Alex Meshkin is a technology executive and serial entrepreneur having founded or led organizations in healthcare, digital media, sports, and global outsourcing services.

Meshkin is  Executive Chairman of huvi, a social commerce platform, enabling consumers to buy and sell digital movies. huvi works in partnership with major Hollywood studios to reduce piracy, monetize consumer to consumer transactions and enable a secondary market for digital goods.

More recently, Meshkin co-founded a health IT Company where a team of leading health care providers, technology entrepreneurs and product development ninjas are building a platform to improve collaboration and communications in healthcare.

In 1999, at the age of 19, Meshkin launched his first consumer internet start-up and experienced the ups and downs of entrepreneurship. In the years that followed, Meshkin became the CEO of Toyota Motorsports’ flagship NASCAR racing team, Bang! Racing. Toyota selected the young Meshkin from 83 NASCAR race team candidates; to lead Toyota’s factory supported NASCAR racing team. Toyota’s partnership with Meshkin created one of the most successful racing organizations in its first year of operations.

In 2004, Bang! Racing made NASCAR history – setting numerous milestones. As the principle owner of Bang! Racing, Meshkin became the youngest team owner in NASCAR history and the team became the most successful first year NASCAR race team – winning Toyota’s first two races in their inaugural season.

Bang Holdings, the parent company of Bang! Racing was also a success off the race track.  In its first year of operations, Bang generated over $15 million in revenues; partnered with Vertrue to form a joint venture; and with their strategic technology partner eBay created and operated a NASCAR consumer membership and affinity marketing club.

By the age of 23, Meshkin was one of NASCAR’s elite team owners and a recurring guest on Fox News Channel and CNBC Squawk Box; and featured in numerous publications, including Fortune, Sporting News, Racer, Associated Press and Sports Illustrated.

Bang! Racing sponsors included, Toyota Motor Sales, DuPont, Viacom (Showtime Networks), Line-X, Valvoline and Snap-On Tools. In 2005, the race team was acquired by Toyota Motorsports and Bill Davis Racing. The technology divisions were merged in 2006 into Cloverleaf Partners and the NASCAR membership club became FastTrack Savings operating as DealPass.com.

Prior to Bang! Racing, Meshkin founded and operated a global software development company with a focus on healthcare and pharmaceutical platforms with clients such as Johnson & Johnson and Eli Lilly.

Additionally, Meshkin served as Director of Product and Strategic Development of cyberCFO, a venture funded financial services firm and later as VP and GM at Cloverleaf Partners.  Meshkin started his digital media entrepreneurial career at the age of 19, when he founded and led the first online “points” based dynamic commerce/auction model.

To learn more about Alex Meshkin, please visit his blog at http://alexmeshkin.com and LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/meshkin. Check out his videos on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/alexmeshkin

The sports site online advertising market is mostly untapped by NASCAR and remains a huge opportunity for race teams to tap into and ensure their continued viability in these difficult economic times.

While the most dedicated NASCAR fans are not your typical early adopters of online services; there still remains a tremendous opportunity to harness the power of the loyal demographic who embraces the internet as a regular source of news and entertainment. According to Quantcast, NASCAR.com generates approximately 3.7 M monthly unique users and peaks at over 6.5 M during the beginning of the season. So while the audience may be limited in numbers, the unmatched advertiser loyalty provides a desirable market opportunity to distribute content directly to fans through digital channels for racing teams such as Hendrick Motorsports, Roush Fenway and Joe Gibbs Racing. Unlike the franchised sports teams of the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB; NASCAR Teams have complete autonomy of their online presence and content. This provides a significant value proposition where teams can leverage their content through a variety of online business models to create interaction with fans and ultimately new sources of advertising revenue. This would likely result in considerable exposure for their existing sponsors; and consequently create a new advertising inventory that would be measurable and provide a clear Return on Investment (ROI).

As a former NASCAR Team Owner, Sports Marketer and Digital Media Entrepreneur; I have succeeded in bringing new sponsors such as eBay and Toyota into NASCAR, and leveraged online advertising to unlock revenue sources from digital channels that created a history making NASCAR racing team. The potential has never been greater and the most successful teams have the largest market opportunity to generate significant value that can be monetized in the digital economy.

When specifically analyzing NASCAR as a marketing platform it’s undisputed that it provides unparallel consumer brand loyalty for sponsors; however “die-hard” fans, which are the most brand loyal – are unfortunately also a dying breed. As our country continues to face high inflation and a challenging economy for the middle-class, which is the loyal mainstay of the NASCAR demographic; it will become a less attractive marketing medium to corporate marketers.

Across the country, many businesses are attempting to adapt to this challenging economic market. Over the past number of months, the newspaper industry has announced wide scale layoffs as they attempt to transition their business to more online operations. The latest causality is The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that announced cuts to its work force by approximately 8 percent or 189 jobs. NASCAR is not alone; and needs to take heed and understand that it is no different than t the challenged models of the newspaper and Old Media industries – which also offer a branding and awareness platform with no real method to measure customer acquisition for its advertisers. Old Media is in a state of peril; and NASCAR and its teams must not make the fatal mistake of assuming they are immune to the fragile economy. Now is the time for them to reinvent themselves or they will face a similar dreadful business fate for their sponsorship prospects.

As a lifelong fan, former team owner and new media entrepreneur – I see numerous avenues to upgrade NASCAR from its current “1.0” platform to a “2.0” marketing approach; and leverage digital media technologies and social marketing techniques to provide unparallel fan interaction and advertiser ROI.

Back in 2003, in conjunction with the launch of my team Bang Racing with Toyota Motorsports, I developed a marketing platform and corresponding online venture to engage consumers and enable advertisers to target fans with online promotions and incentives. We successfully deployed a “points” based auction powered by eBay (a Bang Racing sponsor) and delivered unmatched ROI to our sponsors.

Today there exists technologies, which if employed could provide NASCAR and teams with a solution. Available web 2.0 architecture and social marketing techniques would enable NASCAR, teams and sponsors to leverage existing technology and increase their exposure, interaction and ultimately the sponsors’ ROI.

The most basic web 2.0 technologies, which have transformed online marketing, journalism and even politics, are “blogs”. They are free and easy to use but yet, not a single driver, team or even NASCAR has implemented one. This most basic concept is far beyond the understanding of most NASCAR insiders and demonstrates the antiquated approach to marketing.

NASCAR racing is entertainment and content; and while NASCAR Corporate controls the “content” at the racetrack; and teams are unable to successfully monetize their at-track presence – racing teams do have the ability to monetize their “content” away from the track – if they employ these new technologies. “RaceWorld”, which was a failed attempt by Michael Waltrip to engage fans in a physical structure, further demonstrates a lack of current business and technology savvy of NASCAR teams. Today, teams must embrace and engage fans through technology and the internet rather than expensive and traditional channels. A great case study is the success of online video – which is dominated by user-generated content – not by television networks or studios – this is the genius of the success of YouTube.

NASCAR teams, such as Hendrick Motorsports, Roush Fenway Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing could offset the devastating effects of projected manufacturer financial support losses and a difficult sponsorship market by simply distributing content through a variety of successful online businesses, which would increase advertisers’/sponsor’ impressions; while providing new revenue sources.

Through the use of live online streaming, micro-blogging, social networking and other web 2.0 concepts – NASCAR Corporate, racing teams and motorsports sponsors have the ability to receive an ROI capable of sustaining the growing costs of the sport. What are they waiting for – the race is on – and time is running out!

But fast forward to 2008 and so called “super teams” – Yates Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing, Bill Davis Racing and Dale Earnhardt Inc. all have primary sponsor vacancies and may shutter one or more of their teams. Some may ask “How did this happen?” You will hear many say the principle cause is the rising costs of drivers, personnel and other expenses. And YES, while these are all contributing factors; the fundamental flaw of a NASCAR sponsorship program is the inability to measure the performance and success of the program. While NASCAR has always positioned itself as a branding vehicle; in 2008 branding is only achieved through customer acquisition; and NASCAR sponsorship does not provide an effective means to measure its performance.

With the rapid growth of online advertising opportunities and pay-for-performance models, why would one invest a large portion of their marketing budget into a non-quantifiable advertising campaign? If motorsports’ agencies and teams cannot provide an answer to this daunting question – NASCAR fans will be more disappointed as more and more teams become sponsorless and face the inevitable loss of their favorite teams.

When a potential corporate sponsor investigates a NASCAR sponsorship opportunity, the chief value proposition that is touted – is the high brand loyalty that sponsors’ receive. This approach is not only out-dated but the  value proposition is severely overrated.  As many know, I grew up as a die-hard Dale Earnhardt Sr. fan and subsequently, in recent years have cheered for Dale Jr. But do I drink AMP, Mountain Dew or any other Pepsi product? Ah No. Do I drive a Chevrolet? No. Clearly, brand loyalty is not enough to justify $20 Million dollars to sponsor a Sprint Cup team.

NASCAR teams, unlike Formula 1, completely rely on advertising revenue to fund their operations – and the option of reducing operating expenses is just not realistic. Consequently, unless NASCAR decides to “share the wealth” and allocate a larger percentage of television revenue to their racing teams, those teams MUST reinvent their marketing approach to survive.  But it’s not doomsday for everyone in the sport – Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing and Roush Fenway Racing are on top of the racing world – with world-class drivers and premiere equipment – to drive their considerable sponsorship demand. But where does that leave, lesser know drivers and less significant teams, and perhaps even future teams?

As the youngest NASCAR team owner in history and with the best track record for any first year team, I scored Toyota’s first two NASCAR victories and know what it takes to perform on the race track and in the corporate board room. I personally pioneered the development of online loyalty and incentive programs in NASCAR and leveraged internet marketing strategies to secure companies such as, eBay to sponsor Bang! Racing. But without an integrated approach whereby teams can leverage the NASCAR brand, innovative business models will not prosper and teams will continue to fail at an alarming pace.

I implore NASCAR, its team owners and motorsports agencies to collaborate to develop and implement a better approach and solution before the majority of teams become bankrupt and are forced to be remembered as simply “defunct.”

By: Alex Meshkin, former owner of Bang Racing

Dressed in a T-shirt, jeans and sneakers, his cap on backward, Alex Meshkin bears little resemblance to other NASCAR team owners.

That’s what Larry McReynolds thought when the former crew chief was approached last spring by Meshkin and asked to join Bang Racing, now a fledgling team in the Craftsman Truck series.

“I asked him, ‘Where’s your dad at? Your dad must be the one who’s going to do this deal,”‘ McReynolds recalled.

Little did he know this was a 23-year-old whiz kid who six years earlier took some money his parents put aside for college and made a few million sitting at his computer trading stocks.

“I was able to (turn) it into a little bit of wealth and start my own company,” said Meshkin, whose Bang Technology Software affiliate is based in Bombay, India.

He also heads a merchandising company and Nutzz.com, which rewards consumers for the use of products in a manner similar to retailers giving frequent flyer miles.

The two-truck team is costing Meshkin nearly $15 million a year, and he expects the operation to be profitable by 2007. That’s the fast lane in a sport where sponsorship can be tough to maintain.

But super salesman Meshkin isn’t concerned. His teams, with series champion Travis Kvapil and former Cup driver and Craftsman champion Mike Skinner, are backed by Toyota and eBay among others.

Meshkin laughs when asked about his attempt to become a racer.

“I always wanted to be involved in racing since I was a little kid,” said Meshkin, who briefly campaigned a formula car. “I prefer the ownership side. I think I’ll just stick with what I do well.”

To McReynolds, who owns a small share of the team, Meshkin stands out because of his “passion” for the sport.

“Every other business I’ve been involved in, the excitement to me was when I could sell it to make money,” Meshkin said. “For this, I don’t care how much they offer me, I wouldn’t sell it.”

In fact, he plans to expand to the Busch series and eventually to Nextel Cup. The truck teams are just the foundation of his racing program.

Meshkin knew he wouldn’t have much credibility without bringing aboard a high-profile racing figure. So he targeted McReynolds, and was persistent when first rebuffed.

“I wasn’t really interested in talking to him,” said McReynolds, Dale Earnhardt’s former crew chief and a TV racing analyst. “Since I stepped off the pit box at the end of 2000, I’ve had 30 or 40 people come at me.

“I always had the feeling that they were looking for someone with a magic wand in their back pocket to wave over the race team and try to fix it.

“Even though I won 23 Cup races as a crew chief, I lost 447. So, obviously, I don’t have a magic wand.”

Finally, Meshkin sold McReynolds on the team and then sold him a piece of it.

“He’s an awfully good salesman,” McReynolds said. “And he knows how to go out and get those sponsors.”

With McReynolds as vice president of racing, Meshkin is able to concentrate almost solely on the business side of the operation. Part of that is pairing sponsors and trucks.

Skinner’s effort is backed by Toyota and Kvapil’s chief sponsor is Line-X, a spray-on bedliner for pickup trucks. Meshkin secured them and is confident his acumen as a salesman will eventually allow Bang to field about a half-dozen teams spread through NASCAR’s top three divisions.

“Our goal is to be the best and the biggest,” Meshkin said. “We’re not modest here.”

Fruition of his plan would put Bang at the level of Hendrick Motorsports or Roush Racing, the biggest operations in the sport. Meshkin believes that’s attainable because he expects to hold sponsorship by giving backers a fair return on their investment.

“That’s why sponsors come into the sport and are gone in a few years,” he explained. “We need to keep them by doing what’s right for them and the race team.”

Meshkin, now 24, says being young hasn’t hurt him in his marketing. Actually, he’s always considered youth an asset.

“Even when I started my first company as an 18-year-old,” Meshkin said. “People would look at me and figure, ‘I want to hear what this kid has to say.”‘

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He parlayed investments in the stock market to raise start up capital for a new Internet company, Surfbuzz. Surrounding himself with some of the countries brightest marketing executives to grow the firm into a multi-national development group specializing in software and technology applications.

With such a successful track record, the assumption could be made that Meshkin hails from the likes of Harvard, MIT or Wharton, but in reality he successfully built his company between the ages of eighteen and twenty-two, just out of High School.

Meshkin has now taken the same formula for success and applied it to the world of Motorsports with the debut of Bang Racing.

At age twenty-three, he is the youngest team owner in NASCAR, and after speed weeks in Daytona, heads turned as veteran drivers, owners and crew chiefs realized this team is for real.

Utilizing a familiar business plan, Meshkin began his journey into Motorsports by acquiring a marketable product. He signed on as one of the start-up teams for Toyota Racing Development and it’s launch of the Tundra into The Craftsman Truck Series.

He then surrounded himself with the best and brightest with the likes of Larry McReynolds, and former and current series Champions Mike Skinner and Travis Kvapil.

Add to the mix solid sponsorship from Line-X and Toyota, and the group was poised to assemble tops teams and make its mark at the season opener.

In a sport that has seen many new owners who have more money than brains, Meshkin, as with most things he has done in his life appear to be the exception.

Qualifying third for the Florida Dodge Dealers 200 at Daytona, Kvapil scored a runner up finish, while Skinner, who qualified fourteenth finished twenty-eighth after being caught up in a multi-truck wreck mid way through the event.

“I don’t believe we had any surprises at Daytona”, noted Meshkin.  “We knew we had two good teams and two great drivers. The only surprise was having Mike Skinner’s number Forty-Two Toyota Tundra involved in the accident that eventually took him out of the race.  But regardless, I was very pleased with both team’s performances.”

Bang Racing is committed to the Truck Series through 2006. Many would argue that is enough to keep the team busy while learning the ropes as the “new kids on the block”.

Once again proving that he is ready to break all the rules Meshkin and company announced before the Daytona event that with support from internet giant Ebay, the team would field a part time cup effort during the second half of 2004, and a full time effort for the 2005 season.

“We’re thrilled to have ebay become an associate sponsor in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and support a young entrepreneurial team’s entrance into the Nextel Cup, NASCAR’s premier series,” said the young owner.

Not a small accomplishment. Taking into consideration that there is a current sponsorship crisis in NASCAR’s premier series. It is expected that 2004 will mark the first time in years that there will be less that forty-three entries at some events, and the controversy of field fillers is already an issue. Established teams like Roush Racing and Ultra Motorsports cannot find full time sponsorship for proven winners Jeff Burton and Jimmy Spencer.

A first year team with no Cup experience scoring a multi-year sponsorship with a major company is well beyond the norm of traditional racing business.

But with Alex Meshkin, nothing is traditional.

In a sport where many drivers lament that it is better to be “lucky than good”, Bang Racing is proving their success has nothing to do with luck.

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“We’re thrilled to have eBay become an associate sponsor in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and support a young entrepreneurial team’s entrance into the Nextel Cup, NASCAR’s premier series,” said Alex Meshkin, CEO and principle owner of Bang Racing. “We hope other technology companies will follow eBay’s lead and join forces with Bang Racing to reach brand loyal NASCAR fans.”

EBay’s associate sponsorship of Bang Racing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series includes the No. 42 Toyota Tundra with driver Mike Skinner, the 1995 series champion, and the No. 24 Tundra with driver Travis Kvapil, the 2003 champ. The agreement includes eBay’s sponsorship of Bang Racing in the Nextel Cup series during the second half of 2004 as the team prepares for its full-time entrance in the Nextel Cup Series in 2005.

“We’re proud to sponsor Bang Racing and be part of NASCAR series,” said Gary Dillabough, vice president, eBay strategic partnerships. “This sponsorship agreement provides eBay an opportunity to reach the passionate motorsports community and introduce Bang Racing to the eBay community, now totaling more than 95 million registered users.”

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