 He first gained recognition as a pollster to New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani during the 1997 mayoral campaign.Snyder launched New Media Strategies in November 1999 with $150,000 from his own savings, credit cards, and the investments of friends and family, initially running the company from his Capitol Hill apartment.Based on his market research experience, Snyder chose to treat the Internet as "the world's largest focus group," creating the first Internet firm to offer data mining and real-time communications consultation to clients.