"I encourage our team to take their full vacation time each year and recommend unplugging. Taking time away from the business is incredibly helpful and minimizes potential burnout. Employees come back to work refreshed with new ideas due to extended time unburdened by day-to-day stresses.

As digital media evolved to where it is today, the goal was tailored solutions customized to the customer. This would allow closer relationships between brands, agencies, vendors, and consumers. However, more often than not, these solutions and campaigns throw money at large silos of people and hope that they'll reach the target audience.

"TSA Pre✓® is the best membership for the constant business traveler. Once you’ve been approved, there is no need to remove your shoes or take your laptop out of your bag in the airport security line. Having a separate line for ‘expert’ travelers is really efficient.

"Organizations should definitely align their content delivery priorities to reach their target audiences not only on desktop, but also on mobile and tablet devices. Marketers need to be cognizant of which platforms their audience uses to interact with their content. Aligning the content strategy to ensure they are connecting with their target audience in an appropriate manner is very important. Many technologies silo content delivery to specific platforms, however, audiences typically jump between multiple devices and screens. Using a true cross-platform technology that can optimize delivery to the best performing placements will be a more efficient and cost-effective way to reach the target audience no matter what device they are using.

"When entrepreneurs evaluate the potential trajectory of their company, the ultimate exit strategy is often one of these three things: go IPO; get acquired; or go bankrupt. Because they are scared of the possibility of going bankrupt, many work with that thought in the back of their mind, which will ultimately lead to the collapse of the company. The best chance for success is the simple decision to put your head down and focus on building a business. The end game will eventually arrive.

Tom Alexander is founder and chief executive officer of PK4 Media located in El Segundo, CA. He has applied his ten years of experience in digital advertising to develop a mutually beneficial platform for advertisers, publishers and content creators. Tom began his career in sales leadership positions with ad network companies including BlueLithium (acquired by Yahoo! in 2007), ValueClick and Dedicated Media, where he gained a keen understanding of the digital advertising industry and the voids present in the marketplace. In 2009, he founded digital media solutions company PK4 Media and has grown the organization without any outside investment to date. Originally from Silicon Valley, Tom graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of California San Diego. He is an active board member of thinkLA, an advertising trade association.

“One of the biggest lessons I learned was that any company will cost approximately 20 percent more time and money than originally planned. There are always issues that arise that cannot be calculated from the beginning, such as slow vendors, extra cost and time to build the technology.”

PK4 Media’s platform maximizes the value generated by online video views. It delivers targeted video ads and content to websites with its patent-pending video tech platform (free ad-supported video player, premium content library and digital ad/content distribution network).

What makes PK4 different is that it’s built around meeting the distinct needs of brands, publishers AND content creators. Through the library and a rev share between publishers and content partners, they’ve made premium content the star in its platform. And it works – average .84% CTR on its video ad campaigns – much higher than the industry average.