Michael McMahon has been called a marketing visionary and a driving force behind the growth of web-based business. He has been quoted in publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN Online and Wired and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences.
After building the first advertising group integrating online, direct and print for Microsoft in 1994, Mr. McMahon founded Left Field, one of the first advertising agencies to specialize in online businesses. The agency's first clients were Amazon.com and Bank of America and the agency quickly grew to over 110 employees and $13 million in net revenues. The roster of clients defined the emerging online landscape -- Amazon.com, Infoseek, Sun Microsystems, Netscape, WebMD, Drugstore.com, Real Networks, ESPN/Starwave, Hotmail, Preview Travel and Macy's.com, to name just a handful.
In 1999 the agency added an Atlanta office and was renamed Exile on Seventh. Additional clients such as eBay, Wells Fargo, 21st Century Insurance, Microsoft and America West helped make Exile one of the world's largest buyers of online media, with over $750 million in measured online spending. The agency was instrumental in developing new technologies and techniques for measuring the effectiveness of all forms of advertising, and ensuring the greatest possible return on client marketing investments. The agency was continually cited as one of the "Top Interactive Agencies" by publications such as Interactive Week, Advertising Age and AdWeek.
Mr. McMahon sold the agency in 2004 to Omnicom, the world's largest advertising agency holding company. Since the sale he has launched AeroMoto Group, continued work on his Lancair ES airplane (capable of carrying four passengers at speeds in excess of 250 mph) and is preparing to announce the formation of a new motorcycle racing team.
In May 2006, Michael finished training and received his FAA Light Sport Repairman Maintenance rating. One of the first 25 LSRMAs in the United States, the rating allows him to repair and to perform annual condition inspections for the new Light Sport Airplanes. This new rating further extends the involvement of Aero Moto Group in cutting edge aviation activities and provides us with further technical insights.