edge mobile entertainment company. After spending
15 years with the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival, most recently as CEO and producer of its TV shows, Nulman says, "I was
looking for a change." At that time, chimes in Bornstein, "I had just sold my last company, Generation Net, and was looking
for the next thing. I had developed a great friendship and respect for Andy, and we decided to set out on the great unknown
together." Since day one, their objective has remained the same—make sure the company grows and stays ahead of the game, which,
notes Bornstein, "is becoming increasingly challenging given the speed of change in the mobile business."
Q: Describe your organizational structure.
Bornstein: In our earliest days as a dot-com, my title was "Dark Lord of the Force." However, as our business has grown into a $50 million
business, our organizational structure has evolved to become fairly typical of what you would expect to see in companies of
our size.
Nulman: That's the ONLY place we are typical, though... Bornstein: We have offices in Montreal, New York, Seattle, and Denver, and while the bulk of the creative, tech, and operations work
is done out of Montreal, our other offices provide immediate outreach to our carrier and brand clients. As for our business
model, it's twofold: One allows us to reach consumers through their wireless carrier, the other, directly via Web and/or short-code
initiatives.
Nulman: What's amazing is that the original carrier business model we proposed in our first "looking for financing" PowerPoint six
years ago is the one that exists today—the consumer pays the carrier, and the carrier keeps a cut and sends us the rest. We
either keep the balance if we created the content in-house or share it with one of our brand partners. Back then, this business
model was science fiction.
Bornstein: What's also amazing is that our corporate mission hasn't wavered, either. We were always about providing our customers and
partners with unique mobile content and applications, while making sure that we were nimble enough to keep up with technical
innovation and the change in consumer demand.
Nulman: Which is why the company's motto is "The Everything Else You Can Do With Your Mobile Phone." While the bulk of the industry's
revenues comes from ringtones, wallpaper, and games, we also are heavily involved in video, ringback tones, UI themes, full-track
downloads, SMS, and WAP applications, as well as mobile marketing and promotions.
Q: How does licensing fit into your current business model? As far as licensed content goes, what are Airborne's strengths?
Nulman: Licensing has been an important part of our business since day one. Licensed products set trends, and they do a lot of the
heavy lifting by establishing audience, community, and credibility. A licensed brand provides a starting point blueprint for
us. Disney was our first content partner and HBO our second. We learned lots of lessons from them, including what makes a
great brand partner and what it takes to make successful mobile content. These days, our A-list partners include Maxim, Fox's Family Guy, the NHL, Speed TV, mary-kateandashley, the Sprouse Brothers, and two more heavyweights we are finalizing contracts with.
