In the spotlight with Ian Sims - Founder of Rightlander.com

As a leader in affiliate compliance and marketing technology, the people behind the scenes truly set us apart.

In this series, we'll introduce you to the professionals who drive innovation, ensure quality, and shape the future of our company. Join us as we uncover the stories and passions of the individuals who make Rightlander exceptional, starting with Rightlander founder Ian Sims.

Introduction

What’s your name and role, and how long have you been with Rightlander.com?

Ian Sims, co-founder and the original geek responsible for writing the first version of Rightlander that launched in 2018. We now have a team of way more impressive geeks who have ripped up a lot of my code up and made it much smarter!

Can you share a bit about your professional background before joining the company?

I think of myself as a developer by trade, although the last 4 roles I have had have all been in companies I have started. I'd previously been an IT manager at Barclays and got fed up working within the confines of ISO9001 which stripped away all opportunity for creativity along with any motivation to get up in the morning! So I took voluntary redundancy and used the money to teach myself how to program and, more importantly, considering this was 1994, how to write websites, meaning I was lucky enough to be there for "ground zero" when it comes to e-commerce. Never looked back.

Professional Journey

What have been some key milestones in your career?

Taking voluntary redundancy from Barclays was the first pivotal moment. Using the money to start up my first Internet business soon after that was the second moment, then clicking on the word "affiliates" at the bottom of the Ladbrokes website in 2004 was the third. All of equal importance, all changed my life but the last one was the best!

Can you highlight a significant achievement or project at Rightlander.com that you’re proud of?

Writing the initial web scanner to find compliance issues is the achievement I am most proud of and more recently implementing our "Intel" and "Trackback" products which together I hope will underpin the long-term business.

Day-to-Day Role

What does a typical day look like for you in your role?

I get up and showered around 8am, give or take. First thing is always a cup of tea and a short chat with family and dogs and then I'm in front of the PC. I'm at my sharpest in the morning: totally the opposite of when I was younger! Running a business means the days vary: a lot of conversations, strategising and just business stuff.

Occasional trips to London or a conference feature too, both of which I enjoy for the variation. My real passion is programming so if I am lucky, I get to do some in the afternoon but it tends to be mainly evenings and weekends. I usually pack up around midnight, taking breaks for food, basics, the occasional dog walk, and a weekly round of golf. I might watch an hour of TV in the evening if there's a good documentary. My job is my hobby, so it rarely feels like work—I love it, mostly!

Company Vision and Goals

What is your vision for the future of Rightlander.com?

Compliance is part of a larger process which ultimately is to ensure that brands and partners are commercially successful. But it's a very important part in order to protect brand integrity and ensure that consumer expectations are managed properly. The natural progression is to use the compliance scanning process to help both parties meet that goal.

What are the key initiatives or goals you’re currently focused on?

Discovery of traffic sources can be a huge problem for brands because partners often spread their message across multiple sites and social platforms so our "Trackback" product which detects those sources underpins our eCommerce strategy. Then it comes down to using the data effectively. We already use AI and have done for years in the shape of machine learning but using it for predictive analysis based on historical and current trends is becoming increasingly accessible.

How do you see Rightlander.com evolving over the next few years?

I hate having a fixed roadmap because our clients present us with new problems to solve on an ongoing basis, so we need to be both proactive and reactive but remain as agile as we can. So while we have ideas and plans, our clients' needs regularly contribute to that conversation.

Personal Insights

What do you enjoy doing in your free time? Do you have any hobbies or interests?

I love animals, I play golf and music plays a huge role in my life. I have a decent sized vinyl collection, subscriptions to Spotify and Tidal HiFi and pretty much always have ambient or downtempo music on in the background when I am working. One of my staff recently said it always sounds like I am in a spa! And I enjoy going to gigs too. My passion is electronic music, anything that creates atmosphere, euphoria or evokes positive emotion.

My pet hate is negativity: I'd rather leave the room than engage with negative thinkers. My philosophy is "in every problem lies an opportunity" not the other way round! Beyond that, I'm a keen armchair football fan and love playing fantasy football: That takes up quite a lot of my spare time but - sadly or otherwise - my hobby is programming so much of my time is invested in trying to research and learn about possible technical solutions to problems or needs that Rightlander clients raise.

Animals are where my philanthropic ambitions lie: especially dogs but pretty much all pets and wildlife and more and more I find I now vote on green issues which protect the environment we and all other life lives in.

Can you share a fun fact or something unexpected about yourself?

I came 34th out of 34 at school, got kept down to resit a whole year and failed my A-levels spectacularly ("F" for failed ... and one even got a "U" which stands for "Unclassified" it was that bad). In my defence, punk was partly to blame.

Advice and Inspiration

What motivates you to keep pushing forward in your career?

Coding to create stuff: I would be totally lost without that.

Who or what inspires you in your professional and personal life?

I like to see people succeed. That's both inspiring and also fun to try and be a part of. Beyond that, I am quite competitive so anything that allows me to compete, mainly for the banter, is very motivational :-)

Closing Remarks

Is there anything else you’d like to share?

I can't start to watch a TV series, no matter how good people say it is. I just feel I am about to waste a lot of time and I don't understand why you are asked to invest 30, 40 or 50 hours watching "seasons" of a story that could all have been done and dusted in a 2 hour film.