Joe Zappa and Eric Franchi sit down for a candid founder-to-founder conversation about what happens when rapid growth exposes weaknesses in your business.

After Sharp Pen Media grew quickly, Joe realized that delegating client work was not the same as building a system to manage it. He shares how client churn forced him to rethink his role as CEO, establish clearer outcomes, use AI to identify account risks and make sure marketing contributes directly to pipeline.

They planned to cover four topics. Joe’s first topic took the entire episode. Some things never change.

This week on Open Market, Allie Colman, Tax Partner and Northeast Technology Industry Leader at Aprio, joins Joe Zappa and Eric Franchi to break down the tax and equity decisions founders should think about before they become expensive mistakes.

QSBS, R&D credits, 83(b)s, exit planning, and yes, a hypothetical $1B exit.

Joe does the math. Eric refuses. Allie saves the episode.

Doug Lauretano, Founder & CEO of Tuple, joins Open Market to discuss why legacy DSPs may be limiting buyer access to valuable impressions.
He explains how Tuple is building a next-generation DSP focused on greater visibility, transparent fees, and buyer control.
Plus, Doug, Joe, and Eric settle the important question of where to find the best pizza in New York.

Jonathan Moffie, Head of Agentic Product at Magnite, explains how buyer and seller agents are already launching real advertising campaigns. He joins Joe Zappa and Eric Franchi to discuss agentic direct IOs, the future of RTB, human-guided optimization, and why ad tech companies need to move at startup speed.

Adam Singer, VP of Marketing at AdQuick, joins Joe Zappa and Eric Franchi to explain why there are no shortcuts to building an audience, how out-of-home advertising combines measurable outcomes with lasting brand impact, and why ad tech companies must invest more seriously in their own marketing.

Heather Macaulay, co-founder of MadConnect, joins Joe Zappa and Eric Franchi to discuss building a company after 40, balancing motherhood and leadership, and turning a career setback into a new opportunity.

She also explains how MadConnect solves connectivity challenges across AdTech and MarTech, why experienced founders can make better decisions, and why you can have it all, just not all at once.

Plus, Heather challenges Adam Epstein to a five-mile run, and Joe puts his 20 chin-ups claim on the record.

Adam Epstein, founder and CEO of Gigi, joins Joe Zappa and Eric Franchi to discuss how AI is reshaping agencies, adtech services and the future of work. From scaling revenue without scaling headcount to treating AI agents like actual team members, Adam breaks down what it takes to build an AI-first business, with a few detours into pull-ups, Miami and peptides.

What happens when TV advertising becomes as easy to buy as search and social?

James Borow, GM of Universal Ads at Comcast, joins Joe Zappa and Eric Franchi to discuss performance TV, incrementality, AI creative and Comcast’s ambition to build the “AppLovin of TV.”

James also explains why ChatGPT ads could become a monster business and why the next major adtech company may be built by four people and a check from Aperiam.

Rio Longacre joins Joe Zappa and Eric Franchi to discuss the future of advertising, the growing influence of AI and what it takes to stay ahead in an industry that never stops changing.

Myles Younger, Chief Growth Officer at U of Digital, joins Joe Zappa and Eric Franchi for a wide-ranging conversation about what it takes to grow an adtech business, win enterprise clients and keep pace with an industry changing in real time.