Entrepreneur of the Year 2008 – Finalist
Zed CEO, Brian Casazza, was honored as a finalist in the Rocky Mountain Region for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award.
Denver Business Journal - June 13 2008 - When Brian Casazza had an idea for a mobile media business, it made perfect sense to ask his father to invest in it.
After all, his dad was an entrepreneur, executive and wireless operator who helped Pac Bell roll out the nation's first mobile network, which became Cingular and then AT&T Wireless.
But his dad said "no thanks."
"I remember vividly the meeting ... we laid out our business plan and asked him to make an investment in the company," Casazza said. "He didn't get it. He didn't understand that we were really talking about building media distribution pipes and not just ringtones. Ultimately he chose not to invest in the company. He told me I'd have to reach '$40,000 a month in revenue to support your operation. That's a lot of ringtones.'"
Casazza described the meeting as "a real crossroads" for him. "But I knew that our ideas were sound," he said. "I left that meeting more determined than ever."
That determination has led to a company that makes mobile content and entertainment products and services that brings in about $12 million a month in revenue.
Casazza said he was driven by a belief in the potential of handheld devices.
"It's been a tremendous and extremely fulfilling ride to have gone from tiny startup to leading player in the space," he said. "I've always been a person who recognizes opportunities, get turned on by challenges and has enough confidence to pursue my ideas. On top of that, I developed a need to prove my dad wrong."