Workweek CEO Adam Ryan joins the podcast to discuss the roots of entrepreneurship including struggling in school and competing in sports, learning to confront failure and tell the truth, using AI to iterate faster and get closer to the customer, overcoming the fear of writing unpopular posts, and evaluating B2B marketing based on who, not how many people, you reach.

Joe, Jess, and Bill talk about how to get over the fear that prevents so many people, from CEOs to industry newcomers, from growing their personal brands and their companies by creating content. They discuss how Joe got started on adtech X and LinkedIn, what you should do to build a following, and why you shouldn’t fear controversy.

Joe and first-time pod guest Jess Ness discuss whether your adtech story needs a villain. They explore why Hollywood and political stories always have a villain, what adtech companies can learn from the Spencer Pratt mayoral campaign, why CEOs and marketers are shy to name villains, and how incorporating a provocative critique into your messaging can demonstrate empathy for your customers. Plus, Joe shares about the time he got fired for asking for a raise.

Joe Zappa and Adam Remson discuss a provocative Marketecture guest column by Brett Wilson for which the email subject line was “Only Hire Marketers Who Can Code.” Nice clickbait, Ari — game recognize game. Joe and Adam explore the gap between CEO and VC prognostications about AI and what it looks like in practice, how AI really is helping marketers become builders, and why you want to be like Josh Hart.

Joe Zappa, Bill Brazell, and Adam Remson get loose and sling some takes about AI. Does Joe have worthwhile hobbies? How many allusions can Bill rattle off off the top of his head? And should Adam keep wearing this hat? That and many other serious questions — such as how AI makes us better collaborators, what forms of writing it’s actually good for, and what it takes to stand out amid the sea of slop — on the second episode of The Adtech Marketing Podcast.

What adtech really needs is another podcast. Joe explains his theory that media is diverging into two very distinct formats: short human-written text and long-form podcasts. In other words: why every CEO evangelist needs a non-slop, human-first, personality-driven podcast. Lend me your ears, adtech CEOs, salespeople, and marketers.