Rarely do you get to hear from someone who built an entire advertising business from the ground up — inside a company that wasn’t even known for ads.

In this episode, James Deaker (The Yield Doctor) talks with Shane Dwyer, Head of Sales for Lyft Ads, about how Lyft created a thriving advertising ecosystem from scratch — from its first in-app placements to national brand campaigns.

Shane shares what it takes to launch and scale a media business inside a non-media company — the challenges, lessons, and innovations that made it work.

In this conversation:

The origin story of Lyft Ads. - Turning ride intent and destination data into a unique first-party signal

How Lyft balanced rider experience with monetization

The unconventional cost-per-ride pricing model

What’s next — from programmatic expansion to international growth

Building culture in a startup-within-a-company environment

🎧 Whether you’re in ad ops, retail media, or digital strategy, this is a masterclass in how to build an advertising business from zero to one.

📍 Guest: Shane Dwyer, Head of Sales, Lyft Ads

📍 Host: James Deaker – The Yield Doctor

📍 Topics: ad tech | commerce media | programmatic | pricing | yield management