David Freedman of Freestar on the State of AdTech Today, Privacy, and Democratizing The Auction Process

The Capital Stack

Despite his reluctance, I got David to speak to me about the overly complex ecosystem of the adtech business today. David is an incredible entrepreneur who has helped disable the giants that have monopolized the digital ad business for decades. Hint- it rhymes with Schmoogle.

Have you ever wondered about the backend workings of website monetization and ad-tech? The ad-tech industry is a fast-moving industry that’s allowing publishers around the world to invest in their work and have world-class technology dealing with the inefficiencies in the industry.

In this episode of The Capital Stack, we have David Freedman, the founder of Freestar. Freestar is a managed service that simplifies the challenges of website monetization to help publishers and e-commerce sites reach their true revenue potential. David is a 15-year veteran in the digital advertising and publishing space, with his entrepreneurial career beginning when he founded a college calendar company, Tempe12.

Listen in to learn how the advertising landscape has changed for publishers after the introduction of header bidding in ad auctions. You will also learn the importance of having a partner to help you as a founder with systems and processes to improve culture, scalability, and growth.

What You Will Discover:

· [01:05] David’s entrepreneurial journey – how his college venture launched Freestar to help publishers with monetization.

· [03:15] He explains why he pivoted from web publishing and traffic to the monetization side of things.

· [07:59] How the advertising landscape has changed for publishers after the introduction of header bidding in ad auctions.

· [11:21] Understanding how Prebid open source technology has changed header bidding ad actions.

· [13:58] The monetization solution Freestar offers publishers to lessen ad-tech industry inefficiencies.

· [17:04] The importance of being open to testing things in the ad-tech industry as things change.

· [18:54] David shares his personal views on privacy protection and why people’s concerns should be addressed.

· [21:36] The threats and benefits of generative AI on content creation as it pertains to publishing and advertising.

· [23:49] How good user/customer experience on a website leads to increased monetization chances.

· [26:03] He describes the experience and learning curve of getting a partner to help with systems and processes.

· [29:25] David shares a piece of business advice he received and how it has helped him as an entrepreneur.

Memorable Quote:

· “When you hit a certain amount of scalable employee and or revenue-wise, there’s a different level of systems and processes that need to be put into place.”- David Freedman [26:28]

Connect with Will:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/freedmandavid/