The Cred Podcast

What does it really take to hold an industry accountable? In this episode of The Cred Podcast, host Mack McKelvey sits down with Sean Cunningham, President and CEO of the Video Advertising Bureau (VAB), for a candid conversation about the state of premium video, the battle for measurement transparency, and why the future of advertising depends on getting back to real humans. From the inside story...

What if the most important decision your company makes this year isn't made by a human at all? In this episode of The Cred Podcast, Mack McKelvey sits down with serial entrepreneur Brian Kathman, CEO of OpsCanvas, to unpack one of the most underexplored frontiers in AI: decision memory.  Brian has been building companies since 1999 — from the world's first transactional online bank to mobile messa...

Decisions fail in the gaps, not the strategy. In this episode of The Cred Podcast, Denise Graziano (Founder and CEO of Graziano Associates) breaks down why smart teams still make costly decisions. It's not a lack of data or intelligence. It's misalignment, not thinking two steps ahead, or treating communication like an afterthought instead of a strategic tool. Denise has spent 30 years as a truste...

Most people think they're not qualified to make investment decisions. Cheryl Kellond thinks that's exactly the problem. A 3x founder, 3x Ironman, 4x mom, and CEO of PlayMoney, Cheryl is on a mission to open up early-stage investing to the people who actually understand the problems worth solving. In this episode, she challenges the outdated model of capital allocation and makes the case that the r...

Feel stuck on a decision? Try interrogating the question. Pam Scott and Di Tompkins have been solving hard problems together for decades, and their first move is almost always to question whether someone is solving the right problem. As co-founders of The Curious Company, they bring outside perspective to mission-driven leaders who've hit a wall: a different color to paint with, a reframed questio...

In this episode of The Cred Podcast, Lana Kerr joins Mack McKelvey for a candid conversation about decision-making as a founder, CEO, and leader. From trusting instinct in the early stages of growth to learning when to slow down and bring in more voices, Lana reflects on how her approach has evolved over time. She talks about the difference between making business decisions and people decisions, t...

Bill Shafton spent nine years as the legal backbone of Grindr, navigating a Chinese acquisition, a national security divestiture, and a Wall Street IPO. In this episode, he breaks down his philosophy on decision-making: how research sets the boundaries, but instinct drives the performance. Tune in to learn how Bill operates in the gray areas, making high-risk decisions with incomplete data, and wh...

In this episode of The Cred Podcast, Mack talks with Steven Rosenblatt, co-founder and General Partner at Oceans, about how decisions really get made when you're building companies, backing founders, and choosing what to stand behind before the outcome is obvious. Steven reflects on the early mobile days, helping Apple launch iAd, and his time at Foursquare, where survival meant rethinking the bus...

On this episode of The Cred Podcast, Tess Michaels, Founder and CEO of Clasp, joins Mack McKelvey to talk about making decisions while building a new category at the intersection of education, healthcare, and workforce retention,  where there is no established playbook to follow. Tess breaks down how customer signals shape better decisions, why pattern recognition beats perfect data, and how learn...

Rafat Ali doesn't take notes. And he makes decisions on instinct. In this episode, the founder and CEO of Skift breaks down how he actually makes decisions as a global operator, committing to a choice, avoiding second-guessing, and never falling in love with a single option. He explains how visualization helps him pressure-test hires, products, and acquisitions, why early yellow flags almost alway...

"I've probably seen more erroneous decision-making by over-reliance on data than by over-reliance on gut." In this episode of The Cred Podcast, Mack McKelvey sits down with Lisa Pellette, a global CMO and transformation leader whose career spans Levi's, Ralph Lauren, Lacoste, Casper, and Fossil Group, to talk about how data, context, and gut converge to inform decisions. Drawing on her background...

What happens when a lifelong fascination with space collides with a 30-year career in building complex commercial deals? This week, Mack McKelvey sits down with Sarah Pousho, Co-Founder and CEO of Space Bridge Partners, to explore the unconventional decisions that shaped her career and how she now helps fund some of the most ambitious space missions in the world. Sarah traces her path from aspirin...

Marci Weisler didn't build her career by following a script. She followed her curiosity. From analyst to mobile pioneer, from co-founding SWSI Media (which became Viacom's Queen Boss) to leading a major line of business at T-Mobile and now advising companies as a managing director in investment banking — Marci has made a career out of stepping into what's new before it's obvious. In this episode,...

Camille Preston went to the beach to start writing her book… and it promptly snowed 13 inches for the first time in more than a decade. An abrupt reminder that conditions change fast, even when you think you know what's coming. It's the perfect setup for this conversation about how leaders actually make decisions today. A business psychologist and author of Living Real , Camille challenges the old...

Some people talk about trusting their gut. Gladys Kong has learned how to explain hers. In this conversation, the CEO of Azira joins Mack to talk about how she makes tough decisions: when to lean on data, when to listen to her instincts, and how to translate that gut feeling into something her team can understand and act on. With the precision of an engineer and the perspective of a seasoned leade...

From building AT&T's first-party audience business to helping take Spotify public and reimagining the NBA's fan experience during the height of the pandemic, Danielle Lee has made high-stakes calls across some of the world's most visible brands.  In this episode, she breaks down her decision-making framework: get crystal clear on goals, weight what matters most, pressure-test with trusted voices,...

In this episode, Mack talks with Margaret Magnarelli, VP of Marketing and Communications at Baldor Specialty Foods, about how her roots in journalism shape the way she leads, makes decisions, and builds teams. Before leading marketing for one of the East Coast's largest specialty food distributors, Margaret spent years as an editor at Seventeen, Good Housekeeping, and Money Magazine, a background...

In this episode of The Cred Podcast, Mack McKelvey talks with Greg Genung, founder and CEO of Snowfire AI, about how AI is reshaping the way executives make decisions. After two decades in cybersecurity, Greg built Snowfire to solve one of leadership's biggest pain points: turning overwhelming business data into clear, actionable intelligence. He shares how the platform personalizes insights, acce...

What does real ownership look like in leadership? In this episode, Mack McKelvey sits down with Jon Reilly, co-founder and CEO of Akkio, to explore the kind of decision-making that builds momentum. Jon breaks down his mental model for making decisions—from obvious 80/20 calls to murky 51/49s—and shares how speed, clarity, and accountability help his team move faster and smarter. He also discusses...

This week, host Mack McKelvey sits down with Sheila Marmon, founder and CEO of Mirror Digital, to explore the art of decision-making, overcoming obstacles, and embracing transparency. Sheila reflects on the valuable lessons from her first venture, highlighting the importance of alignment, shared vision, and the power of listening to diverse voices when making decisions. At Mirror Digital, Sheila h...

The Ripple Effect of Leadership Decisions with Jason Kaplan Every decision a leader makes sends ripples through a business, a team, and even a career. In this episode of The Cred Podcast, host Mack McKelvey sits down with Jason Kaplan, CEO of SixMap, to explore the complexities of decision-making in leadership. From navigating tough calls—like leaving a company—to understanding when to go slow and...

In this episode, Dr. Alvin Glay, Chief Strategy Officer at Response Media, shares his approach to decision-making—blending data with contextual intelligence. Drawing from his experience as a Liberian refugee, Dr. Glay explains how navigating uncertainty and high-pressure situations sharpened his ability to make fast, high-stakes decisions. For Alvin, no decision is too small, every mistake is a da...

In this episode of The Cred Podcast, Mack McKelvey sits down with Dr. Aaron Andalman, Chief Science Officer and co-founder of Cognitiv, to break down the science behind decision-making. With a Ph. D. in Neuroscience from M.I.T. and research experience as a Helen Hay Whitney Fellow at Stanford, where he developed advanced computational microscopy methods to study learning and memory, Aaron brings a...

In this episode of The Cred Podcast, Mack McKelvey sits down with Terry Kawaja, founder and CEO of Luma Partners and a leading voice in the ad tech industry Terry shares his nuanced approach to decision-making: moving quickly on small matters, while deliberately hitting the "pause button" on larger decisions.  "I usually have a gut instinct right away," he explains, "but I have a pause button now....