What convinced you to leave your VP role at Meta to found a privacy-focused startup?

Summary

MarTech Podcast ™ // Marketing + Technology = Business Growth
Episode: What convinced you to leave your VP role at Meta to found a privacy-focused startup?
Release Date: July 10, 2025

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Introduction

In this compelling episode of the MarTech Podcast™, host Benjamin Shapiro engages in an insightful conversation with Graham Mudd, the Senior Vice President of Product at Anatom, a privacy-focused startup recently acquired by Mozilla. The discussion delves deep into Graham's transition from a high-profile role at Meta (formerly Facebook) to founding a company centered around privacy-preserving technologies in advertising.

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Leaving Meta: Motivations and Opportunities

Timestamp: [01:39]

Graham Mudd articulates his decision to leave his decade-long tenure at Meta with a blend of opportunity recognition and entrepreneurial spirit:

"I saw an opportunity. We, while I was there, were looking for companies like the one I started. They didn't exist and that really told me this is the future. Let's go build a company that can help companies adapt to all the change that's headed their way."
— Graham Mudd [01:39]

He underscores the rapid evolution of advertising privacy, noting that existing solutions were inadequate to address emerging challenges. This gap signaled to him the viability and necessity of a startup dedicated to privacy-centric advertising technologies.

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Entrepreneurial Drive and Partnership

Timestamp: [02:37]

Beyond market opportunities, Graham emphasizes his personal aspiration for entrepreneurship and the importance of having the right partnership:

"I'd been wanting for a long time to do something entrepreneurial and I had a great partner that I'd worked with for a long time. He was interested in the same space and it just sort of occurred to me if I don't do this now, I'm never going to do it. Stars are aligned. You got to take the jump."
— Graham Mudd [02:37]

This sentiment reflects the delicate timing and collaborative synergy that often precipitate successful startup ventures.

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Belief in Privacy-Centric Industry Movement

Timestamp: [02:37]

Graham articulates a philosophical commitment to privacy beyond commercial incentives:

"It was really also just this is the right thing for the world and I want to go help to build it."
— Graham Mudd [02:37]

This conviction underscores a mission-driven approach, aiming to steer the advertising industry towards more ethical and privacy-respecting practices.

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Insights from the Meta Experience

Timestamp: [03:18]

Benjamin Shapiro probes into how Graham's experience at Meta informed his current privacy-focused initiatives:

"There is an interesting story here of being at a company that is not known for being very privacy friendly. Quite the opposite for most people to now being the privacy friendly advertising guy, is there a learning from being in the Facebook environment that helped you, let's say, see the light that privacy concerns and privacy centric advertising should be."
— Benjamin Shapiro [02:37]

Graham responds by detailing his role in shaping Meta's privacy strategies amidst evolving regulations:

"We saw this train coming at us right there was the Apple change regulation coming from all over the world. You didn't have to be a genius to know that this was going to disrupt our business. So as part of that, I did a lot of work to think about. All right, well, how can we adapt to the future? How can the industry adapt to what's coming?"
— Graham Mudd [03:18]

He draws parallels with industries like healthcare and financial services, which successfully adapted to stringent privacy regulations by developing technologies that balance data utilization with user privacy.

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Adapting Ad Technology for Privacy Preservation

Timestamp: [04:31]

Graham emphasizes that the fundamental data used in advertising isn't intrinsically different from other sectors, suggesting that privacy-preserving methods can seamlessly integrate into ad technologies:

"There's nothing magical about ads in terms of the data that we use. And frankly, if you can do a clinical trial in a privacy safe way, and people's lives are, we can probably serve ads."
— Graham Mudd [04:31]

This analogy demonstrates the feasibility of maintaining effective advertising strategies without compromising user privacy, aligning with emerging regulatory and consumer expectations.

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Conclusion and Forward Look

Timestamp: [04:34]

Benjamin acknowledges the robustness of the strategy Graham outlined:

"Absolutely."
— Benjamin Shapiro [04:34]

The conversation wraps up with reflections on the industry's trajectory towards privacy-focused solutions and the pivotal role startups like Anatom play in this transformation.

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Final Thoughts

Graham Mudd's journey from Meta to founding a privacy-centric startup encapsulates a broader industry shift towards sustainable and ethical advertising practices. His insights highlight the importance of proactive adaptation to regulatory changes, the value of entrepreneurial initiative, and the potential for technology to harmonize business growth with user privacy. This episode offers invaluable lessons for marketers and technologists navigating the evolving landscape of digital advertising.

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Connect with Graham Mudd:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Anonym Company Website

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Transcript

[Benjamin Shapiro]

The Martech Podcast is a proud member of the I Hear Everything Podcast Network. Looking to launch or scale your podcast, I Hear Everything delivers podcast production, growth and monetization solutions that transform your words into profit. Ready to give your brand a voice? Then visit iheareverything.com.

From advertising to software.

[Graham Mudd]

As a service to data across all of our programs and clients, we've seen a 55 to 65% open rate.

[Benjamin Shapiro]

Getting brands authentically integrated into content performs.

[Graham Mudd]

Better than TV advertising.

[Benjamin Shapiro]

Typical lifespan of an article is about 24 to 36 hours.

[Graham Mudd]

If we're reaching out to the right person with the right message and a clear call to action, then it's just a matter of timing.

[Benjamin Shapiro]

Welcome to the Martech Podcast, a member of the I Hear Everything Podcast Network. In this podcast, you'll hear the stories of world class marketers that you technology to drive business results and achieve career success. Here's the host of the Martech Podcast, Benjamin Shapiro.

I'm Benjamin Shapiro and joining me today is Graham Mudd, the SVP of Product at Anatom, which was recently acquired by Mozilla. And today Graham is going to explain how privacy preserving technologies can actually improve your targeting results. All right, let's move on to the next question before one of us gets in trouble. What convinced you to leave your VP role at Meta to found a privacy focused startup?

[Graham Mudd]

Look, I had a great run there. 10 years is a long time. Company changed an enormous amount in the period I was there and I really did love my time there. I'd say a couple of things on the opportunity front. I left right around the time that everything was really exploding as it relates to ads, privacy. I saw an opportunity. We, while I was there, were looking for companies like the one I started. They didn't exist and that really told me this is the future. Let's go build a company that can help companies adapt to all the change that's headed their way. So that was the first thing. Second was I'd been wanting for a long time to do something entrepreneurial and I had a great partner that I'd worked with for a long time. He was interested in the same space and it just sort of occurred to me if I don't do this now, I'm never going to do it. Stars are aligned. You got to take the jump. That was number two. And then number three, I really believe this is the way the industry should move. Setting aside the commercial opportunities, setting aside the learning and the stretch that becoming a startup founder requires, it was really also just this is the right thing for the world and I want to go help to build it.

[Benjamin Shapiro]

I'm doing everything I can as a podcast host. To not fall into the trap of VP of Marketing spills the tea about privacy issues at Facebook because it's such an easy narrative to go after Facebook because of the historical Cambridge Analytica. We've all heard the story and told it a million times. But there is an interesting story here of being at a company that is not known for being very privacy friendly. Quite the opposite for most people to now now being the privacy friendly advertising guy, is there a learning from being in the Facebook environment that helped you, let's say, see the light that privacy concerns and privacy centric advertising should be.

[Graham Mudd]

The way a big part of my role for probably the last three years that I was there was kind of thinking about and helping to develop a strategy for the company and for the broader industry as it relates to privacy. We saw this train coming at us right there was the Apple change regulation coming from all over the world. You didn't have to be a genius to know that this was going to disrupt our business. So as part of that, I did a lot of work to think about. All right, well, how can we adapt to the future? How can the industry adapt to what's coming? And one of the things I did was to look at other industries that had faced very similar challenges. If you think about healthcare and HIPAA changing that industry, you think about financial services. Highly regulated now, didn't used to be. And nobody stays up at night thinking, is healthcare going to survive until tomorrow? Will financial services, will the banks be okay? They're doing just fine. And they were able to adapt. And a big part of the reason they were able to adapt is they developed new technologies that allowed them to use data in ways that preserved the privacy of their users. And it just seemed to me to be abundantly obvious that ads can do exactly the same thing. There's nothing magical about ads in terms of the data that we use. And frankly, if you can do a clinical trial in a privacy safe way, and people's lives are, we can probably serve ads.

[Benjamin Shapiro]

Yeah. It looks like there was a good template for you to follow.

[Graham Mudd]

Absolutely.

[Benjamin Shapiro]

All right, that wraps up this episode of the Bartek podcast. Thanks for listening to my conversation with Graham Mudd, the SVP of products at Anonym, part of Mozilla. If you'd like to contact Graham, you can find a link to his LinkedIn profile in our show notes or on martechpod.com or you can visit his company's website, which is anonymco.com, which is a n o y m c o dot com. If you haven't subscribed yet and you want a daily stream of marketing and technology knowledge in your podcast feed, hit the subscribe button in your podcast app or on YouTube and we'll be back in your feed every week. All right, that's it for today, but until next time, my advice is to just focus on keeping your customers happy.

[Graham Mudd]

Foreign.

[Benjamin Shapiro]

Thanks for listening to the Martech podcast and I hear everything. Production Looking to launch or scale a podcast like this one for your brand? Then visit iheareverything.com.