Sean Friedland

Early monetization legal guy @Snap and Co-Founder of @WithMarketAI. Investor in LA startups.

[Jamesborow @JamesBorow]

This is one of the most important releases of the year for the @Universal_Ads team.

The reality is that MCP connectors will eventually become table stakes. While it is nice that that we were first to market in the TV ads space and only barely behind players like Meta and Spotify (H/T to Jackie Pimentel and Per Sandell for their slight but well earned victories), what really matters is that this further validates that we have the right strategy for the headless AI era. We have been API-first from day one, we’re running a playbook that is actually aligned with the interests of advertisers and TV publishers, and we have the support of James Rooke, Mark Marshall and the broader @comcast organization to move at the speed of AI and the speed of big tech.

We still have a lot to build, but if you’re not starting to see why Comcast is going to help define the future of TV advertising, I don’t know what else to tell you 🤔.

[Jamesborow @JamesBorow]

BREAKING: The @Universal_Ads team has done it again. Starting today, advertisers of any size can run campaigns across both CTV and linear TV with the same ease as buying on social. For years, TV has been boxed in by artificial walls defined by how it was consumed, fragmented access, and unnecessary complexity. That starts to fall away now.

[Jamesborow @JamesBorow]

Overnight success years in the making. @The_ADSN in @MarketingBrew today thanks to @fintangillespie.

[Hasan Toor @hasantoxr]

🚨 Someone just built a game that tests if you actually understand markets.

It's called The Situation.

Breaking news drops. You react. You pick a strategy. You try to outperform everyone else playing at the same time.

First to $250M wins.

Not a trading simulator.
Not a finance course.

A real-time test of whether your market instincts are as sharp as you think.

Here's how it works:

→ Real breaking news hits. You read it and decide how to play it.
→ You pick your strategy based on what you think the market will do next.
→ You compete against everyone else reacting to the same news at the same time.
→ The crowd goes one way. You decide if you follow or fade them.
→ Your portfolio either grows or bleeds. No do-overs.

Here's what makes it different:

Everyone thinks they understand how markets move. Most people have never had to put that belief on the line in real-time with real news and real competition.

@situationgame forces you to commit. No charts. No indicators. Just a headline, a decision, and consequences.

The people who win aren't the ones who know the most. They're the ones who read situations better than the crowd.

Season 2 is live right now.

100% Free to play.

Link in the comment:

[Sean Friedland @sfrieds]

I'm in 2nd place with a net worth of $6.98M. Today my strategy was to "Launch a fund focusing on infrastructure repair and digital security startups." and I am up +95.7% on the day. See if you can beat me: https://t.co/cToKLWl8RR

[Sean Friedland @sfrieds]

I'm monitoring the situation and am currently in 9th place with a net worth of $2.49M. I just "Invest heavily in SolarX and GreenGrid for growth." and am up +57.6% on the day. See if you can beat me: https://t.co/cToKLWl8RR

[Sean Friedland @sfrieds]

Incredibly well deserved. Universal Ads is about to go to the moon!

[Jamesborow @JamesBorow]

I have worked on many amazing products throughout my career, but I have never been as excited about building a product as I am with @Universal_Ads, and about doing it as part of @comcast. I’m fortunate to have been involved from the beginning, when it was nothing more than an idea, and I’m thrilled to be stepping into the role of our new GM.

Now gotta get back to work, can't wait for the market to see what we ship next...

[ADSN @The_ADSN]

Breaking: Stephen Palombo (aka STP), the early @Snapchat hire who helped build their ML ad models is joining @Universal_Ads. Rumor has it this is just the first of several high-profile ad tech talents making the jump to the @Universal_Ads team this season.

[Sean Friedland @sfrieds]

@JonathanMoffie Need that hat

[Sean Friedland @sfrieds]

@JonathanMoffie @Adweek LFG!

[Jamesborow @JamesBorow]

At @Universal_Ads, we believe TV advertising should be as seamless as the best B2B products in the world. TV is one of the most powerful channels to grow a business—but for too long, it’s been too complex to access.

That’s why our first principle is empathy for the advertiser—and why we’re partnering with companies that share our mission to simplify complex systems.

Few embody that better than @immad and the team at @mercury, who’ve completely reimagined the B2B banking experience to be intuitive, fast, and customer-first.

We’re excited to team up with Mercury and offer their customers $1,000 in Universal Ads credits—so they can experience TV advertising that’s finally as easy as their banking.

H/T to @sfrieds for making this happen. You can learn more about the partnership here: https://t.co/Gglovs6ZfE

[Jamesborow @JamesBorow]

Have not been this excited about an adtech startup in a long time. Congrats @MikeKhristo!

[Daniel Druger @DanielDruger]

Vibe coding just got a power up 🍄 Build it, launch it, and now market it. It’s all converging.

[Jamesborow @JamesBorow]

To help high-growth e-commerce brands get started on Universal Ads, today we launched the @Universal_Ads Incrementality Fund — a program designed specifically for @Shopify Plus merchants. The fund provides selected brands with:

-Up to $50K in UA ad credits and services
-A subsidized incrementality study (if eligible)
-Free :15 or :30 second creative production
-VIP access to our TV Ads Work Summit, hosted at an exclusive Comcast property

We're accepting applications now at https://t.co/hLWwxSzX0b!

[Jamesborow @JamesBorow]

Never been a better time to be an adtech investor. There is going to be an @a16z of adtech that emerges and my bet is it will be @aperiamventures.

[Jamesborow @JamesBorow]

Can you imagine how big the ads business for @Shopify would be if they went all in on incrementality testing and tied that to a cross channel ads buying platform where they floated all the media. Would be a monster.

[Jamesborow @JamesBorow]

The world needed a @tbpn for ads and marketing. So @DanielDruger and I did a thing.

Introducing, ADSN: The Ads Network (@The_ADSN). Your weekly rundown on the posts you should care about on #adtech @x, with special guests explaining why it all matters.

This week we deep dive into vibe coding, AI ads, why @finkd claims @Meta is not an ads business, and learn what #vibemarketing really means from the creator of the concept itself, @boringmarketer.

Check it out below and listen to it wherever you pod.

[Jamesborow @JamesBorow]

Thank you @eric_seufert for having me on the @MobileDevMemo pod. Really enjoyed getting to talk in depth about the state of TV advertising, @Universal_Ads (and our just announced partnership with @MeasuredInc), and why the @Snapchat alumni network is completely underrated.

Listen wherever you listen to pods here: https://t.co/A9JftTG1hV

[Jamesborow @JamesBorow]

VCs like @aperiamventures who focus on monetization tech (aka ad/martech) are going to absolutely crush it as the cost of intelligence goes to $0 and a new app/agent layer emerges.

[Andrey Kovalev 🇺🇦 @AndreyKovalev23]

Hot off the press: @comcast's Universal Ads and @tryramp Partner to Make TV Advertising Intuitive for Growing Brands

- Access to premium TV inventory? ✅
- Access to major networks incl A+E, AMC, DIRECTV, Fox, NBCUniversal, Paramount, Roku and more? ✅
- Unique offer for Ramp's +30k customers? ✅

Time to go run your first TV ad on UA with Ramp!

https://t.co/NID0hUBynD via @Adweek