The Last Click is a Decoy: The Real AdTech War is Happening Upstream
Why the battle between DSPs and SSPs is a distraction, and how the future of media is being decided in the data warehouse.
Read the Article →15+ years in the trenches. No buzzwords, just hard-won lessons and sharp strategy.
My perspective isn't from a textbook; it's from 15+ years in the AdTech trenches at places like Lotame—with 6 of those years on the ground in Singapore and Australia. I've seen what works, what breaks, and what's just pure theater.
I also learned the hard way that getting too comfortable is a career-killer. Getting fired for complacency was a brutal but necessary lesson: work is too big a part of life to spend it sitting on your hands. That experience is the root of my allergy to buzzwords and my obsession with doing work that actually matters.
Now I help startups avoid the same expensive mistakes—both in their products and in their culture.
Here's the five-step framework I use to cut through complexity and get to the heart of any GTM problem.
What's the annoying, daily thing your audience already hates? (e.g., "Half your day goes to chasing data that was supposed to be synced.")
Drop a blunt observation that reframes the problem. (e.g., "Most platforms don't have a targeting problem. They have a trust problem.")
What becomes easier? What does the tech actually unlock? (e.g., "You hit publish, and the audience is live everywhere. No ticket. No CSV.")
Why does this matter to the person who writes checks? (e.g., "This cuts campaign QA by 60% and saves your data team from babysitting.")
Start a conversation, don't just end a pitch. (e.g., "The tech's easy. Getting buy-in? That's the hard part.")
Why the battle between DSPs and SSPs is a distraction, and how the future of media is being decided in the data warehouse.
Read the Article →A breakdown of Microsoft's strategic pivot from owning ad pipes to owning the AI-driven decisions that control them.
Read the Case Study →Want more? Visit UpstreamGTM.com for the full archive, playbooks, and consulting.
I love hearing from sharp people in AdTech, founders, or anyone with a strong opinion. Whether you want to talk shop, debate a post, or just say hi—drop me a note below.