Dan Gilbert created Brainlabs five years ago to “change the face of online advertising”.  He also wants to “create the best company in the world to work for”.  Dan, with director Sophie Newton, met with Howard Kennedy after meeting the National Business Awards Dragons.

Howard Kennedy meets National Business Awards finalist Dan Gilbert and Sophie Newton of Brainlabs.

Dan Gilbert created Brainlabs five years ago to “change the face of online advertising”.  He also wants to “create the best company in the world to work for”.  Dan, with director Sophie Newton, met with Howard Kennedy after meeting the National Business Awards Dragons.

Brainlabs runs a wildly successful programmatic display, paid social and paid search campaigns, using a unique blend of mathematics, technology and analysis.  From Dan's parents' attic, via a “dungeon"" in Kilburn, Brainlabs is soon to move to new offices at Kings Cross with space for 250 staff.

“The focus of online advertising is less about creativity and more about data,” explains Dan.  “And we capitalise on that.  When creating campaigns for our clients we have to consider millions of different data points.  Mathematics and science discipline form the bedrock of what we do.”

With complex algorithms to consider and exploit, it is no surprise Brainlabs employs some pretty impressive people.

With a double first in mathematics from Oxford, Director Sophie had the choice of careers from around the world.  After trying banking and finance she found Brainlabs.

“I didn't want to sit in an office and be told what to do all day long,” said Sophie.  “Brainlabs has given me the opportunity, flexibility and autonomy to create a business with a workplace culture where it is fun to work.  In short, to do something remarkable.”

And it is that culture that has, in part, been behind the company's phenomenal successes.

“We are life-long learners and self-improvement junkies,” says Dan.  “We want to be remarkable employing remarkable people.”

Brainlabs, when recruiting, does not look for any one type of person, but to what makes them stand out in the crowd, whether that be first class qualifications or perhaps a concert pianist.

“If we do right for our people and for our clients, I am sure there will be a place for Brainlabs” explains Dan.  That ethos is at the heart of Dan and Sophie's desire to create the best company in the world to work for.