Episodes

  • MadConnect CEO Bob Walczak on the Publicis-LiveRamp Deal and the Future of Adtech M&A

    MadConnect CEO Bob Walczak on the Publicis-LiveRamp Deal and the Future of Adtech M&A
    May 20 2026
    MadConnect CEO Bob Walczak joins Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa to break down why Publicis’ acquisition of LiveRamp is one of the most important adtech deals in years and what it reveals about the future of the industry. They discuss why connectivity and interoperability have become so strategically valuable, why Publicis made such an aggressive move from a position of strength, and what this deal says about the growing pressure on holdcos to own more of the advertising stack. The conversation also explores whether this signals a broader acceleration of adtech M&A and what the other holdcos may do next.
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    34 mins
  • Joe on the No. 1 Trick to Adtech Messaging

    Joe on the No. 1 Trick to Adtech Messaging
    May 13 2026
    Most adtech companies' no. 1 messaging challenge is focus. Joe Zappa goes solo to explain why the hardest part of messaging isn’t writing, but choosing one clear, differentiated idea instead of a list of everything you do. He breaks down why “omnichannel DSP/SSP driving outcomes” fails, how companies get trapped competing inside crowded categories, and what it takes to build a provocative narrative that actually sticks. If you want to be remembered and command attention, here is a three-step playbook.
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    22 mins
  • Shane Shevlin of Bedrock Platform on the World's First Containerized DSP

    Shane Shevlin of Bedrock Platform on the World's First Containerized DSP
    May 6 2026
    Eric talks with Shane Shevlin, co-founder and CEO of Bedrock Platform, about Bedrock's launch of the industry's first containerized DSP running directly on Index Cloud. They unpack what containerization means for buyers, how collapsing latency from 200ms to under 1ms reshapes bidder economics, and why the DSP moat is shifting from infrastructure to decisioning and data. Plus: building ad tech from London, lessons from Possible, and what's next for Bedrock in the US.
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    26 mins
  • Ibotta CRO Chris Riedy on Evolving from Founder-Led Sales to a Sales Machine

    Ibotta CRO Chris Riedy on Evolving from Founder-Led Sales to a Sales Machine
    Apr 28 2026
    Ibotta CRO Chris Riedy joins Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa to break down one of the hardest transitions for startups: evolving from founder-led sales to a real sales organization. They discuss what great founder-led sales looks like, why the transition can break momentum, and how to professionalize without losing what made the company work early on. Chris shares how to structure teams, hire the right mix of talent, and build a strong partnership between CEO and CRO. They also cover how the shift to outcomes-based advertising is changing sales, where marketing should support, and what founders need to do to scale effectively.
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    45 mins
  • Corey Ferengul on the 6 CEO Personas from Startup to $500M in Revenue

    Corey Ferengul on the 6 CEO Personas from Startup to $500M in Revenue
    Apr 22 2026
    Aperiam Partner Corey Ferengul joins Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa to break down the six CEO archetypes — sales, product, CTO, visionary, operator, and CFO — and how each one shows up at different stages of a company’s growth. They walk through how these personas evolve from scrappy startup mode to scaled organizations, where they succeed, where they struggle, and when new leadership layers need to come in. They also discuss the tension between vision and execution, why certain archetypes fade or become liabilities over time, and what it takes to build a balanced leadership team.
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    40 mins
  • Consumable CEO Mark Levin on Bootstrapping a Big Audio Business

    Consumable CEO Mark Levin on Bootstrapping a Big Audio Business
    Apr 14 2026
    Consumable CEO Mark Levin joins Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa to share the founding story behind his audio advertising company and why he chose to bootstrap in an industry dominated by venture-backed players. They discuss what it means to make audio “addressable everywhere,” why the channel has struggled to meet its potential in the past, and how advertisers are reacting. Mark also breaks down how he built the business from the ground up, including early customer acquisition and go-to-market evolution. Finally, they explore the tradeoffs of bootstrapping, advice for founders considering that path, and what the future of audio looks like as a performance channel.
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    29 mins
  • Eric Interviews Joe: The Sharp Pen Story and CEO Evangelism

    Eric Interviews Joe: The Sharp Pen Story and CEO Evangelism
    Apr 8 2026
    Eric Franchi turns the tables and interviews co-host Joe Zappa on the founding story of Sharp Pen, how the agency evolved into a CEO evangelism machine, and what’s broken about traditional PR that they set out to fix. They dig into the company's product-market fit moment, what didn’t work early on, the biggest client wins and failures, and how Joe gets executives to say things they’d never put in a press release. They also cover where Sharp Pen goes next and what advice Joe has for adtech CEOs looking to build a voice in a noisy market.
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    34 mins
  • Marketecture CEO Jeremy Bloom on the New Adtech Media

    Marketecture CEO Jeremy Bloom on the New Adtech Media
    Apr 1 2026
    Marketecture CEO Jeremy Bloom joins Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa to discuss why he left the operating side of adtech to build a media company and what’s driving the shift toward founder- and practitioner-led media. They break down what traditional coverage gets wrong, the opportunities and challenges of operator-driven content, and Marketecture’s strategy behind acquiring properties like AdTechGod and AdLand. Jeremy also weighs in on what makes certain creators break through and how founders should navigate the new media landscape.
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    47 mins