Heidi Messer (born August 28, 1969) is an American entrepreneur and investor who has founded several global businesses, most notably LinkShare and Collective[i].[1][2][3] Messer served as a board member, President, and Chief Operating Officer of LinkShare, contributing to the sector of online marketing commonly referred to as affiliate marketing.[4][5]
Early life
Messer is the eldest child of two entrepreneurs.[6] Her paternal and maternal grandparents were also entrepreneurs.[7]
Throughout high school and college, Messer worked for her family's real estate and maintenance business. After graduating from Harvard, Messer worked as an attorney at Baker & Botts, LLP.[10]
LinkShare Corporation
In 1996, Messer and her brother Stephen Messer created LinkShare, an online distribution network that allowed websites to monetize their traffic through performance based links.[12][13] Messer served as president and COO of LinkShare until its sale in 2005 to Rakuten Inc. for $425 million.[14][15] In 2006, Messer left the company.[16][17]
Collective[i]
In 2008, Messer co-founded Cross Commerce Media with her husband, Tad Martin and brother.[18] As of 2014, Messer serves as the chair of the company's board of directors.[19] In 2014, Messer was granted two patents in conjunction with Collective[i]'s data analytics network.[20][21]
Angel investing, board affiliations and community involvement
Messer is co-founder and CEO of World Evolved, a platform for global investment and expansion.[22][23] She is also a founding member of the Zokei Network, an invitation-only network of artists, scientists, and business leaders who meet in private salons around the world.[7] Messer is also an angel investor in numerous startups including Spire,[24]Lifebooker, and DoDo Case.[25] Additionally, she serves on the board of Alliance Bernstein.[26][27]
Messer serves on the Brown Women's Leadership Counsel[9] and advisory boards for Netplenish,[28] the Brown Entrepreneurship Program,[29][30] the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins,[31]Dell Computers,[32]NBC Universal,[33] and American Express OPEN.[34] Messer also serves on the board of the Partnership for New York City and has been a judge and mentor in the NYC Venture Fellows Program.[35][36]
Messer is also known as the host of an exclusive all female Poker game, featured in Vogue as a new model for combining networking, idea sharing, and charitable giving similar to the intellectual salons of the past.[15][50] Additionally, Messer has appeared on national television and radio programs including the Today Show,[51] Rock Center,[52] Business Talk Radio, Fox News, CBS Morning News, and the Fox Morning Show.[2][53][54]
In 2011, Messer organized an art exhibit held at the Charles Bank Gallery in New York City.[59] The show, entitled Celestial Matters, featured works of art that had only previously been displayed in an exhibition hosted during a private mission on the International Space Station. The reception for these works benefited the Challenger Center for Space Science Exploration and featured the astronautBuzz Aldrin.[60]
Messer served on the 2012 Wall Street Journal Executive Task Force on Women and participated in the 2014 Wall Street Journal CIO Network as a subject matter expert.[2][39][61][62]
In 2013, Messer was selected to serve as a member of Comptroller Scott Stringer's Transition Committee.[63]
Awards and honors
In 2012, Messer was selected as one of the 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs by Goldman Sachs as part of their Builders and Innovators Summit.[64] Additionally, Messer was named one of the 2012 Power Players in New York City by AlwaysOn.[65]
Under Messer's leadership, LinkShare was recognized by Deloitte & Touche in 2002 and 2003 as the fastest growing technology company in the New York Region. In 2002, LinkShare was also named the Best Affiliate Network Provider by ABestWeb.[10][66]
In 2015, Collective[i] was named an OnCloud Top 100 private company under the 'Software-as-a-service solution for big data analytics' category.[69][70]
^"Heidi Messer CEO Profile". A Field Guide to Female Founders, Influencers & Deal Makers. Archived from the original on March 12, 2014. Retrieved March 1, 2014.