Young Guns: Publift head of supply Dan Lakajev

15 November 2018
 
Dan Lakajev

Our Young Guns profile takes a weekly look at some of the young talent across the advertising, ad tech, marketing and media sector in Australia. It aims to shed light on the varying roles, people and companies across the buzzing industry.

Today we speak to Publift head of supply Dan Lakajev. 

Time at the company:
18 months.

How long have you been in the industry?
2 years. 

How did you get here? Was this always the plan?
Absolutely not! I established and ran my own business (cafe) for 3 years. After selling the
business, I asked a customer/friend for some career advice. He told me about this thing called
programmatic advertising and that I might be interested in working in digital. I did a short
internship with him to learn the ropes and then found myself at Publift three months later.

Who is your right-hand person/who guides you day to day?
I have learnt a lot in a short amount of time from Colm, our CEO. I’m also in a very fortunate
position to be a part of a company that has a really neutral approach to the programmatic
environment. I work with and learn every day from all our partners ranging from the desks to
DSPs, SSPs & Publishers.

What’s the best thing about the industry you work in?
It's infancy. The programmatic space is new and exciting, it’s constantly evolving and every day
is different. I never thought I’d find myself in a corporate style environment, but the challenge to
constantly grow and learn is really motivating. It has the same intrinsic rewards as running my
own business did.

And the biggest challenge?
Trust. We’re providing a solution that a lot of the market isn’t familiar with yet. It takes time and
education for Publishers, in particular, to see the value that Publift brings to the table. Selling is
simply the transfer of trust, so it’s challenging to be in a market with limited governing bodies
and so many different players. People are hesitant to take the leap.

Whose job have you set your sights on in the future?
No ones. I want to create my own role and lead a team in an environment that hasn’t been
explored yet.

Where do you turn for inspiration?
Anyone with a positive mindset. I think surrounding yourself with great people has an
immeasurable influence on your life. I've also learnt a lot from a Roman Stoic and philosopher
known as Seneca the Younger. Seneca wrote 124 letters almost 2000 years ago dealing with
moral issues which are still relevant today!

My favourite advert is (and why):
I thought that the Tourism Australia ad with Chris Hemsworth and Danny Mcbride at this year’s
Super Bowl was genius. Like a lot of people, I genuinely thought it was a movie trailer for the
first minute. I remembered this ad, when I don’t really remember any other ads, so that has to
mean something.

Tell us one thing people at work don’t know about you?
I’ve been to every Harry Potter midnight screening. I think everyone deep down wishes they
went to Hogwarts.

In five years' time I'll be:
Happy and making a difference somewhere as a result of hard work and persistence. What that
would actually look like, I couldn’t tell you.

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