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PODCAST

Open Market

Joe Zappa & Eric Franchi

Open Market is a podcast about building companies in the advertising industry. This is not another news podcast. Rather, hosts Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa dive into the stories of successful companies to help listeners understand how to replicate that success. Guests such as Brian O"Kelley, Jonah Goodhart, and the Vanderhooks join to share their advice.

business marketing

All Episodes

39:30

Corey Ferengul on the 6 CEO Personas from Startup to...

Open Market ·

2026/04/22

Aperiam Partner Corey Ferengul joins Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa to break down the six CEO archetypes — sales, product, CTO, visionary, operator, and CFO — and how each one shows up at different stages of a company’s growth. They walk through how these personas evolve from scrappy startup mode to scaled organizations, where they succeed, where they struggle, and when new leadership layers need to come in. They also discuss the tension between vision and execution, why certain archetypes fade or

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28:55

Consumable CEO Mark Levin on Bootstrapping a Big...

Open Market ·

2026/04/14

Consumable CEO Mark Levin joins Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa to share the founding story behind his audio advertising company and why he chose to bootstrap in an industry dominated by venture-backed players. They discuss what it means to make audio “addressable everywhere,” why the channel has struggled to meet its potential in the past, and how advertisers are reacting. Mark also breaks down how he built the business from the ground up, including early customer acquisition and go-to-market evolution

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34:12

Eric Interviews Joe: The Sharp Pen Story and CEO...

Open Market ·

2026/04/08

Eric Franchi turns the tables and interviews co-host Joe Zappa on the founding story of Sharp Pen, how the agency evolved into a CEO evangelism machine, and what’s broken about traditional PR that they set out to fix. They dig into the company's product-market fit moment, what didn’t work early on, the biggest client wins and failures, and how Joe gets executives to say things they’d never put in a press release. They also cover where Sharp Pen goes next and what advice Joe has for adtech CEOs

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47:12

Marketecture CEO Jeremy Bloom on the New Adtech Media

Open Market ·

2026/04/01

Marketecture CEO Jeremy Bloom joins Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa to discuss why he left the operating side of adtech to build a media company and what’s driving the shift toward founder- and practitioner-led media. They break down what traditional coverage gets wrong, the opportunities and challenges of operator-driven content, and Marketecture’s strategy behind acquiring properties like AdTechGod and AdLand. Jeremy also weighs in on what makes certain creators break through and how founders should

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49:13

Does the SaaSpocalypse Apply to Adtech? With Viant’s...

Open Market ·

2026/03/24

SaaS stocks are being routed in the public markets, and onlookers are wondering whether the same applies to adtech. In essence, the thinking goes, "Can't SaaS customers just vibe-code an alternative in-house and save millions on enterprise software?" Viant co-founders Chris and Tim Vanderhook explain the thinking behind the SaaSpocalypse, whether it applies to adtech, how investors should respond, and what entrepreneurs need to do to drive, not be overcome by, innovation. Plus, Eric and Joe share an

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37:40

Recast CEO Michael Kaminsky on Attribution Myths and...

Open Market ·

2026/03/18

Recast CEO Michael Kaminsky joins Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa to discuss why marketing analytics may be an even tougher business than adtech and the founding story behind Recast. They unpack the internal politics that shape how measurement tools are adopted, why upper-funnel channels are given a lack of credit, and what marketers still get wrong about attribution. Michael also explains why “interesting insights are worthless,” how CMOs and CFOs are increasingly collaborating on marketing budgets, and

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47:15

Graphed CEO Cody Schneider on an AI-First Approach to...

Open Market ·

2026/03/11

Graphed CEO Cody Schneider joins Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa to explain how he unleashed a fleet of AI agents on his company’s go-to-market efforts, including the automated outreach that landed him on this very podcast. They break down what parts of marketing and sales AI can realistically automate today, how non-technical founders can start building simple agents (like for podcast outreach), and the results Cody has seen so far. They also discuss the tradeoffs — from bot detection to authenticity

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39:33

How We Use AI Daily

Open Market ·

2026/03/04

Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa break down how they actually use AI every day across creative work, CEO-level strategy and hiring, investing analysis, and business development, then react to Block laying off 4,000 employees in the name of AI and what that signals about how organizations will need to adapt. Finally, they tackle the cultural backlash to AI and discuss past cycles that mirror the present.

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34:16

How to Organize an Advertising Event with...

Open Market ·

2026/02/25

Last week was about how to attend events. This week is about how to throw one. Marketecture CSO Sam Khoury joins Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa to break down why media companies and adtech firms host their own events, how to develop the right concept, set attendance and programming goals, land top speakers, and think through costs, sponsorship economics, and logistics. They also cover how to market an event, balance content with biz dev, and make events the ultimate expression of the community built

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31:56

The Advertising Event Guide: Which Ones Actually Matter?

Open Market ·

2026/02/18

Dozens of advertising events occur every year, but not every event is for you. Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa break down the purpose of the six core advertising events, who should attend based on stage and ICP, and how to think about events strategically. They also cover common mistakes founders make and how to build an event calendar that drives outcomes, not optics.

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23:31

Who's Afraid of Adtech?

Open Market ·

2026/02/11

Entrepreneurs are often wary of the adtech label for fear that it will undermine valuations, especially by generalist investors. Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa weigh in on whether that concern is legitimate, why founders and investors should be optimistic about adtech in the AI era, and how to handle messaging and positioning if you straddle adtech and other industries or if you're looking to shift your sector.

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39:44

Gigi CEO Adam Epstein on Building a Verticalized AI...

Open Market ·

2026/01/28

Adam Epstein, CEO of Gigi, joins Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa to discuss what it really means to build and sell a verticalized AI agent for advertising. Adam breaks down why Gigi focused on Amazon DSP, how selling agents differs from selling SaaS, why agents should be framed as jobs, how to price and pilot AI, and what it takes to prove value and onboard customers for agentic software.

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22:55

tvScientific-Pinterest Takeaways

Open Market ·

2026/01/14

Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa discuss takeaways from tvScientific-Pinterest with a focus on B2B marketing and investing: why tvScientific's narrative struck the right notes, how they implemented the CEO evangelism playbook, and what their success signals for investors.

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26:13

4 Steps to Crush 2026 as an Adtech CEO

Open Market ·

2026/01/07

Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa discuss four ideas for how adtech CEOs can crush it in 2026: overcommunicate direction until you’re sick of yourself; tell a story about the industry, not just your company; design the company for AI; and center outcomes in your storytelling. Plus, Joe talks about getting punched in the face, physically and metaphorically.

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31:28

Luck, Alex Karp, and How to Create a Category

Open Market ·

2025/12/17

Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa commune 1:1 for a discussion of the role luck plays in entrepreneurship and how you can create your own luck, the unparalleled value of a charismatic, provocative chief evangelist (Alex Karp case study), and the three conditions required to create a category. Also, Eric offers a based take on us humans hurtling through space on a rock.

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29:37

Solving CTV Economics with Transmit CPO Scott Young

Open Market ·

2025/12/10

Transmit co-founder and CPO Scott Young joins Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa to weigh in on the current state of streaming, why live sports are the crown jewel of CTV, how the YouTube TV-Disney controversy unfolded, and the role AI will play in the future of the channel. Plus, Scott makes Eric's day by de-aging him.

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36:23

OpenAds’ Steven Liss on Which AI Advertising Pitches...

Open Market ·

2025/12/03

OpenAds CEO and co-founder Steven Liss joins Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa to share which AI plays are likely to endure, how SMBs, brands, and agencies are reacting to the company's AI-native ad platform pitch, what brilliant questions VCs are asking adtech founders these days, and how OpenAds is using AI to run a more efficient startup. Plus, Steven tells the guys what the adtech equivalents of fracking and Tinder are.

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34:30

Eric on Fundraising Dos and Don’ts

Open Market ·

2025/11/26

Eric Franchi blesses Joe Zappa with his insights on the key dos and don’ts of fundraising, including how to get a warm intro, what makes a great pitch deck, which questions to ask VCs, and why manufacturing FOMO or including an exit slide can backfire. Plus, Eric says not to be mad at him if he's rejected you.

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36:03

Agency Exec Jay Friedman on the AI Plays CMOs Care About

Open Market ·

2025/11/19

Agency exec Jay Friedman stops by the pod after extensive research on AI in advertising to update Eric Franchi and Joe Zappa on what really matters. Jay covers the different parts of the AI city, the questions CMOs should be asking agencies and adtech companies, and how overtechnical programmatic nerds tend to get about their products. Plus, Eric stunts on not one but two bald, bespectacled counterparts.

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19:53

Why You Need a Customer Advisory Board

Open Market ·

2025/11/12

Eric walks Joe and the listeners through Customer Advisory Boards, or CABs: What they are, why you need one, and how to build them. The guys discuss common mistakes and how to maximize the value of CABs from a marketing perspective.

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95 results

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