Meet WebPurify’s Josh Buxbaum

Josh Buxbaum’s commitment to customer satisfaction is one of the driving forces behind WebPurify’s success. As WebPurify’s Director of Sales and Client Services and one of the company’s two co-founders, he oversees client relations and ensures the best moderation solution based on each individual client’s needs. If you work with WebPurify, you will work hand-in-hand with Buxbaum.

“I engage with new potential clients as well as clients who have been with us for many years. My role is less sales-driven and more focused on consulting with clients to help them solve their moderation concerns in the most efficient and safest way,” explains Buxbaum.

Originally from New York City, he moved to Los Angeles in 1999 for a very important reason: better weather. Find out more about his work with WebPurify and a few fun facts in the Q&A below.

Q: Why did you believe in WebPurify from the start?

A: Well, I never liked calling WebPurify a company, I always referred to it as a solution. It’s no secret that success comes from solving a problem, and WebPurify began and continues to evolve as an incredibly powerful solution for a very clear problem.

Q: What problem does WebPurify solve?

A: I was always in awe of the overwhelming amount of offensive content on the Internet. It made sense to find this kind of material on certain sites, but it was always surprising to find it on sites geared towards children or high-profile brands.

To this day, we still encounter new start ups who are naïve about the risks of user-generated content (UGC). I have heard new companies say, “Our users are not the type to submit bad stuff” or “we don’t attract that kind of audience.” This dangerous approach of exposing your site to un-moderated UGC, typically yields a panicky phone call a few days after launch looking to integrate our solutions ASAP. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take long for offensive text, images or video to find their way onto your platform.

Q: What’s your favorite thing about your job?

A: Interacting daily with our clients. We have built significant relationships over the years and it is always fun to recall when some clients first came to us as a small startup and now have evolved into high-volume, extremely successful companies. I also enjoy being part of launching new, exciting marketing campaigns with our interactive agency partners.

Q: What is something you’ve learned from your work at WebPurify?

A: Well, I have certainly seen the darker side of the Internet and recognize that it is a scary world out there. On the other hand, it is inspiring to see how many companies want to protect their users with our text, image and video moderation solutions to keep that scary world away from their brand and community.

Q: What’s one of the strangest conversations that you’ve had with a client?

A: Sadly, the giggling fourth grader that lives inside of me never left and so I do still smile when certain words come up on our calls. We are the only business where the word “cleavage” is often said many times on an important conference call with a new client. You can imagine the others, but that is the language of moderation and essential to identifying each client’s unique moderation requirements and tolerance for varying content.

Q: What did you study in college?

A: At George Washington University, I studied Communications with a minor, randomly, in Emergency Medicine.

Q: Have you ever had to put that Emergency Medicine knowledge to use?

A: Unfortunately, yes. We were at a conference in Las Vegas when an older lady collapsed in the lobby of our hotel. It had been years since I trained for this sort of thing, but I did my best to maintain basic support until the paramedics arrived. We later found out that the lady had a stroke, but was expected to make a full recovery.

Q: What’s your go-to gadget?

A: If my iPhone is not within inches of my reach, I get the shakes.

Q: What app can’t you live without?

A: My password manager app, LastPass.

Q: Fill in the sentence: “I never leave home without ___________.”

A: My laptop and road rage.

Q: Favorite sports team?

A: My fiancé is from Baton Rouge and so I have begrudgingly become an LSU fan.

Q: Cats or dogs?

A: Dogs. I have two: Dani and Travis. Dani is an Airedale and Travis is a Lakeland Terrier. I have always had terriers. They fit my personality.

Q: When you’re not working, what do you like to do?

A: I volunteer for an organization called United In Harmony. I am on the board and do a lot of fundraising but my favorite part is Camp Harmony, where we bring hundreds of homeless children to a sleepover camp for a week a few times a year. I also enjoy playing piano and singing.

Have a question for the WebPurify team? We’d love to hear from you. Contact us.