The Community Exchange Podcast by OpenWeb

On this episode of The Community Exchange Podcast, we welcome Mary Liz McCurdy, SVP of Business Development at The Atlantic, to discuss: — From the Stanford Daily to Google to The Atlantic — a career built around saving journalism — Turning The Atlantic into a subscription-first business based on loyalty and community — How The Atlantic maps threats and opportunities across the entire content supp...

On this episode of The Community Exchange Podcast, we welcome Kelly Andresen, EVP of Demand Sales at OpenWeb, to discuss: From Washington Post ad innovations to building branded content studios from scratch Why storytelling is still the most underrated skill in advertising Why human relationships matter more than ever in a world run by AI The role of agencies in this new digital landscape. Why the...

On this episode of The Community Exchange Podcast, we welcome Nikhil Kolar, VP, Product & Engineering at Microsoft to discuss: — From Amazon and Bing to leading Microsoft's content ecosystem — Why publishers need a seat at the AI table this time — Flipping the bot strategy: only allow the ones that pay you — The Microsoft Publisher Content Marketplace and fair content compensation — How ag...

On this episode of The Community Exchange Podcast, we welcome Karen Oh, Chief of Staff and Head of Strategic Partnerships & Initiatives at Ziff Davis, to discuss: • Building a career across Goldman Sachs, Deloitte, and Meta before landing in media • The story behind one of media's rarest roles: Chief of Staff at a major digital publisher • The real reasons publisher traffic is declining be...

On this episode of The Community Exchange Podcast, we welcome Vineet Khosla, Chief Technology Officer at The Washington Post, to discuss: — Building Siri, Uber Maps, and now the Washington Post’s AI strategy — How AI is reshaping news creation, distribution, and consumption — Why journalism remains essential in a world of AI-generated answers — The growing importance of first-party audience, trust...

On this episode of The Community Exchange Podcast, we welcome Matt Sanchez, Chief Operating Officer at Yahoo, to discuss: From startup founder to product and operations leader Why media companies need stronger product thinking Rebuilding digital products around utility and daily habits How AI is changing product speed and consumer expectations Why attribution and trust matter in the next wave of s...

On this episode of The Community Exchange Podcast, we welcome Caroline Harris, SVP of Content Monetization at USA Today. In our discussion, MSG and Caroline discuss: Early career shaping streaming distribution and pricing models at the BBC Front-row seat to the shift from cable to streaming and platform ecosystems Building partner success strategies across major media platforms and apps Leading US...

On this episode of The Community Exchange Podcast, we welcome Sara Beykpour, Co-Founder and CEO of Particle News. In our discussion, MSG and Sara discuss: — Her 12-year journey at Twitter across Android, Vine, and Periscope — Building during Twitter’s “lightning in a bottle” era of real-time media — Founding Particle and rethinking how news should be consumed in the AI era — Designing a neutral, a...

On this episode of The Community Exchange Podcast, we welcome Marc Guldimann, Founder and CEO of Adelaide. In our discussion, MSG and Marc discuss: Mark’s path from decision science and wireless startups into adtech entrepreneurship How years of experimentation shaped his thinking on attention and media measurement Why attention matters in advertising — and where it can go wrong The idea behind AU...

On this episode of The Community Exchange Podcast, we welcome Jonah Goodhart, Co-Founder and CEO of Mobian. In our discussion, MSG and Jonah discuss: Jonah’s career journey from founding early internet ventures to co-creating Right Media, Moat, and now Mobian Lessons from building and scaling companies that reshaped digital advertising, measurement, and verification Why attention—not impressions—i...

On this episode of The Community Exchange Podcast, we welcome Sam Mellor - VP, Marketing and Commercial Growth, NA, BBC. In our discussion, MSG and Sam discuss: Sam’s career journey as a transformation marketer, leading organizations through inflection points across sports, media, and entertainment The role of strategy, mission clarity, and organizational design in navigating change and growth How...

On this episode of The Community Exchange Podcast, we welcome Ken Blom, Chief Business Officer at BuzzFeed. In our discussion, MSG and Ken discuss: Ken’s career path from search and agency work to joining BuzzFeed in its early social-first days Lessons from scaling BuzzFeed through the rise of Facebook distribution, Tasty, and branded content The challenges of platform dependency and what publishe...

On this episode of The Community Exchange Podcast, we welcome Nina Gould, Chief Innovation Officer at Forbes. In our discussion, MSG and Nina discuss: Nina’s career journey from designer and coder at  Forbes.com  to Chief Product Officer and now Chief Innovation Officer The shift from print to digital and how legacy publishers adapted business models and workflows Product’s unique role sitting bet...

On this episode of The Community Exchange Podcast, we welcome Tatyana Zlotsky, CEO at A Place for Mom. In our discussion, MSG and Tatyana discuss: Tatyana’s career journey from marketing leadership at American Express to becoming CEO of A Place for Mom Lessons from building customer-centric innovation at scale, including launching Small Business Saturday The evolution of performance marketing and...

On this episode of The Community Exchange Podcast, we welcome Jim Daily, CEO at OpenWeb. In our discussion, Jim and MSG cover: Jim’s journey from aspiring golf pro to global ad tech executive and CEO of OpenWeb Scaling Teads from a $10M French startup to a $700M global business and lessons from hypergrowth The importance of hiring smarter people, empowering teams, and building disruptive products...

On this episode of The Community Exchange Podcast, we welcome Pam Wasserstein, President and Vice Chair at Vox Media. In our discussion, MSG and Pam discuss: Pam’s journey from Harvard Law to M&A, private equity, and creative leadership at Tribeca Enterprises, New York Magazine, and Vox Media Lessons from leading New York Magazine’s digital transformation and brand portfolio expansion The 2019...

On this episode of The Community Exchange Podcast, we welcome Jessica Giles, Managing Director, Media and Publishing, Code and Theory. In our discussion, MSG and Jess discuss: Jess’s unconventional path from film school to brand strategy leadership via The New Yorker, Vogue, and Condé Nast The early magazine media and leadership lessons from Condé Nast culture Evolving brand strategy for publisher...

On this episode of The Community Exchange Podcast, we welcome Louise Story, Chief Executive Officer at Atlas Obscura. In our discussion, Louise and MSG cover: Louise’s rise from award-winning investigative journalist to Chief Product & Technology Officer and now CEO of Atlas Obscura How Google and social algorithms reshaped newsrooms, and why AI may flip the script again Why “new news” is now...

On this episode of The Community Exchange Podcast, we welcome Bridget Williams, Chief Product and Strategy Officer at Hearst Newspapers. In our discussion, MSG and Bridget discuss: Bridget’s dynamic 20+ year career across Business Insider, startups, and ultimately Hearst Newspapers The rebirth of local journalism and its national relevance Building digital products for real communities — not just...

On this episode of The Community Exchange Podcast, we welcome Lindsay Van Kirk, SVP and General Manager of Decipher at People Inc., to discuss: Her early days at AppNexus, scaling sales operations and learning from tough feedback Transitioning across ops, strategy, and product roles to drive publisher-side innovation The strategic foundation behind Decipher: intent-based data, cookieless targeting...

This is The Community Exchange Podcast, brought to you by OpenWeb: an interview podcast series featuring the leaders building the media ecosystem of the future. This season, our host is industry veteran Matthew Scott Goldstein (a.k.a. MSG). Each episode, he explores our guests’ journeys through the media world, the work they are currently doing, and how they’re shaping the media and publishing ind...

On this episode of The Community Exchange Podcast, we welcome Jennifer Salant, VP of Global Partnerships & Business Development at Conde Nast. In our discussion MSG and Jennifer cover: Jennifer’s journey from early business development roles to VP at Condé Nast Pioneering strategic partnerships and revenue streams at iVillage and Glam Media The evolution of digital media: From blogging network...

On this episode of The Community Exchange Podcast, we welcome Will Lee, CEO of Adweek. In our discussion, MSG and Will cover: Will Lee’s journey from finance to leading major media brands The transformation of digital media from print to online journalism How AI is reshaping advertising, creativity, and media strategy The evolving role of agencies and marketers in a digital-first world The busines...

In this episode of The Community Exchange Podcast, we welcome Gabriel DeWitt, Head of Monetization at Yahoo. In our discussion, MSG and Gabriel cover: Gabriel’s journey from software engineering to ad tech leadership Digital advertising's evolution from direct sales to programmatic Header bidding's rise and its impact on the open internet Challenges of monetization, privacy regulations, and the co...

On this episode of The Community Exchange Podcast, we welcome Mike O'Sullivan, Co-Founder and CEO at Sincera. In our discussion MSG and Mike cover: Mike O’Sullivan’s journey from Microsoft to founding Sincera The evolution of programmatic advertising and ad tech Challenges in reporting, transparency, and data management Google’s antitrust cases and its impact on the ad tech ecosystem Unlocking...