Dave Blakely has seen every trend in tech: the dot-com boom, the rise of mobile, the AI explosion. But he never chases shiny objects. He watches for what lasts.

Dave spent 25+ years at IDEO helping companies like Cisco and Johns Hopkins turn ideas into real businesses. For 10 years, he served as Executive VP at Mach49, where he helped Fortune 1000 companies build and launch startups from within. Now, he’s using his decades of experience to help the next generation of founders.

In this conversation, Dave lays out the exact framework he uses to evaluate new ideas (whether it’s a startup pitch or a corporate venture) and shares why the best innovators study people (not tech).

If you’re tired of playing trend roulette, this one’s for you.

What we cover:

00:00 – The risk Dave regrets not taking

04:00 – Why most career mistakes are “errors of conservatism”

06:40 – What Dave learned being in Palo Alto during the dot-com boom

07:30 – The real pattern behind every major tech wave

09:00 – The danger of cynicism in innovation

10:30 – Why we’re in another hype cycle and what to do about it

12:00 – The #1 question Dave asks about any trend

13:10 – The role of human nature in evaluating new ideas

14:45 – Shakespeare, product-market fit, and timeless psychology

17:00 – Why business and life values should never be separate

18:00 – How to teach emotional intelligence inside big companies

20:00 – How to find direction using synthesis

23:00 – Navigating marketing in a post-cancel culture world

24:30 – Dave’s take on pluralism and intellectual diversity

27:00 – How to take a stand in your work (and why it matters)

28:45 – The unexpected impact of fatherhood on leadership

30:00 – Why parenting made Dave a better manager

33:30 – Why presence is a business skill

34:45 – How Monique thinks about gratitude and career alignment

38:00 – Dave’s 4-part framework for evaluating new ventures

41:00 – The fifth bonus filter: Mothership Fit

43:30 – What makes a pitch deck actually compelling

45:00 – Why revenue is the wrong place to start

47:00 – The trap of skipping customer desirability

48:30 – Why “move fast and break things” is incomplete advice

50:00 – The tension every good leader should hold

51:15 – How to build smarter, not faster

53:00 – Dave’s book and podcast recs (they’re surprising)

🎙 Listen or watch this full episode of Creative Got Me wherever you get your podcasts!

What if the very thing people assume will hold you back actually makes you better at your job?

Heidi Isern joins Monique Ritter to talk about the leadership lessons that come from motherhood, and how she learned to embrace the chaos, drop the script, and bring her full self to both career and family.

This episode dives into the emotional and professional terrain of working motherhood, what it means to lead with empathy (not ego), and how to raise kids who aren’t afraid to mess up.

Timestamps

00:00 – Intro

05:45 – Monique’s career crush & Heidi’s “writer, thinker, whiskey drinker” bio

07:30 – Did motherhood make you better at your job?

08:30 – Creative resilience and building storytelling on the fly

12:00 – Breaking the script: how motherhood fuels risk-taking

16:00 – Teaching kids to fail (and why leaders need that too)

26:00 – The moment Monique was asked if she could “give her time” to a job

31:00 – When female leaders don’t support other women

33:30 – How motherhood builds emotional intelligence

40:00 – Why you can’t outsource deep empathy

43:45 – The problem with multitasking and the case for ruthless prioritization

47:00 – Marketing = storytelling + curiosity

50:45 – What Heidi would tell herself before becoming a mom

52:30 – Where to find Heidi’s writing

Jessica Lee co-founded Modern Citizen in the middle of San Francisco’s VC frenzy and made a very different decision than most founders:

She didn’t raise money.

She didn’t chase growth at all costs.

She built a brand slowly, intentionally, and on her own terms.

In this episode, she shares the real story behind building a modern fashion brand without losing yourself in the process. We talk about bootstrapping, resilience, motherhood, leadership, and what it really means to build something that lasts.

Timestamps:

0:00 – Intro

2:10 – Why Jessica turned down venture capital

6:50 – Fashion isn’t software: why growth looks different

9:30 – Valuation pressure vs. brand longevity

12:30 – You can’t force customers to love you overnight

16:00 – The fundraising bias founders don’t talk about

18:00 – What resilience actually looks like in business

21:00 – Building agility into your company from day one

23:00 – Why Jessica shares her playbook with other founders

25:15 – Scarcity mindset vs abundance mindset in DTC

28:00 – Fast fashion, decision fatigue, and building a thoughtful customer experience

32:00 – The role of AI in creative work (and where it doesn’t belong)

36:00 – Motherhood, entrepreneurship, and ruthless prioritization

41:00 – How to stay resourced while leading a company and raising kids

47:00 – Building a culture of excellence on your own terms

52:00 – Jessica’s definition of success (and why it matters)

54:45 – Where to shop Modern Citizen

Most creative businesses burn out for one reason: They say yes to the wrong work.

In this episode, Monique Ritter sits down with Wilian Iralzabal, founder of Zaval Media, to talk about the power of conviction, choosing clients with care, and how to stay human in a fast-moving AI world.

If you’re a designer, founder, or builder trying to scale without selling out, this one’s for you.

—

📍 Timestamps:

0:00 – Intro & setting the tone

2:11 – How Monique and Wilian met

5:30 – What “authentic design” actually means

12:00 – Wilian’s immigrant story and early drive

17:35 – From speech & debate to web design: building

communication skills

21:00 – Staying playful with AI tools (and avoiding burnout)

24:15 – The “People > Project > Payment” framework

30:40 – Why Wilian turns down clients (and how he does it)

35:12 – Protecting your team at all costs

38:45 – AI vs intuition: how to keep your edge

43:00 – Have you ever fired a client?

47:30 – The risk of compromising on fit

50:20 – What to look for in a good client

56:45 – Tools, practices, and advice for creative leaders

1:00:10 – Mentorship, automation, and playing the long game

1:02:00 – Final thoughts & how to work with Wilian

In this episode, Priyaa Kalyanaraman sits down with Pash Pashkow, Former Head of Brand & Design at Apple TV+.

They explore what it really takes to build a resonant brand, whether you're refreshing a legacy name or launching something from scratch.

They also cover:

✅ The balance between intuition vs. iteration in creative work

✅ Why brand strategy starts with purpose, not just a logo

✅ How to evolve while staying "on brand" in today’s attention economy

✅ What Pash actually did to help shape Apple TV+ from Day 1

✅ When startups should invest in branding and who to hire

✅ Why rebrands fail (and when a "refresh" is smarter)

✅ How AI is changing creativity (and why design thinking still wins)

✅ The secret to brands that feel like people, and why that matters

This is a must-listen for startup founders, brand leaders, and creatives navigating a noisy digital world and anyone trying to build something that truly stands out.

🎧 Subscribe for more conversations like these

#branding #startups #designthinking #apple #creativity

What happens when AI changes everything, except human behavior?In this episode, Priyaa Kalyanaraman sits down with Erik Huberman, founder and CEO of Hawke Media, to unpack the state of modern marketing, where brands still live and die by trust, creativity, and execution, even as AI changes how everything gets built.We cover:✅ Why AI won’t replace creativity, but will change how fast teams move✅ The 3 pillars of marketing strategy every brand should know✅ How to scale paid marketing without falling for fake ROI traps✅ Why most companies fail at “authentic” content (and how to fix it)✅ What makes founder-led brands outperform (and when that breaks)✅ Why Meta and Google are still king and how TikTok and Reddit are closing in✅ The false promise of agent-led e-commerce and the future of DTC content machinesErik pulls from a decade-plus of building one of the most influential growth agencies, working with everyone from startup DTC brands to Fortune 100s.This one’s packed with real talk and tactical playbooks on building scalable creative and media strategy in a post-AI world.🎧 Subscribe for more conversations like these#MarketingStrategy #AIinMarketing #DTCgrowth #CreativeStrategy #PaidMediaTips

What does it really take to build a direct-to-consumer brand that not only launches big but sticks around?

In this episode, Priyaa Kalyanaraman sits down with Adam Greenfeld, Co-Founder at Frij, to unpack the real playbook behind building brands that convert, retain, and scale.

From his early days in sports and real estate tech, to launching Thesis in the early nootropics wave, to now running his own creative agency, Adam has seen it all, and he shares it all here.

We cover:

✅ The three non-negotiables for starting any company (and why Adam uses the “parent test”)

✅ Why identifying your “villain” is the fastest way to unlock growth

✅ How UGC creators shaped Thesis’ early marketing and still drive results today

✅ AI’s role in performance creative: testing faster, scaling output, and embracing “ugly” ads that work

✅ The eternal clash between brand teams and performance teams (and how to bridge it)

✅ Why views don’t equal sales, and the metrics Adam actually cares about

✅ Scaling creative: the 70/30 rule, problem evangelism, and making hooks that stop the scroll

From celebrity-led brands to ugly Facebook statics, from street interviews to AI avatars, Adam shares a no-BS perspective on what actually moves the needle in DTC marketing today.

🎧

Subscribe for more conversations like these.

#DTCMarketing #PerformanceMarketing #EcommerceGrowth #BrandStorytelling #AIForMarketing

Performance marketing isn’t just about running ads, it’s about building a high-leverage engine that scales your brand.In this episode, we’re joined by Rei-Ling Hudson, a seasoned marketing consultant and advisor, to unpack a masterclass in paid strategy, creative testing, and team building for consumer startups.We cover:✅ When a founder is actually ready to invest in paid acquisition

✅ Why organic product-market fit is non-negotiable

✅ How to build a creative engine that doesn’t compromise brand

✅ The tradeoffs between agencies vs. in-house talent

✅ What AI can and can’t replace in your growth stack

✅ How to think about influencer partnerships, UGC, and scaling content

✅ Channel strategies from Meta to TikTok, Amazon, and YouTube

✅ Metrics that matter and the ones you should ditchWhether you’re launching your first DTC brand or scaling a multi-product portfolio, this episode is packed with tactical advice and hard-won lessons from the front lines of consumer growth.🎧 Subscribe for more conversations like these.#DTCMarketing #PerformanceMarketing #ConsumerStartups #MarketingStrategy #AIinMarketing

In this episode of Creative Got Me, Priyaa Kalyanaraman sits down with Ben Sharf, co-founder of Platter, to unpack the strategy behind founder-led content and how showing up online transformed his business.We cover:✅ When Ben realized he had to become the face of his brand

✅ The systems and people that support his content engine

✅ How vulnerability builds trust (and why most founders avoid it)

✅ Balancing authenticity with consistency and why cringey content doesn’t matter

✅ Why his biggest customers, hires, and investors came from LinkedIn

✅ How founder content plays into trust-building for high-ticket B2B SaaS

✅ The underrated power of in-person events and relationship building

✅ Why your product isn’t the moat, distribution and brand areWhether you’re a SaaS founder, DTC operator, or content-curious builder, this episode is a playbook on how to build an audience and a business at the same time.🎧 Subscribe for more conversations like these.#FounderBranding#B2BMarketing#ContentStrategy#CreativeGotMe

What does it take to build a long-lasting consumer brand in a noisy, trend-driven world, especially one selling $2,000+ customizable sleep systems?In this episode, Priyaa sits down with Lisa Tan, CMO of Reverie, to unpack her decade-long playbook for building a DTC and retail hybrid brand that prioritizes long-term value over short-term hype.If you’re building or scaling a DTC or consumer brand and wrestling with how to balance storytelling, performance, and brand integrity, this one’s for you.—⏱️ Timestamps00:00 – Intro: Sleep is having a moment

01:14 – What it’s like to be CMO of Reverie

02:22 – The evolution of DTC marketing since 2010

03:59 – How Reverie’s buyer journey differs across channels

06:34 – What really hooks customers in a $2,000+ category

07:47 – Why storytelling must be personalized

08:48 – The limitations of influencer marketing for Reverie

10:27 – Competing in an era of social commerce

12:10 – How to keep teams learning while staying on brand

13:16 – Bridging aspirational mission and practical content

16:01 – Can Reverie expand beyond the 55+ market?

17:28 – Why quizzes are the content hook that works

18:49 – Content priorities: retail partners vs storytelling

20:32 – Challenges with retailer brand control

21:28 – What excites and scares Lisa about the competition

22:46 – How to keep teams motivated in a fast-changing world

24:27 – The metric Lisa Tan ignores

25:11 – Why organic content still matters

26:04 – Will avatars replace humans in content?

27:29 – CMO job surprises: it’s not all glamor

30:10 – Performance vs beauty: the marketing tradeoff

31:29 – How Lisa’s team tracks full-funnel success

33:06 – Personalized agentic commerce and AI journeys

34:39 – Visual vs conversational content: why Reverie needs both

36:01 – Is streaming a viable ad channel?

37:06 – How Lisa spies on competitors

38:33 – Meta, TikTok, YouTube: what works and what’s next

39:56 – In-house vs agency: how Lisa’s approach evolved

42:11 – Biggest early career lesson

44:07 – Lisa’s vision for consumer marketing in 2030

45:19 – What tween cosmetics can teach DTC marketers

46:56 – What Lisa’s reading (and longevity routines)

49:54 – Final thoughts🎧 Subscribe for more conversations like these#DTCmarketing #retailstrategy #ecommerce #consumerbrands #sleeptech #marketingleadership #brandbuilding #aiinmarketing #reverie