Influencer Marketing Pioneer Acquired By Fullscreen

Pete Borum practically invented the term “influencer marketing.” So how did Borum raise $15 million dollars and attract multiple acquisition offers in an industry that didn’t exist before he showed up?

Pete Borum co-founded Reelio, which is an influencer marketing platform that enables brands, agencies, and publishers to find social media influencers to endorse their products.

While Borum and his three co-founders forecasted the trend of influencer marketing, their major challenge was convincing advertisers who were used to controlling every aspect of a brand’s marketing, to turn over content creation to celebrity YouTubers, Instagrammers, and Snap Chatters.

Despite this challenge, they managed to raise $15M in capital from investors, and the company grew.  Borum had acquisition conversations with several strategic buyers and was bought in 2018 by Fullscreen, which is owned by Otter Media, a joint venture between AT&T and the Chernin Group.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Reasons to loop in investors during the selling process
• Why having a “Best Alternative To A Negotiated Agreement” (BATNA) is an important step in the exit planning process
• How to influence the way an acquirer thinks about your company’s valuation before getting a term sheet

Borum knew that digital media was poised to skyrocket and created Reelio to meet the rising demand for influencer marketing. Recognizing the growth potential of your industry is one of the exercises from Module 2 of The Value Builder System™. Get started for free right now by completing Module 1.

Check out our article on How To Elevate Your BATNA.

Check out our full M&A Glossary

About Our Guest

Pete Borum is the Co-Founder and CEO of Reelio, a data-driven influencer marketing platform that enables brands, agencies and publishers to find and work with the right social media influencers at the right price. Prior to co-founding Reelio, Borum was the Director of Communications at Revstone, where he led the brand consolidation of 18 portfolio companies in 4 countries. Before that, Borum founded Aspirént, a strategic consulting firm whose projects included planning and execution of a five-borough direct marketing strategy for Michael Bloomberg’s successful 2009 mayoral campaign.