A spooky start for web ad pioneer
JON Ostler, founder and managing director of internet marketing firm First Rate, has gone from spying on people from the sky at the Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre at Britain’s Ministry of Defence to helping advertisers locate them on the internet. The computer engineer and self-confessed former “spook”, resigned from the British defence forces in 1998 and moved to New Zealand, where he started a web design firm.
Angels Turn Firms Into Bright Sparks
Jon Ostler left his job with military intelligence to boost his commercial nous and, hopefully, to make a few more bucks.
Less than four years later his firm, web marketing consultancy First Rate, has a turnover of more than a $1 million, employs eight people and is about to appoint a chief executive to take the firm global.