Surfline Chairman Jeff Berg has stepped into the CEO role, replacing Jonno Wells in that position. Jonno remains with the company.
Jeff answered some questions for us about the change.
Why are you taking on the CEO role?
Jeff Berg: There are some things we want to be more aggressive about that both Jonno and I agreed were better tackled by myself given my position as the chairman and largest shareholder. It’s easier for me to rally the troops and the board around some big initiatives.
How involved were you in Surfline’s day-to-day operations before this change?
Jeff Berg: I’ve been an active chairman, very involved in strategy, capital allocation and various projects, but not day-to-day operations.
Given the investments we want to make as a company in product development and my passion for some of the initiatives associated with that, Jonno and the board felt like I was in a better position to see these through.
Is Jonno remaining at Surfline in some capacity?
Jeff Berg: Yes, Jonno is a valued partner and friend and he’ll continue to work on a number of emerging opportunities
How is Surfline’s business performing so far this year? Any changes in strategy or major new plans?
Jeff Berg: We continue to show steady growth. We have some aggressive plans, which will become more evident later in the year or 2016.
Can you give us some details about the plans?
Jeff Berg: Not at this time, sorry Tiffany.
Any insights you can give on general Internet advertising trends and how Surfline is adapting to them?
Jeff Berg: The landscape continues to evolve more towards mobile from a platform perspective and also more money is being spent on sponsored and native advertising along with programmatic.
Surfline is positioned nicely in front of these trends.
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