Podcast
Open Market
Hosted by Joe Zappa & Eric Franchi · EN
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.
30episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Graphed CEO Cody Schneider on an AI-First Approach to GTM
Mar 1100:47:15Tap to summarizeGraphed 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 concerns — and how leaders can build organizations that encourage experimentation instead of shutting it down.
Transcribe →How We Use AI Daily
Mar 400:39:33Tap to summarizeEric 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.
Transcribe →How to Organize an Advertising Event with Marketecture CSO Sam Khoury
Feb 2500:34:16Tap to summarizeLast 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 around your brand.
Transcribe →The Advertising Event Guide: Which Ones Actually Matter?
Feb 1800:31:56Tap to summarizeDozens 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.
Transcribe →Who's Afraid of Adtech?
Feb 1100:23:31Tap to summarizeEntrepreneurs 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.
Transcribe →Gigi CEO Adam Epstein on Building a Verticalized AI Agent for Advertising
Jan 2800:39:44Tap to summarizeAdam 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.
Transcribe →tvScientific-Pinterest Takeaways
Jan 1400:22:55Tap to summarizeEric 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.
Transcribe →4 Steps to Crush 2026 as an Adtech CEO
Jan 700:26:13Tap to summarizeEric 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.
Transcribe →Luck, Alex Karp, and How to Create a Category
Dec 1700:31:28Tap to summarizeEric 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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Building Businesses on Thought Leadership with Eric Seufert
Oct 2, 2024Tap to summarizeCo-hosts Joe Zappa and Eric Franchi chat with Eric Seufert about how he's used thought leadership, especially via his blog Mobile Dev Memo, to launch successful tech, media, and investing businesses and become one of the best-known voices in mobile.
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