1000% Growth – The Mediafly Backstory

{{article.creator.firstname}} {{article.creator.lastname}}
Editor Coda
Jan 20, 2015

A few weeks ago, I had a conversation with a CFO that really struck me and made quite an impression.

This particular conversation was with the lovely John Evarts from Chicago-based Mediafly. We’d been introduced by the folks at Ariba, who told me that John had an astonishing story.

It wasn’t long into the call that John let me know that Mediafly had been leveraging dynamic discounting to help their company grow by a staggering 1000%.

That’s right, 1000%.

They’re now getting paid in 15 days as opposed to 60, which allows them access to alternative sources of income, so that they can utilize their cash to help grow the business. It’s revolutionized their entire operation.

A little background, if I may.

Mediafly, is a content mobility cloud, a native application that fully ties in systems for organizations all over the world. They offer the benefits of an enterprise mobile solution with the elegance of a consumer application. Their solutions are deployed via a Mobile Apps as a Service model (MAaaS), or SaaS on a mobile platform. They work with folks like Pepsi, MillerCoors and BD.

Mediafly was growing rapidly and needed to hire more people quickly. That’s where dynamic discounting came in and saved the day.

As John and I discussed, the beautiful thing about dynamic discounting for Mediafly was that it's flexible nature allowed them to get cash in different ways than before. For a very large contract, he was able to get access to money in 15 days as opposed to 60, which enabled him to hire more quickly, and to finalize the encryption technology.

That’s right. With dynamic discounting, John was able to get access to capital he wouldn’t have had access to otherwise, leading him to hire quickly, finalize encryption technology and grow his company.

Now at Mediafly they have multiple customers on the Ariba network, and John gets the option to choose when to change payment terms. Dynamic discounting provides that invaluable flexibility. I had to ask John about any friction that occurred within the organization as he began his journey. He mentioned only  the normal challenges that are associated with any new system, as well as the education process for the business unit folks to ensure they’re on board.

There is of course a change management piece to this puzzle, and you must consider that your large suppliers have the ability to say no (although it's unlikely).

One of my favorite parts of the working capital story is how it relates to the tiny suppliers and our potential support to their organizations' stability and cash flow.
 
For the future of dynamic discounting and Mediafly, John says it’s more of the same – to contract with more Fortune 500 companies, and to continue to stay creative and innovative. I guess I should've clarified with John if  “more of the same” meant 1000% growth, again! John and I went on to talk in detail about what’s next for dynamic discounting.

I asked him, "Why isn’t everyone doing this?"

His answer: "There is a lack of education in the marketplace."
 

To read this article you have to be registered.

Become a member to access all content and / or download it

We value your privacy

We use cookies to enhance your browsing experience and analyze our traffic. By clicking 'Accept All' you consent to our use of cookies.