Episode 406: Bill Simmons - Serial Entrepreneur, Orbit.me & DataXu

Episode 406 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Bill Simmons, serial entrepreneur and Co-Founder of Orbit.me and DataXu. I’m going to use the cliché: Bill actually is a rocket scientist. His background is in aerospace engineering, he holds a PhD from MIT, and he worked on 13 space missions. In addition, he was part of a major Government competition for simulating options for space travel to Mars. His team simulated 35 billion possible options to generate 1,100 different Mars missions that were all feasible. This groundbreaking technology that leverage Big Data, which we now recognize as AI and machine learning, launched his first company, DataXu, in 2008. DataXu became a pioneer in the programmatic ad platform category and raised over $87M in funding. The company scaled as a major player in the Boston tech scene, and was acquired by Roku in 2019. Now, Bill is tackling a challenge we all likely face with his new startup, Orbit.me. Information is scattered across texts, multiple email inboxes, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, and social apps—it’s impossible to keep track of what matters. Orbit.me is a perfect use case for AI, organizing your scattered messages into “Orbits” which are dedicated spaces built around the real contexts of your life, like parenting, work, or other important matters. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 02:41 Current Status of Space Travel & Mars 08:34 Bill Simmons Background Story 10:21 Academic Experience 13:12 Space Missions including Mars Research 17:19 How DataXu Came to Fruition & Focus on AdTech 20:03 Scaling DataXu & Market Strategies 23:15 The Competitive Landscape of AdTech 26:20 The Technology Behind Real-Time Bidding 29:49 Building DataXu’s Culture During Growth 32:51 DataXu Acquisition by Roku 35:54 The Transition to Product Management & Experience at The Trade Desk 37:13 The Details of Orbit.me 43:07 The Team Behind Orbit.me 48:58 The Evolving Role of Software Engineers in the AI Era 52:01 Lightening Round Questions