YEXTra, YEXTra, hear all about it: Yext founder Howard Lerman in the OMR Podcast!
Building a global presence on a local level. That is the conundrum Howard Lerman is seeking to solve with Yext, his digital information management company that he founded a decade ago. In this edition of the OMR Podcast, Howard sat down for a chat with OMR founder Philipp Westermeyer to shed some light on what Yext does, who it benefits and how it keeps step in an ever-changing market. Before also teasing his upcoming appearance on the big stage at OMR18 in Hamburg this March 23.
It’s a mammoth task facing every brand or company around the world: providing up-to-date, pinpoint local information on a global scale—and doing so on platforms that hardly existed a year or two ago. In Howard Lerman’s words, it is “a new category of digital knowledge management. It is us saying ‘hey there is a change happening in the world it’s a change that we are all witnessing and it is the rise of AI-powered services that need knowledge about your brand in order to be relevant.’” This fledgling market is also winner-take-all, where gaining a brand’s or company’s dollar is as much a matter of trust as it is scale.
OMR founder Philipp Westermeyer talks to Howard in the OMR Podcast about what Yext is, how it promotes marketplace innovation and why Germany has the potential to ultimately become Yext’s biggest market outside of the United States.
Howard Lerman in the OMR Podcast, show notes:
- What exactly is Yext and what paradigm shift led to Yext’s rise? 1:17
- Who does Howard identify as Yext’s core target group and what do globally active companies need to consider when shifting to AI? 4:27
- What does Howard hope to achieve with Yext long-term? 6:05
- Why is it imperative for companies to focus on AI and voice? 8:35
- How does Yext work on an operational level and how does it benefit brands and companies? 9:38
- When Howard founded Yext a decade ago, what was the company’s original focus? 10:52
- What three realizations drove Howard to reposition Yext? 11:52
- What caused Howard to transform Yext’s business model? 18:50
- What are some differences in the ways businesses evolve in Germany compared to the US? 22:45
- Why did Howard refuse to sell Yext early on when big money came calling? 23:30
- How old was Howard when he was first exposed to tech subjects and programming, and what advantage did that give him? 24:55
- What monetization models does Yext employ? 27:00
- After expanding to Germany, what are Howard’s initial impressions of Germany and why does he feel it is an important step in the evolution of Yext? 29:10
- Are there German companies that could profit from Yext’s services? 31:10
- Who does Howard feel are Yext’s biggest competitors? 32:08
- What factors are essential to Yext’s global success? 33:19
- Why does Howard feel that the market on which Yext is active is winner take all, and how does he hope to be victorious? 36:50
- After expanding to Germany, what are Howard’s initial impressions of Germany and why does he feel it is an important step in the evolution of Yext? 29:10
- How does Howard convey the benefits of using Yext to potential customers? 39:08
- How do new market dynamics and innovation impact Yext’s development? 40:39
- What are some examples of innovation areas that could affect Yext moving forward? 43:10
- How does Howard feel about Germany and German culture? 44:39
Be sure to subscribe to the OMR Podcast on Soundcloud or iTunes. If you like what you hear, be sure to give us a like. Thanks again for listening.
