Q: Who are you and where are you from?
A: Jonathan Reich, born and bred in New York, NY.
Q: Tell us a little bit about your career path: how did you get from where you started to Zedge?
I started working on Wall Street, first at Morgan Stanley utilizing my degree in operations research, and then at Sanford Bernstein as a junior equities analyst covering commodity chemicals. I realized that I didn’t want to be a back seat driver telling companies what they were doing was wrong and decided that I wanted to pursue a career where I could drive the bus.
At that point, I joined a fledging telecommunications start-up, IDT, in back office operations. After around 6 months its founder, Howard Jonas (our vice chairman) pulled me aside and told me that he wanted me to take on marketing our internet service. This was back in the days of print advertising. He said that I needed to bring on 10,000 customers in three months. It was sink or swim and fortunately, we were in the right place at the right time and succeeded.
Ultimately, we took the company public in 1996. From there I got involved in net2phone, an early leader in internet telephony which went public in 1999. I stayed with net2phone until 2007 when I joined another incubated company, Fabrix, which we sold to Ericsson in 2014. I joined Zedge in 2012 taking responsibility for ad ops and worked my way up the ranks until ultimately becoming CEO in 2020.
Q: Impressive title! What does that mean, though? What's an average workday look like?
A: Ultimately it means that the buck stops with me. My average workday is a mix of meetings, focus time, and electronic communications focused on helping us grow and expand. It’s my responsibility to help the amazing team of Zedgers succeed in their roles.
Q: What's your favorite thing about working at Zedge?
A: The people and solving problems.
Q: What's your least favorite thing about working at Zedge?
A: When we disappoint our customers
Q: What do you do for fun outside of work?
A: I love to exercise and to spend time with my family. I love to read, especially about history.