How I Lost a $20M Deal: An Ode to Multi-Threading
Working at Mediamath as an underdog competing against Google and Facebook, we secured a $100M programmatic deal—then lost it because we didn't build relationships with the right stakeholders. Here's what I learned about multi-threading.
In Zachary King’s account of his experience at Mediamath, he describes working for an independent adtech company competing against dominant players. The firm pursued a custom solutions strategy and identified a major FMCG corporation with significant programmatic spending in the Asia-Pacific region as a prospect.
King explains that after successfully pitching their approach—which would replicate the client’s non-digital cost-optimization strategies in the digital space—the decision-maker was enthusiastic. Following four months of intensive work, campaigns were prepared and scheduled to launch.
However, the promised approval never materialized. Communication ceased, and ten days later, the prospect withdrew. The withdrawal stemmed from a global conflict: the client’s US operations already worked with a competing firm.
King identifies the critical failure: the team neglected to build relationships with influential stakeholders beyond their primary contact. He notes, “we had run these up the flag with our European and American colleagues, but they dismissed the need to connect.”
The core lesson King extracts centers on “multi-threading”—establishing relationships across the entire decision-making committee rather than relying on a single champion. He recommends three steps: identify all stakeholders and their priorities, actively involve them in the process, and maintain consistent communication.
King concludes by offering assistance to early-stage enterprise sales teams facing similar challenges.