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Today, Roku is the biggest player in connected TV.
This week, the company reported it added 1.6 million active accounts in the first quarter of the year, reaching a total of 71.6 million active accounts. Streaming hours also jumped to 25.1 billion, a 4.2 billion year-over-year increase. Overall, Roku’s data shows that 50% of all AVOD impressions happen on its own platform.
Just eight years ago, the company’s now billion-dollar ad business started with seven employees working in a small office above mattress store Sleepy’s on 34th Street in New York City.
Though the company’s ad sales business eventually made deals with every major holding company and has a commanding presence in the upfronts, serving most Fortune 500 brands, that growth didn’t come easily. It rarely does.
Adweek sat down with three executives who’ve been on the ground since the beginning to learn how Roku made its way into half of the broadband homes in the U.S. and became a hot commodity for brands and marketers to buy into.
Humble origins
Founded in 2002 by Anthony Wood, Roku set out to revolutionize streaming before the concept even existed. But to get there, it needed the help of advertising dollars.
The company spent the first months of its fledging ad business working to educate the market, much of which viewed streaming as a passing fad. In fact, one potential partner thought the team worked at Sushi Roku—a Japanese restaurant.
Alison Levin was Roku’s first hire in ad sales. She joined the company after already having experienced selling connected TV at Tremor (now Unruly) for brands like Samsung and LG.
“We kept seeing connected TV was performing better than desktop, better than mobile, and from a brand perspective, the audience was growing,” Levin said. “But no one was talking about it.”
Roku called Levin about a business development role designed to add inventory and channels, but no sales team existed. After initially declining the offer, Levin joined right before Roku announced its first partnership with Nielsen to bring its Digital Ad Ratings offering onto the platform.
Dan Robbins at Nielsen led the deal, eventually joining Roku himself and becoming its vp of marketing and partner solutions.
Levin described the first ad sales office as “almost like a frat house,” meaning it was a collaborative environment where the seven employees took turns taking the garbage out.
