The player: Brian Steel, CEO of Volo Media in Mountain View, Calif.

The play: Volo Media, previously known as Podbridge, provides technology that pairs ads with downloadable audio and video programming and then measures the consumption of that content. Volo stitches ads into content that consumers have downloaded from iTunes or directly from Web sites such as Fox News and MSNBC, two of Volo’s customers. Then Volo reports back to those content providers on the views and user demographics.

The pitch: Volo’s software is an all-in-one solution. The company’s competitive differentiator is that it offers data on viewership of ads as well as programming; it also provides the technology to marry ads with the content. Volo does that by integrating with content-delivery networks such as Akamai and Limelight.

In the mix: Customers include MSNBC, Fox News, Forbes and Bloomberg, which use Volo to track and measure their downloadable content. Volo competes with other ad-targeting firms that specialize in pairing ads with downloaded content, such as YuMe Networks.

Backstory: The company, which launched in 2005 as Podbridge, changed its name last month to Volo Media to reflect the recent shift in podcasting from audio to video.

The money guys: Volo Media has raised $18.5 million in two rounds of funding from Mayfield Fund, Sutter Hill Ventures and Worldview Technology Partners. Volo Media makes money two ways. When Volo sells the ads, it splits the ad revenue with the publisher. If the publisher sells the ads, the publisher keeps the ad revenue and pays a small license fee to Volo for use of the technology and for the measurement data. Mr. Steel expects to reach profitability in 2009.

Pros: “The opportunity is to be right smack dab center in the fastest-growing portion of digital media at the right time,” Mr. Steel said.

Cons: The biggest challenge is executing the idea in a crowded and fast-moving market, he added.

Background: Mr. Steel was born in Cambridge, Mass., and raised in nearby Wayland, Mass. He studied economics at Duke University and then moved to San Francisco after graduation. Before joining Volo, he worked at Yahoo for three years, most recently as president of international for search marketing. He is 48 and lives in the Bay Area with his wife. They have two children.

Who knew? Mr. Steel likes to race motorcycles for fun.