Open Market

Duration Media CEO Andy Batkin joins Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa to discuss why and how his company evolved from a focus on viewability to curation and combining old-school sales and marketing tactics with more modern approaches.

First, Eric shares a prediction from Anthropic's CEO on AI-fueled labor disruption and examines how that will affect jobs in advertising, media, and adtech. Then, Joe shares his critique of romanticizing the open web and clarifies three things adtech companies should be thinking about when considering the future of the open web: what consumers want, what advertisers want, and websites vs CTV, audio, and DOOH.

Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa discuss whether micropayments will overtake ads as the default monetization model for the open internet as well as OpenAI's big hardware bet and its implications for advertising. Plus, Joe provides three marketing tips on staying the course, when to respond to criticism, and how the advertising echo chamber works. Finally, Joe reveals what animal Sharp Pen would be.

Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa break down what happened at DMS by LUMA, highlighting four trends: the Outcomes Era, AI transformation, the war for the open internet, and the explosion of creators. They dive deep into how open internet adtech companies can position themselves against the walled gardens by leaning into transparency and whether creators represent the latest phase of the open internet. GTM tips abound.

Joe Zappa and Eric Franchi workshop to SWYM story in real-time, unearthing with Ravi Patel how to describe SWYM's differentiated approach to its eponymous mission: helping advertisers to stop wasting their money. They discuss the many curation / quality plays out there and how SWYM differs as well as the evolution from ad buying 1.0 to 2.0 to (now) 3.0. Plus, Joe tries to find out what Ravi and Eric need to stop wasting their money on (to little avail).

Kevel CEO James Avery joins Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa on the pod to discuss how Kevel has evolved over the years, the current retail media landscape, and what the space will look like in five years. Also, Eric and Joe do a deep dive on Kevel's story, and the three workshop the company's messaging in real-time.

Joe rants at Eric about how to turn a company's value proposition into a compelling story that brings more customers and those who influence them into a company's circle. Also, Joe and Eric cover how to optimize for a team of smart folks who make complicated things simple, the value of playing long-term games with long-term people, and the emerging alternative to college.

Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa discuss POSSIBLE joining the ranks of adtech's tentpole events, how many brands were there, the two ways to approach events (spontaneous connections or maniacal planning), brand-startup connections, and Joe Zawadzki's recognizable floppy hair. Plus, Joe analyzes The Trade Desk CEO Jeff Green's LinkedIn presence and explains how he'd approach it differently.

Dr. Mark Grether joins the pod to talk about the four components of a massive commerce media business, how to maximize the opportunity for advertisers, why he joined PayPal to build their commerce media network after building Uber's ad business to $1B in revenue, and how AI is changing commerce media for advertisers, media owners, and consumers.

OpenAds CTO (and former Moat engineer) Michael Bishop and Zefr CEO Rich Raddon join Eric and Joe to discuss the evidence-based case (or lack thereof) for brand safety, why we should shift our mindset from safety to suitability and contextual targeting, the link between suitability and performance, and how AI is changing the space. Plus, Michael drops the term "poststructuralist" on the pod, a philosophical allusion for the ages.

Friend of the pod and Crosshatch CEO Soren Larson joins Eric and Joe to discuss how AI is transforming venture scaling and bootstrapped business building, the hot sectors of adtech, and how LLMs will change the customer experience. Plus, Soren is now a car guy, and Joe presses Eric on the dark secrets of VC secret society.

OpenAI says it won't build an ad business. Joe and Eric say it will — and it'll be massive. Plus, how AI is boosting margins, why adtech disproportionately rewards second-time founders, and what Eric's Enneagram type reveals.

Eric dons his professorial glasses and trots out his most sumptuous-sounding microphone to hold office hours as he and Joe discuss the performance TV thesis' equivalent for the open web, how Joe can work with early-stage startup founders, and how you know you have product-market fit (hint: it's like porn).

Matt Newcomb, head of Azerion in the US, UK, and APAC, joins Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa to dive deep into mergers and acquisitions. They discuss how the CEO can maximize a company's chances of a favorable exit, integration best practices, what will drive adtech M&A over the next couple of years, and war stories. Joe promises to visit Eric in his nursing home and shares what it's like to record a pod with not one but two handsome devils.

Eric and Joe discuss the three things you need to do to maximize the impact of a product launch or press announcement by analyzing the success of two launches last week: Scope3's AI products and Aperiam 2.0. Plus, Eric can't sit with Joe at lunch, and Eric is hoarding modernist wooden elephants.

Streamr CEO Jonathan Moffie joins Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa to discuss AppLovin's success, the performance TV opportunity, making streaming accessible to SMB advertisers, and returning to his natural role as a reply guy, be it on Brooklyn Nets or adtech Twitter.

Marpipe founder and CEO Dan Pantelo joins Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa on the pod to talk about bringing his company back from a near-collapse during the Silicon Valley Bank crash, rejecting an acquisition offer, discovering product-market fit, and dynamic product ads' contribution to the future of performance advertising.

Octane11 CEO Dan Rosenberg joins Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa to discuss B2B marketing measurement, lessons from MediaMath, and differentiating from other data/measurement companies.

Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa talk about the the formula for generating more attention, where we are in the adtech hype cycle, the time Joe got denied a $650/month raise, and weeks where decades happen.

Adtech influencer and product guy Erez Levin joins Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa on the pod to debate Joe's thesis, the Outcomes Era, and present an alternative, the Quality Era. They debate whether Outcomes or Quality is the dominant paradigm of digital advertising, what constitutes a quality or real outcome, and whether media should be primarily valued based on its quality or its propensity to drive sales, among other points. Eric leverages his experience refereeing fights in his dojo gym to moderate.

OpenAds co-founder and CTO Michael Bishop joins Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa to discuss how AI will transform static ads into personalized experiences, the multi-hundred-billion-dollar AI "search" ad opportunity, the challenges and advantages of building an adtech AI startup, and the irrational, gut-oriented disposition tech entrepreneurs need to go after huge but hard opportunities.

Crosshatch CEO Soren Larson joins Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa to discuss how AI will improve customer experiences, why first-party data isn't enough to power personalization, the intersection of AI agents and advertising, and the role of the agency in an AI-driven advertising industry.

Peer39 CEO Mario Diez joins Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa to discuss why publishers banding together failed 11 years ago and still hasn't worked, the advantages of a GTM CEO and the gaps they need to fill, how adtech GTM has changed over the last 15 years, and the future of advertising data companies in an AI-driven world.

Viant CEO and co-founder Tim Vanderhook joins Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa live at CES to discuss what's next for ViantAI, how AI will disrupt advertising, the ramifications of Google's dominance, and CES vibes.

The mysterious deity of adtech, Adtech God, joins Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa on the pod to discuss how to build an audience and community, why most adtech companies are still approaching marketing with a 2005 playbook, and what individuals and organizations can do to capture the precious attention of their audiences.

It's just Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa, your humble hosts, on this episode as they break down the ever-increasing power of content to influence your reputation and relationships, the companies that dominated adtech in 2024, and the adtech and advertising sectors to watch in 2025. Plus, Eric hates dogs (if you know, you know).

tvScientific CEO and co-founder Jason Fairchild joins Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa to talk about the lessons he brought from OpenX to tvScientific, inventing the performance TV category, and which big players, including The Trade Desk and AppLovin, might get into performance TV (or not).

AdLib CEO and co-founder Mike Hauptman joins Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa to tell the story of meta DSP AdLib's reinvention after the collapse of MediaMath in 2023. We go deep into the story of the day MediaMath was shut off and explore how AdLib reoriented itself and came back stronger in the wake of that event. Plus, Joe makes fun of Eric for being old — replete with nautical metaphors!

Permutive CEO and co-founder Joe Root joins Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa to discuss the evolution of the DMP category and how to evolve the identity of a company as market forces shift around it. Eric and Joe put Joe Root in the hot seat, too, as they workshop Permutive's message in real-time.

Matt Barash is perhaps the best example of an adtech influencer. The master networker and content creator joins Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa to discuss what most people get wrong about building influence, his theory of attention, why executives shouldn't be afraid of controversy, and the opportunities Matt is excited about today in the advertising industry.

Jay Friedman, CEO of Goodway Group, joins Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa to talk about elevating marketing within organizations, developing a distinct marketing philosophy, driving incremental returns on advertising, and carving out space for yourself and your business with bold, provocative takes.

Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa interview Mathieu Roche, CEO & co-founder of ID5, about evangelizing identity solutions before it was cool, driving urgency, competing with big players, bringing a European business to market in the US, and managing a remote-first workplace.

Co-hosts Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa speak with Vibe founder and CEO Arthur Querou about an unconventional adtech product launch, aligning product with marketing and sales, and the differences between enterprise and SMB sales.

Co-hosts Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa interview Terry Kawaja, founder and CEO of LUMA. They cover the existential importance of marketing to acquisitions, the role of the CEO in building the brand of a startup, and the optimal conditions for exiting.

Joe Zappa interviews co-host Eric Franchi about the biggest lessons he learned building and selling Undertone. Eric talks about his best-ever hires, the biggest challenge Undertone faced in his tenure, and how he approached life and business post-exit.

Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa interview Sincera founder Mike O'Sullivan about the category Sincera is creating, marketing early-stage startups, and the risks of playing it safe.

This week on the pod, co-hosts Joe Zappa and Eric Franchi dig into the new frontier of taste in Silicon Valley, whether you should hire a head of growth and what they should focus on, the MrBeast memo, viral adtech social posts, and Mark Zuckerberg's live interview on stage with the Acquired pod.Links:Taste is Eating Silicon Valley. by Anu AtluruAndrew Yeung's LinkedIn post on “Head of Growth”MrBeast memo

Co-hosts Joe Zappa and Eric Franchi chat with Eric Seufert about how he's used thought leadership, especially via his blog Mobile Dev Memo, to launch successful tech, media, and investing businesses and become one of the best-known voices in mobile.

Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa chat with Tim and Chris Vanderhook, co-founders of Viant. They discuss the Vanderhooks' creative approach to the extremely successful launch of ViantAI, their take on “founder mode,” and how their approach to adtech entrepreneurship has evolved over 25 years. (Note: Viant is a client of Joe's agency, Sharp Pen. This episode was not sponsored.)

Joe Zappa interviews co-host Eric Franchi, a general partner at the venture capital fund Aperiam, to identify the three traits his three most successful investments have in common. They discuss Kevel, Transmit.live, and tvScientific.

Michael Katz, CEO and co-founder of the customer data platform mParticle, joins Joe Zappa and Eric Franchi on the pod to discuss his take on founder mode. Michael argues that founders can most effectively build organizations by focusing on two factors, context and culture, but most leaders optimize for the wrong factors when they make key hires.

Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa interview adtech entrepreneur Brian O'Kelley. The former Right Media and AppNexus executive turned co-founder and CEO of marketing sustainability company Scope3 discusses how his approach to leadership has changed and how to inspire boldness and drive as organizations scale. Brian also touches on whether he'd do the AppNexus acquisition the same way today and responds to common criticisms of Scope3.

This week on the pod, Joe Zappa and Eric Franchi interview the sharpest-tongued CEO in adtech, Lauren Wetzel. Newly minted as the CEO of InfoSum, Lauren talks about her journey to the position, including: How her consulting background launched her into the adtech C-suiteThe Venn diagram between a COO and a CEOWhy a company should hire a chief of staff (or not)Why CEOs shouldn't be afraid of speaking out about industry issues

Joe Zappa and Eric Franchi mourn the death of PR as we know it. Listen to the episode to learn how PR and other forms of marketing are becoming more entwined — and how CEOs should assume the mantle of PR on social.

Joe Zappa interviews his co-host, Eric Franchi, a general partner at the venture capital fund Aperiam, about how to become an investor. They cover: The difference between being an operator and a VCHow VCs decide which startups to fund What founders should expect from investorsHow to get into investingWhether non-professional investors should do angel investing

This week's episode is a marketing grab bag! Eric and Joe discuss: Why most companies misunderstand B2B marketing attributionHow companies should respond to the latest on cookies from a GTM POVWhat founders can be doing early on to market themselvesWhat companies should be getting out of a 20-person marketing team

This week on the pod, Eric and Joe are joined by Chris Riedy, former VP of Global Sales and Marketing at Twitter and current CRO at tvScientific, to discuss how to build sales organizations. Chris has the answers to all your sales development questions, whether your business is an early-stage startup or tech behemoth.

Joe gets his Bill Simmons on in this quick solo episode on how to do strategic marketing.If you go on B2B marketing LinkedIn (God help you), you'll see tons of people talking about strategic marketing. But what actually are the components of a marketing strategy? How do you put one together?Joe explains how he writes a strategic marketing plan in this episode so that you can do the same — or know what to expect from your marketing colleagues.

Joe interviews Eric Franchi and Mike Cassidy to unearth the story of Undertone, the ad network company they sold to Perion for $180 million.How did Eric and Mike get Undertone to about $3M in revenue as an agency? Why did they switch to the ad network model? And how did they scale it from there to $100M in revenue, including key hires, GTM, and taking on private equity?Check out this deep dive to hear two founders' take on the steps required to produce a massively successful adtech outcome.

Joe and Eric interview Ryan Pauley, President of Revenue and Growth at Vox Media, to uncover how the digital media company moved into audio with great success. They cover the best practices for expanding to audio, how to exploit what makes audio unique (think: talent, personality, and intimacy), and what differentiates audio as a marketing opportunity. Check out the episode to learn insider tips from someone who did it right!

Co-hosts Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa discuss the four ways to win with adtech marketing (including great detail on how to pursue each strategy).1. Differentiated story 2. Original data/insights3. Thought leadership4. Being prolific, present, and personableCheck out the pod to learn about how to grow your business with each approach!