Episodes

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/insights 3. Thought leadership 4. Being prolific, present, and personable Check out the pod to learn about how to grow your business with each approach!

Co-hosts Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa dig into the evergreen question of what sets the great CEOs apart in the adtech world. Whether they’re a CEO/founder or a hired gun, a great CEO has to balance: Product expertise A GTM strategy Company culture and values Talent acquisition We rattle off a few “shiny” CEOs that come to mind and analyze what made them so successful. If you’re curious who made the list, this episode is for you! By the way, click here to read Auren Hoffman’s blog post on the LiveR...

Co-hosts Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa cover what to do if your market is too small to achieve your business goals. For example: How to launch a new product or enter into a new market When and how to involve your customers in market expansion efforts What sales/marketing and product teams need to do to get aligned How to derisk your transition by enlisting customer champions If you’re eyeing a pivot to retail media and/or CTV right now, this is for you!

Co-hosts Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa dive into the details of how adtech startups grow from $1M to $10M and what pitfalls to avoid along the way. They cover: What your team should look like around the $1M / Series A mark How to transition from founder-led sales to a professionalized sales team When and how to hire marketers What to look for and how much to pay key early hires such as a VP of sales Usually you need to book time with people like Eric to get this info. Now it’s available here!

Co-hosts Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa explain why you should hire a chief audience officer. The discussion includes: The 3 things adtech customers really care about Why most adtech companies' theories of victory are wrong What to look for in a chief audience officer Who in adtech is a good example of a potential CAO Also, here is the My First Million episode we discuss on the pod: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4qNgPuS5aePbWSgjdsKn2o?si=PHfj0u_TTEKLAOV67p1QLQ

Co-hosts Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa dive into a thought experiment: how to reverse-engineer a $10M adtech exit. They touch on: What value you need to provide to get bought for $10M An actual example of an adtech company that sold for low eight figures The ideal team Adtech product ideas that could lead to a quick $10M exit right now As a VC, Eric initially hated this idea, but by the end, Joe wears him down. Check out the X thread that started the discussion: https://x.com/joe_zappa/status/17882...