ADSN
ADSN (The Ads Network) is a weekly show for people building and investing in ads, media, and monetization products. Every Tuesday, join James Borow and Daniel Druger as they bring over 30 years of experience to discuss the headlines and the why and how behind them. They also welcome industry leaders to go deep on topics in a fun and approachable format. Join the ADSN crew every Tuesday 🗓️
Episodes
This week ADSN goes bicostal for the first time. Daniel is live from Upfronts in New York and James is holding it down in LA.
They kick off with Kalshi odds on a Tesla-SpaceX merger hitting 50%, then get into why ChatGPT shipping an ad manager is kind of a joke — they literally told Codex to build it. Eric Tilbury defines outcomes in a single sentence that should be written in stone.
The conversation moves into why brands need more a...
Ryan Cohen wants to buy eBay with half cash, half stock. Parker Card raised $200M and vanished overnight. OpenAI shipped a full ads manager. Shopify, Meta, Mercury, and Spotify all launched AI connectors in the same week. Stripe Atlas data shows new AI-era companies are 2x the size of last year's cohort. Plus: why Unilever is betting on 300K creators, and the one skill creative strategists are missing.
This is ADSN — the ad ...
Private equity firms are spending weekends rebuilding acquisition targets in Claude Code. If the clone works, the deal dies. It's the cheapest moat test in human history.This week James and Daniel dig into:• Why token pricing today looks exactly like mobile data pricing 15 years ago• Sam Altman rethinking OS design and the OpenAI phone rumors• GPT Image generating LEGO sets with real BrickLink part IDs• SpaceX acquiring Cursor ...
Sequoia just dropped a thesis that's shaking up the industry: the next trillion-dollar company won't sell software — it'll sell work. Meanwhile, founders are cutting SaaS tools to pay for AI tokens, Block built a "Claude for money" inside Cash App, and OpenAI can't figure out how to spend advertisers' money.This week James and Daniel dig into:• Sequoia's bold thesis: sell work, not software — and w...
Julia Knight rebuilt every single workflow at her agency Knight Vision using Claude. Condensing 5 people’s roles into one in just 3 weeks. James and Daniel sit down with Julia to talk about what it actually looks like to scale a marketing agency with AI.
In this episode:
• How Julia used Claude to rebuild Knight Vision’s entire backend
• Why volume beats perfection in content marketing (posting = shots on goal)
• What creator partn...
It's bizarro world this week with James going phoneless for 10 hours, his new found respect for IBM, and why he's so bullish on out of home (OOH) advertising. Then it's back to digital land with Meta launching Muse, another week of OpenAI ads announcements, and the one thing you can do to stop AI bad actors (hint: call your country leader a big fat pig). Also in this episode is Diplo, Rick Rubin, and Andrew Sorkin...?A special than...
This week: OpenAI just paid $100M+ for a business show — and it's not really about content. James and Daniel break down what that acquisition signals for AI, media, and anyone building right now.
Plus they talk about the founder literally talking to AI notetakers instead of humans and why if you are still building like it is 2022, you might already be behind.James and Daniel get into why APIs are becoming the only thing that mat...
An 8 million dollar bet, a 6 point plan, and a lot of opinions. Snapchat has the product, the data, and the audience… so what’s missing?
James and Daniel dive into Snapchat’s no-filter plan for 7x growth, think cost cuts, smarter monetization, and finally using its AI edge the right way. It’s part serious strategy, part reality check, and honestly kind of wild that it’s come to this.STAY CONNECTEDJAMES on Twitter & Linkedin – /j...
AI, Meta, Amazon… yeah, it’s one of those weeks.Token spend is replacing salaries; AI is calling the shots; and distribution is still the hardest game. James and Daniel break down why the Apple App Store might look like chaos (#StopTheSlop), but it can be an opportunity, how Meta is restructuring, and why Mark Zuckerberg keeps starting over.Plus: wild efficiency numbers, AI-driven growth loops, and what happens when software starts...
AI founders are finally turning to paid marketing… and the internet is losing its mind!This week, James and Daniel unpack the debate sparked by Andrew Chen and Bill Gurley, and question whether paid marketing really kills creativity.
They also explore why, despite 25+ years of data, there’s still no clear startup playbook and why that might never change.
Plus: the shift from hiring people to hiring tech, why AI could reward leaders ...
The ecommerce marketing playbook has evolved and most brands haven’t caught up yet. In this episode, guys sit down with Olivia Kory, Chief Strategy Officer at Haus, to talk about why the modern marketing stack is more complex, more fragmented, and more important than ever.
Olivia explains how brand strategy has evolved in the age of omnichannel, what it actually takes to measure marketing effectiveness across channels, and why t...
This week is a bit of a reality check (in a good way). If you think you’ve missed your window, this episode might change your mind.
James and Daniel talk about why execution is becoming more important than ever, how having a clear “playbook” can be a cheat code, and why the ability to tell a great story is quickly becoming one of the most valuable skills you can have.
On the AI side, things are getting interesting—algorithms ...
Hear the #1 food trend coming out of the biggest food show in the world and how George Zhou, founder of BUFFS, is transforming salty snacks with a better tasting, better for you, "beef Cheetos".
George shares his experience at Expo West, one of the biggest food trade shows in the world, what trends he's seeing in food and beverage, how he built BUFFS while still in college, and why the next wave of food brands might lo...
This week it’s all about AI optimism and looking at the posts that really dig into what happens when AI starts working with us…instead of just for us.
James and Daniel dig into the viral chart on AI that’s been making the rounds and what it reveals about where AI is actually showing up across industries and where it still has a ways to go. This opens up a bigger question: are we further along than we think, or still just scratch...
What do Nikita Bier, zerohedge, Ben Horowitz, and Burger King all have in common? Their Twitter takes were all featured on this week’s ADSN.
James and Daniel check out the decline of office construction while data center construction is skyrocketing, clear signal that we’re moving even faster from physical to digital. The guys also unpack what that means for the future of work (hint: Revenue Per Agent is coming), the rise of bots cr...
In this episode of ADSN, James and Daniel follow the money. We break down the new monetization plays and where dollars are starting to flow. Including how Gemini and Amazon's Rufus are already printing billions, Snap embracing even more creator monetization, and what Web 4.0 means for revenue and payments, and much more.
Bryan Kim, partner at Andreessen Horowitz, joins the show to talk about why adtech is having a moment again, ...
The Agent Era: OpenAI Scoops OpenClaw, Manus Meets Ads Manager & Ben Putley on AI-Crypto Convergence
James and Daniel break down Peter Steinberger's massive move taking OpenClaw to OpenAI, Meta’s counter by integrating its recent Manus acquisition directly into ad and chat platforms. We also dive into why media and IP are in trouble, what ice dancing and AI have in common, and Netflix’s little brother moment.
Later in the show, we sit down with Ben Putley, CEO of Alkimi, to discuss the fascinating convergence of AI and crypto. ...
In this episode, James and Daniel break down the rise of agentic social networks with Moltbook and what AI to AI interaction means for the future of ads and monetization. They dive into Elons's space moves, X moving closer to an everything app, and how ads are now rocket science.
They also talk Netflix’s antitrust hearing, the Claude vs. OpenAI ad wars, the CAPEX spending spree, and more including this week's primary posts.
S...
In this episode, James and Daniel break down Meta's monster earnings ($200B revenue, 3.58B daily users, $44B FCF), the marketing masterclass from Netflix and Warner Bros, the creator-to-$2M viral Dr. Pepper ad that's rewriting the creative playbook.
We also explore the massive tech layoffs at Amazon, Pinterest, and others, and why AI may just be an excuse. Plus, Khaby Lame's $1 billion deal and vibe coding at the Super ...
In this ADSN episode, James and Daniel chat with Eric Seufert to discuss the varying strategies of AI ad monetization and where it all leads.
We dive into Netflix’s latest earnings, highlighting what the company said about the state of their advertising business and the competitors they’re keeping an eye on. We cover the Netflix app redesign, battle for shorts, and why we’re now in a world where ‘media is media’. There’s plenty...
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