Wpromote's 10th Anniversary

As Google AdWords celebrates their 10th anniversary, so does Wpromote, Inc. From its humble beginnings – Mike Mothner’s dorm room at Dartmouth College – Wpromote has become the #1 Search Marketing Firm globally.

An entrepreneur from childhood, Mike Mothner started his first company in middle school, wrote his first piece of commercial software in high school and entered into the domain name and web design business all before the age 20. Shortly after the launch of Google AdWords, Mike recognized the need for greater digital visibility for all businesses. In 2001, Mike purchased the domain Wpromote.com, and began actively helping companies garner and increase their online presence through Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising. “It was a lucrative hobby at the time,” said Mothner.

During the Fall semester of his Senior year at Dartmouth, Mothner went through corporate recruiting for banking and consulting. He had made it all the way to the final round of interviews at Goldman Sachs in New York when he had a life changing moment. The interviewer looked down on his resume and saw Wpromote listed as a successful venture. To call his bluff he asked Mothner, “If this is true, why would you want to work here?”

“I don’t think he really expected the answer he was going to get,” said Mothner. “It was one of those little defining moments and something kind of snapped, and I said ‘I think that’s a good point. This is probably not the place for me.’” After turning down Goldman, the wheels were set in motion.

Wpromote quickly began to evolve and become a truly successful company. In 2003, Mothner landed his first big corporate client, Sony. Just one year later, Mike Block, Mothner’s childhood best friend (and Dartmouth Alum as well) joined the company as the first hire for Wpromote. Fast forward to 2007, a significant year for the company: Wpromote was ranked #62 of the fastest growing companies by Inc. 500, the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) department was established, and lest we forget, the first company outing at Dodgers Stadium (which is now a highly-anticipated annual event) took place.

Expanding into high-end search engine marketing and developing the technology platform, SEO soon became revolutionary to online marketing. Just two years after implementing SEO services, Wpromote was named the #1 Search Marketing Firm in the U.S. The company currently has over 65 employees, a net revenue of $10MM, and has served over 35,000 clients worldwide including Adobe, Ford, TOMS Shoes, and Z Gallerie.

And to think… what if the Goldman Sachs interviewer never asked that fateful question?