Good Company with Michael Kassan

Bill Wise and Zvika Netter have spent decades building the invisible machinery that powers modern advertising — and now, with Mediaocean and Innovid under one roof, they’re creating a rare alternative to the industry’s increasingly closed ecosystems. In this candid conversation, the two architects of modern ad tech unpack the collapse of the traditional marketing funnel, the AI revolution reshaping media and creat...

Don Kurz has lived enough lives for three careers - from championship lacrosse fields to Studio 54 dance floors to Wall Street trading desks to the boardrooms of modern advertising - and in this candid conversation with Michael Kassan, he reflects on the chaos, reinvention, and hard-earned instincts that shaped them all. With the release of his new book, Do the Hustle, Don opens up about resilience, risk, leadership, and why the mo...

Music is no longer just something we listen to... it’s something we interpret, share, and use to make sense of the world around us. In this episode, Michael Kassan sits down with Jackie Vignone, CRO of Genius, to explore how the platform has evolved from a lyrics destination into a powerful meeting point for artists, fans, and brands. Together, they unpack what music reveals about culture, why context now carries as much weig...

Christian Muche has built his career on a contrarian instinct: when the world pulls back, he builds opportunities that bring people together. From co-founding DMEXCO during the 2008 financial crisis to launching POSSIBLE in the middle of COVID, Christian has consistently bet on one idea: real progress happens when the right people are in the same room.

In this episode, he joins Michael Kassan to unpack the limitations of the tradit...

What if the most powerful growth strategy isn’t another ad, but a simple “thank you”? Nift Founder and CEO, Elery Pfeffer, joins Michael Kassan to unpack why gratitude may be the most overlooked engine in modern commerce, how AI can create meaningful discovery instead of digital noise, and why the brands that recognize customers as people (not just wallets) will win the future.

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Serge Matta, President of Global Ad Sales at LG Ad Solutions, is turning the TV from a passive box in the corner into the most valuable real estate in media - an interactive command center where content, data, and commerce meet in real time. In this episode, he joins Michael Kassan to talk candidly about making connected TV accountable to real business results, why independent measurement and true partnerships matter, how smarter T...

Childhood friends turned Cognitiv co-founders, Jeremy Fain and Dr. Aaron Andalman, went from zebrafish brains and ad-tech trenches to rewiring how brands predict human behavior in an AI-saturated marketplace. Together, they draw a sharp line between predictive and generative AI, show what first-party data can really do, and demystify context and “agents” so marketers can push performance further without losing the plot ...

Lynnwood Bibbens isn’t chasing viewers; he’s owning the traveler. While most brands struggle to capture this high-intent audience, he built ReachTV around winning that moment. From “dreaming-only” sessions that reshaped the company to rewiring the travel ecosystem with live sports, precision data, and relentless service, he lays out his entrepreneur’s code: bet on what others ignore, turn relationships...

Tom Freston turned a bohemian streak, entrepreneurial hustle, and serious wanderlust into one of the most consequential runs in modern media. He co-founded MTV, busted through gatekeepers with an original DTC playbook, and built a creative-first house of brands that reshaped music, fashion, art, politics, and advertising. In this episode, the legendary architect of the MTV generation joins Michael to unpack losing it all and reboot...

Recorded at the 3CV Villa in the heart of CES 2026, this special episode curates standout insights from executives shaping how people watch, shop, pay, and belong. They unpack the biggest themes of CES, reflect on broader industry shifts, and share what they’re prioritizing as the year ahead takes shape.

Along the way, they share practical insights for marketers navigating a world where media, commerce, and community are incr...

Ajit Mohan, Chief Business Officer at Snap, joins Michael Kassan to unpack how a “middle child” platform can outmaneuver giants by protecting sacred consumer spaces and betting on deeper connection over infinite scroll. From reimagining advertising inside messaging to challenging marketing leaders to confront inertia, Ajit shares a clear-eyed vision for building relevance, growth, and humanity in the next era of media.

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Entertainment industry veteran Charlie Collier joins Michael Kassan to unpack how Roku is transforming fragmentation into advantage – emerging as the modern “lead-in to all television,” proving interoperability beats walled gardens, and turning the home screen into a vibrant cultural canvas in its own right. Along the way, they dive into leadership philosophies, creative risk-taking, and the seismic shifts that wi...

From Enchanted to Bones to Kiss of the Spider Woman, Barry Josephson has mastered the art of turning imagination into impact. From overseeing a slate of Hollywood hits as President of Production at Columbia to producing culture-shaping stories at Josephson Entertainment, he joins Michael Kassan to unpack the alchemy of storytelling in a tech-driven world where creativity, courage, and curiosity collide to shape the future of entert...

Stephen Upstone has spent two decades proving that AI isn’t just a tool, it’s the new operating system for brand advertising. In this episode, the LoopMe Founder and CEO joins Michael to reveal why mobile apps and gaming are marketing’s most undervalued frontiers, how the mid-funnel is becoming the next big battleground, and what it takes to turn disruption into lasting competitive advantage.

See omnystudio.com/lis...

From Disney to Condé Nast, Lisa Valentino has helped shape some of the most iconic media businesses. And now, as President of Best Buy Ads, she’s turning a trusted retailer into a modern media powerhouse. In this episode, Lisa and Michael unpack how scale, data, and creativity are transforming retail media, why storytelling still matters in a metrics-obsessed world, and how AI, culture, and commerce are colliding to re...