Joe and Corey are joined by Erica Chriss and we dug into a question that’s coming up everywhere: what happens to the open web as more consumer activity moves into AI-driven interfaces?
There’s no doubt the landscape is shifting — from checkout happening inside chat to new tools that shape how brands appear in LLM environments. But that doesn’t mean the open web is disappearing. It means publishers, advertisers, agencies, and platforms have to rethink how they show up. The advantage will go to those who adapt their business models, not just their tech stacks. Flexibility and experimentation matter more right now than certainty or scale.
The open web isn’t dead — it’s evolving, and there’s a lot of opportunity for those willing to move with it. Full episode coming soon.
In this episode of the Aperiam Podcast, Joe Zawadzki and Corey Ferengul talked about the hardest step — turning a great idea into a repeatable business. You can’t outsource that early work. The founder (and early team) have to be with customers, hearing what works, what doesn’t, and adjusting without losing sight of the bigger vision.
The mistake we see most often? Hiring a senior “head of sales” too early. The better move is to find a player-coach — someone who can sell alongside the founder and start building process without losing momentum.
Whether you’re a startup or a big company launching a new line of business, the same lesson applies: stay close to your customers, keep learning, and scale only when the pattern is real.
On this episode, we spoke with Max Snow and Frank Portman, the founders of Yobi.
Yobi started in 2019 as a research lab with roots in Princeton’s behavioral science program. From day one, they focused on predicting consumer behavior ethically and with privacy at the forefront—being “born post-GDPR” gave them an early framework to build responsibly.
What stood out in our conversation is how they’ve turned that foundation into one of the most powerful data estates in the market—investing over $100M to partner with enterprises like retailers and banks to assemble unique first- and second-party data. That dataset powers their AI models to rival the walled gardens, particularly in programmatic and CTV, and they’ve built deep partnerships with Microsoft Azure to scale securely and profitably.
Yobi shows what the next generation of ad tech looks like: transparent, data-rich, and aligned with business outcomes, not just media metrics.
In our latest Aperiam Podcast, Joe and Corey dug into the ongoing tug-of-war every CMO faces: what to keep in-house and what to outsource.
This isn’t a new debate. Marketing has always lived on a continuum—search once started outsourced, then became core. Social was brought in-house, then pushed out again. Creative has cycled between internal teams and outside agencies. And now AI is adding a new twist, with vendors pitching both sides of the argument: “AI makes it simple enough to run internally” vs. “AI lets us scale your marketing more cost-effectively.”
See where we think the pendulum will go next.
On this week’s Aperiam Podcast, Joe and I were joined by Ari Paparo to talk about his new book.
For years, Ari’s been both a builder and a commentator in our industry. From helping shape the foundations of programmatic to calling it like it is on his blog, he’s influenced how many of us understand ad tech. His book takes that further—capturing the history of programmatic, the personalities behind it, and the lessons learned along the way.
What I appreciate is that Ari doesn’t write like an outsider looking in. He’s lived the ups and downs, and that perspective makes the book more than just a history—it’s a candid reflection on what worked, what didn’t, and why.
In our conversation, we talked about why he felt the timing was right to publish, the themes he wanted to highlight, and what he hopes readers—operators, investors, or just curious observers—take away.
If you care about how digital advertising evolved, how programmatic became the backbone of the industry, or just want an insider’s view told with humor and honesty, this is an episode worth listening to—and a book worth reading.
Audience fragmentation isn’t just about where people spend time—it’s about who they trust.
In this episode of the Aperiam Podcast, Joe Zawadzki and Corey dive into how the splintering of media channels has reshaped trust itself. We discuss:
The conversation highlights a critical point: in today’s environment, earning attention isn’t enough. You also have to earn trust—and fragmentation makes that both harder and more important than ever.
In this episode of The Aperiam Podcast, Joe, Erica, and Corey dig nto a topic that has come back in force: ad networks.
For years, “ad network” was a dirty word in our industry. They were seen as opaque, arbitrage-driven, and destined to disappear as programmatic brought transparency. But here we are—everywhere we look, the network model is back.
A few themes from our discussion:
- Everything looks like an ad network again. Retail media, CTV, mobile gaming, even agencies—if you’re aggregating supply, demand, and data, you’re operating with network characteristics.
- Managed service is resurging. Now supported by AI and agentic workflows, it’s more transparent and cost-effective than ever.
- The middleman never left. The difference today is value—better data, better automation, and more ways to simplify complexity for buyers and sellers.
They walk through how the Ad Network concept is alive and well!
On the latest episode of The Aperiam Podcast, Joe and I sat down with Victoria Milo from Monks to talk about how AI is reshaping the way brands, agencies, and platforms work together.
One of the most striking takeaways: the real shift isn’t just AI itself—it’s the ways of working. Media and creative teams can no longer operate in silos. Platforms are building their own creative studios. CFOs are getting as involved in measurement as CMOs. And AI is the driver behind this convergence.
AI is forcing collaboration, breaking down walls between creative, media, and finance, and rewarding the companies that move fast. We discuss!
Consumer behavior is shifting fast—and marketers need to catch up.
In this episode of the Aperiam Podcast, Joe and Corey cover two trends reshaping digital advertising:
These shifts dramatically impact how you reach your audience and not giving them attention means missing your consumer.
If You’re Not Using AI in Dev, You’re Already Behind
AI is now a standard part of software development—at least for Aperiam’s portfolio. Every single company we surveyed is already using it. But only 9% have formal policies in place.
In our latest Aperiam Podcast, Joe Zawadzki and Corey Ferengul dive into what that tells us—and what it doesn’t. They cover:
They also dig into what’s next: the governance gap, the changing role of the executive, and whether 2025-born companies are structurally advantaged in an AI-native world.
Listen and let us know: How are you rolling out AI in your company? Are you a player-coach or still watching from the sideline?
On the latest episode of the Aperiam Podcast, Corey Ferengul and Joe Zawadzki are joined by Erica Chriss to unpack why “attention” is more than a buzzword—it's continuing to become the new currency of advertising.
They cover:
What attention metrics really mean
Why omni-channel chaos demands a normalized metric
How attention bridges brand, performance, and publisher value
Where AI helps (and where it doesn’t—yet)
If you care about outcomes, creative quality, or modern measurement, this episode is worth your full attention.
What do agencies, AI, and Domino’s pizza have in common?
In our latest episode of the Aperiam Podcast, we sit down with Jay Friedman—former CEO of Goodway Group—for a wide-ranging, unfiltered conversation about the future of marketing, agency reinvention, and what bold leadership really looks like.
From offshoring and AI-driven disruption to the broken brand/agency model and why most boards ignore $1.75B marketing budgets while obsessing over $50M factory build, lots to discuss!
What really goes into building a custom algorithm? Tylynn Pettrey, VP of Data Science at Chalice, joins us to unpack how marketers are shifting from out-of-the-box algos to precision-built decision engines.
We cover:
✅ The path to becoming a VP of Data Science (spoiler: it's rarely linear)
✅ How Chalice builds reusable AI microservices
✅ When to use platform algorithms vs. custom models
✅ The rise of containerized RTB and sell-side decisioning
✅ Why inclusion/exclusion lists might be killing your scale
✅ And yes... a horror story involving hallucinated LLM sales personas
How do brands really think—and what do startups get wrong when selling to them?
In this episode of The Aperiam Podcast, Joe and Corey sit down with our partner Danilo Toro, who brings a rare perspective as a marketer-turned-technologist with experience at P&G, Amazon, and Uber.
The team discusses:
If you had a blank slate—what kind of AdTech company would you build?
On this episode of the Aperiam Podcast, Joe and Corey kick around startup concepts, inspired by a little help from ChatGPT. From closed-loop attribution in Canada to influencer infrastructure, orchestration platforms, and agentic media buying—we cover the real whitespace in today’s adtech landscape.
We talk:
Joe and Corey give their thoughts on this year's Cannes Lion conference and unpack the many retail media announcements. From Amazon’s partnerships with Roku and Disney to the rise of verticalized commerce stacks, it’s clear: retail media is no longer a niche—it’s the connective tissue of modern advertising.
We explore:
If you’re trying to make sense of the chaos, this one's for you.
On the latest episode of The Aperiam Podcast, Corey Ferengul moderates…sort of a debate…between Joe Zawadzki and Erica Chriss on whether cookie deprecation was a crisis or a catalyst.
Was identity always essential—or have retail media and curation shown us a better path?
Smart, fast-paced, and full of insights for CMOs, investors, and adtech insiders.
On this episode of The Aperiam Podcast, Corey Ferengul and Joe Zawadzki go deep on what really drives investment decisions and even surface some disagreements. From exit potential and market understanding to founder grit and AI integration, what factors into the thinking.
No checklists. Just real talk on how VCs actually evaluate opportunities—and why trust, logic, and the route to market matter more than you think.
Whether you’re a founder, investor, or just curious how the venture sausage gets made, this one’s for you.
M&A in AdTech: Dead or Just Sleeping?
In this week's Aperiam Podcast, Corey and Joe dive into what’s really happening in the M&A market, why being “ready” matters even when you're not for sale, and how founders should think about story, data, and the art of the soft pitch. Get an indepth view on how Corey and Joe think about running an M&A process.
Plus, an Easter egg offer for our listeners…
Is Microsoft’s DSP shutdown a bold AI bet or a quiet surrender?
In this episode, Joe Zawadzki and Corey Ferengul unpack Microsoft's decision to wind down Xandr by 2026 — and what it signals about the future of DSPs in an agentic, AI-driven world. 🚫📈🤖
We talk:
If you care about the future of ad tech, automation, or why sometimes blowing things up is the right move — this one’s for you.
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