Open Market

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...

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...

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...

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.spoti...

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 wear...