Jesse Shemen is the Co-Founder & CEO of Papercup, an AI platform that automatically translates video content using synthetic voice technology. Jesse started his career in consulting at Deloitte but quickly sought a more entrepreneurial path. He co-founded both the Deloitte Incubator and Deloitte Ventures to lead equity investments and partnerships with early stage companies before leaving the consulting world to join Octopus Labs as a Venture Builder. In this episode, Jesse and I discuss...

Andrew Kamphey is the Creator of Influence Weekly, a weekly newsletter featuring news and insights about the influencer marketing industry. Andrew has a fascinating career background full of twists and turns, which includes working as a mall Santa in Chicago, traveling the world with Royal Caribbean cruises, directing a TV series in Mongolia, and producing content with early Vine stars in L.A. He currently resides in Bali, Indonesia and spends his time building businesses that empower online...

Xiao (Sean) Zhang is the Co-Founder & CEO of Talon Esports, a professional esports organization with seven teams across APAC. Prior to launching Talon, Sean worked in finance at Kenetic, CLSA, Barclays, and National Australia Bank. This episode took place during a special live stream for All That Matters 2020, Asia’s preeminent conference for the music, sports, gaming, and online entertainment industries. During our conversation, Sean shares his decision to leave banking and pursue a...

Ivy Wong is the Founder & CEO of VS Media, a next-generation media network focused on Chinese creators and audience. Ivy started her career in media sales for Yahoo! before serving as COO of TVB.com and later CEO of Next Mobile. Prior to VS Media, Ivy founded media and commerce platform VISS and later led HMVideal as CEO. This episode took place during a special live stream for All That Matters 2020, Asia’s preeminent conference for the music, sports, gaming, and online entertainment...

Ross McCray is the Co-Founder & CEO of VideoAmp, an adtech company seeking to standardize linear TV, OTT, and digital video measurement. Prior to VideoAmp, Ross served as the Head of Product & Technology at Channel Factory. In this episode, Ross and I examine the differences between traditional TV and online video measurement, which served as the original inspiration behind VideoAmp. We also share a number of productivity hacks, from strict time management tracking to sleep...

Stu Smith is an SVP at Fullscreen, leading the company’s Creator Labs, Public Figures, and Creator Partnerships business units. Stu started his career in the music industry, serving as the personal assistant to John Mayer before working in artist management. In 2012, he transitioned to the startup space, serving as the Director of Artist Partnerships & Business Development at CrowdSurge (now Songkick) before joining Teespring and later Omaze. Stu is also an active investor; he and his...

Jasper Donat is the Co-Founder & CEO of Branded, an event marketing agency behind All That Matters, YouTube FanFest, and It’s a Girl Thing. Jasper is originally from London but has spent the last 25+ years in Asia, primarily between Singapore and Hong Kong. Prior to launching Branded, he worked in sales and account management for Star TV, ESPN, and Eurosport. In this episode, Jasper explains the impact of coronavirus on the live events business and what it means to launch a digital-first...

Reid Hailey is the Co-Founder & CEO of Doing Things Media, the comedy-focused digital publisher behind meme accounts like ShitHeadSteve, MiddleClassFancy, and AnimalsDoingThings. Always entrepreneurial by nature, Reid shares how he applied his love of comedy to Instagram and launched one of the world’s most successful meme accounts from his parents’ basement. Fast forward to today, and Doing Things is expanding into consumer products, podcasting, and live streaming. In this episode, Reid...

Taylor Nieman is the Co-Founder & CEO of Toucan, an immersive learning tool that helps people improve their language skills while browsing the web. Prior to Toucan, Taylor worked in business development and strategic partnerships for a number of high-profile LA startups, including Headspace, Pop, and Fair. In this episode, Taylor shares the secret to forging partnerships between startups and corporate behemoths with large distribution channels. She explains how early stage companies can...

Ace Gapuz is the CEO of Blogapalooza, a Filipino influencer marketing company that fosters collaborations between creators and brand. Ace started blogging at a young age and joined Southeast Asian startup Grab as Public Relations Manager when the company first launched in the Philippines. In addition to her work at Blogapalooza, Ace also serves as the Director of Shopertainment Live, a marketing agency that specializes in live-streaming e-commerce campaigns. In this episode, Ace highlights...

Sandra Thier is the Co-Founder & CEO of Diego5 Studios, the leading Austrian creator network and digital content agency. Prior to Diego5, Sandra worked as a radio producer for ORF and a news anchor for ATV and RTL. In this episode, Sandra offers an inside look at digital media in the German-speaking DACH region of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Much like the rest of the world, YouTube and Instagram have emerged as the key platforms for influencer content and youth marketing, with...

Timothy Armoo is the CEO of Fanbytes, an influencer marketing agency that specializes in helping brands reach Gen Z audiences. Prior to Fanbytes, Timo co-founded EntrepreneurExpress, an online business publication that featured interviews with icons like Richard Branson, Alan Sugar and James Caan. In this episode, Timo shares the secret to youth marketing. He explains why Snapchat outperforms Instagram in terms of engagement and conversion and how OnlyFans is reinventing direct-to-fan...

Neal Schaffer is an international speaker, author, and consultant who focuses on digital and social marketing strategies. As Founder of PDCA Social, he helps businesses navigate digital transformations and grow their online audience. His latest book The Age of Influence explains the meteoric rise of influencer marketing and how brands can successfully work with social influencers. In this episode, Neal explains that the early days of social media were similar to word-of-mouth marketing....

Justin Moore is the Founder & CEO of Trending Family, an influencer marketing agency that specializes in connecting brands with family-friendly creators. Justin is a serial entrepreneur who started his career in medical device sales before encouraging his wife April to launch a YouTube channel and later joining her in the business full time. In this episode, Justin and I discuss how the global coronavirus pandemic has affected the influencer marketing industry, from brands needing to...

Anne Dolinschek is is the Head of Nfluential, a South African consultancy that develops influencer marketing strategies for brands. Anne began her career in event marketing and public relations before transitioning into the influencer space. Prior to joining Nfluential, she served as the Social Media and Content Marketing Director for Magna Carta and later as the Head of Consumer PR for Conversations Media and Communications. In this episode, Anne offers insight into influencer marketing...

Alex Kruglov is the Co-Founder & CEO of Pop.in, a mobile app for interactive game nights. Alex started his career as a McKinsey consultant before going to business school and transitioning into media and entertainment. Prior to launching Pop.in, Alex worked at Fox and Sony and then served as the Head of Content Acquisition for Hulu in the early days of the video streaming service. In this episode, Alex offers insight into the early days of video on-demand, particularly how Hulu emerged...

Cameron Brown is a speaker, musician, and executive coach who empowers people to create lasting change. He has spoken at events across 4 continents, and his music has been streamed millions of times across 195 countries. In this episode, Cameron and I discuss how social media has helped him share his message with a global audience and magnify his impact. He shares how music helped him process his feelings at a young age, leading to an early epiphany about living a life of purpose. Cameron...

David Nicholls is the Founder & CEO of FlashFomo, an online marketplace for Asian social influencers to create & sell personally branded products via flash sales. Prior to FlashFomo, Dave served as General Manager of Brave Bison APAC and later as CEO, Australia for WebTVAsia. In this episode, Dave shares his experience selling digital advertising and branded content that ultimately served as the inspiration for helping influencers launch their own product lines. We also acknowledge...

Karyn Spencer is the SVP, Partnerships for Whalar, a full service influencer marketing agency. Karyn started her career at a talent agency and then worked as Ashton Kutcher’s assistant, helping him in the race against CNN to reach 1M Twitter followers. Over the next 5 years, she worked her way up to VP of Production and then transitioned into talent management with Chris Lighty at Violator Management. She later served as Director of Communications for Tyra Banks, VP of Brands at theAudience,...

Greg Kampanis is the SVP of Global Digital Networks for Blue Ant Media, an international content producer, distributor, and channel operator. Blue Ant is also the parent company of Omnia Media, a gamer talent network that creates social content and podcast shows for digital and OTT platforms. Greg started his career in consulting then transitioned into entertainment after grad school, working in business development at Viacom. He later served as SVP of Business Development and Operations for...

Christian Bennett is the Executive Editor of Video Journalism at The Guardian, one of the UK’s oldest and most trusted publications. Christian studied radio and television at Bournemouth University and began his career as a video editor for RDF Television. Since then, he has spent nearly 12 years helping to shape The Guardian’s video strategy. This special live episode took place on February 21, 2020 at VidCon London. During our discussion, Christian explains how the Internet fundamentally...

Ari Evans is the Founder & CEO of Maestro, an engagement and analytics platform for enterprise live streamers. Prior to launching Maestro, Ari worked as an analyst at Goldman Sachs, a product manager at Zynga, and a developer team lead for Ultra Music Festival. More recently, he served as Founder & CEO of LessThan3, which created virtual venues for live music events to be experienced online. In this episode, Ari and I discuss the future of gaming, esports, and live streaming. Ari...

Jesse Draper is the Founding Partner of Halogen Ventures, an early stage VC fund focused on female-founded consumer technology companies. Jesse started her career in entertainment, landing a part as a series regular on a Nickelodeon show before launching her own program: “The Valley Girl Show.” The Emmy nominated talk show, which started on YouTube and later transitioned to television, featured interviews with legendary entrepreneurs like Mark Cuban, Sheryl Sandberg, Jessica Alba, and Eric...

Emily Fonda and Jay Kent-Hume are the Co-Founders of The Sociable Society, a talent management firm and influencer marketing agency that works with influencers across the U.S. and Canada. Prior to launching The Sociable Society, Emily worked in public relations and Jay worked in staffing and recruitment. In this episode, Jay and Emily discuss the evolution of influencer marketing over the past decade and their predictions for the future. We explore how product reviews and recommendations...

Eric Peckham is an analyst for TechCrunch and the creator of the Monetizing Media newsletter. Earlier in his career, he worked in startups and venture capital in New York and Los Angeles. In this episode, Eric and I discuss how media industry realignment favors incumbents over new entrants – a seemingly new phenomenon given platform shifts had historically offered greater opportunity for startups. According to Eric, there are a few elements at play. For one, many startups are staying private...