David A. Steinberg is the founder and chief executive officer of Zeta Global, formerly Zeta Interactive and XL Marketing Corporation before that, one of several companies that he started. Zeta Global is a data-driven marketing and CRM company that integrates data, technology and marketing services, aiming to help brands acquire, grow and retain customers.
In 1993, David Steinberg founded Sterling Cellular, Inc. in the basement of his house in Bethesda, Maryland with the use of credit cards and a parental loan. Sterling Cellular grossed $1.3 million in sales its first year in business. It was a business that sold cellular phones. Sterling offered free, timed delivery and a warranty/repair program and a free loaner phone program from its third month. By 1997 Sterling Cellular grew to 12 retail locations and $22 million in sales. In 1999, Steinberg broke up Sterling Cellular by selling off the retail chain and telemarketing operations of Sterling Cellular and founding Inphonic. Over a seven-year period, Inphonic grew into the largest seller of new cell phones on the internet with over $300 million in revenue. As the public face for Inphonic, he was praised for creating and growing the online business that dominates online sales for cell phones. He was criticized for growing the business too rapidly at the cost of customer service and revenue. This contributed to the downfall of Inphonic when the financial crisis of 2007–2010 began in 2007 with the credit squeeze on all companies. In November 2007, after Steinberg resigned as CEO and Chairman of the Board, InPhonic filed a Chapter 11 petition in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. In December, InPhonic was acquired by Versa Capital Management and relaunched as Simplexity. After Inphonic, Steinberg secured support to start a new corporation, CAIVIS Acquisition Corp. According to their website, CAIVIS Acquisition Corp is an investment firm looking to purchase small companies in the internet space and combine them in order to maximize their opportunities. CAIVIS acts like a holding company, aiming to achieve an economy of scale for the standard infrastructure required for internet businesses, such as human resources, legal and accounting departments. At the same time it aims for multiple arbitrage by combining the smaller companies into a larger business. Small companies typically command a price–earnings ratio of 5 while larger companies command a PE of 10. In 2011, Steinberg started XL Marketing Corp with John Sculley. On January 30, 2014, Steinberg moderated a marketing panel hosted by Zeta Interactive on the changes in advertising and marketing over the years, using Apple's 1984 commercial as a benchmark. John Sculley was a panelist with advertising executive David Sable, Global CEO of Young & Rubicam; Jessica Gelman, Vice President of Customer Marketing & Strategy; The Kraft Group—the owners of the New England Patriots; and Hooman Radfar, Chairman and Co-Founder of marketing firm AddThis. He has served on the Washington & Jefferson College Board of Trustees.
Zeta Global
Zeta Global, is an example of the CAIVIS strategy. Several small companies specializing in different facets of online marketing were acquired and combined to create the firm. The company is a full service big dat, customer acquisition, and customer relationship management services firm. XL Marketing in June 2012 it raised capital of $70 million. It acquired rival Intela and the Adchemy Actions division with that $70 million. In January 2014, XL was re-branded as Zeta Interactive. In July 2015, the company raised $125 million from Blackstone's GSO Capital Partners to grow its business through acquisitions of data startup companies. The company has been referred to by Forbes magazine as a 'Unicorn,' a "billion-dollar startup". Zeta calls its approach to data-driven marketing "precision marketing". In October 2016, Zeta Interactive became Zeta Global. In April 2017, Steinberg continued building Zeta Global with a $140 million fundraiser, valuing the company at close to 1.3 billion dollars. According to The Wall Street Journal, as of March 2020 said the company’s revenue exceeded $400 Million in 2020 and is profitable. Steinberg said the company is considering an IPO. Zeta doesn’t sell its data to marketers or other outside companies, but uses it to develop its consumer insights.
