Andrew Torba

@torbahax · CEO, Gab.ai #SpeakFreely

@bentossell They are. 70% are garbage and consumers recognize it instantly. The brands who win are the brands who provide value. Your results are directly tied to the effort you put into telling a story that connects with customers. Dollar Shave Club is one of my favorites in terms of an example of a brand who does this well with ads/marketing. Brands who take the time to focus on things like strategy, storytelling, and authenticity are the brands who win.

Thomas Stöcklein

@tomstocklein · FoundersFundersFuture.com

What are some things you learned from going through YC? Are there any specific skills/experiences/etc. you picked up that help you run AutomateAds today?

@torbahax · CEO, Gab.ai #SpeakFreely

@tomstocklein 1. Focus. On 1-2 things tops, ideally growth. 2. Make something people love, without that nothing else really matters/is relevant. 3. Surround yourself with incredibly intelligent people. In YC if you are the smartest person in the room then you have an ego problem. Set ego aside and listen to others who know what the hell they are talking about. In general I'd say that YC resulted in some of the best friendships with some of the most inspiring group of people I've ever had the honor of meeting.

⭐️

Ben Tossell

@bentossell · Community Lead, Product Hunt

Where is the future of advertising?

@torbahax · CEO, Gab.ai #SpeakFreely

@bentossell VR. Without a doubt. The creative possibilities that can be used for telling a story are limitless. @markmiscavage is tackling this massive opportunity head on with FocalHub: https://www.producthunt.com/tech... On the web/mobile side of things: -Adblockers and mobile leaders like FB will continue the slow demise of banner ads and display networks. -FB is stealing marketshare from Google Adwords and traditional channels like crazy (see FB's Q4 earnings.) -Pinterest Ads are going to be amazing for certain verticals and ecommerce advertisers. -Snapchat ads are going to be amazing for brand advertisers and I believe they have an untapped DR opportunity. -Retargeting will get smarter and more data-driven (hopefully.) -Brands will need to focus on telling a story or being blocked out by the sheer amount of noise on the web.

5 share tweet・a year ago

Greig Cranfield

@1greigcranfield · Product Manager at Trade Me.

@torbahax @bentossell @markmiscavage This is really interesting. Snapchat ads - what verticals do you see making the most of this?

@torbahax · CEO, Gab.ai #SpeakFreely

@1greigcranfield @bentossell @markmiscavage enterprise consumer brand advertisers at first, but you can bet that Snapchat will be moving into direct response advertising with things like mobile app installs, etc if they plan to scale.

Mark Miscavage

@markmiscavage · Future VR & 3D paradigms @FocalHub

@torbahax @bentossell Thanks :)

Jacqueline von Tesmar

@jacqvon · Community, Product Hunt ✌️😻

What industries would you place your bets on in the next 10-20 years?

@torbahax · CEO, Gab.ai #SpeakFreely

@jacqvon 1. VR is going to be massive and the next big computing platform in my opinion. It will change communication, education, healthcare, gaming, and storytelling in general as we know it. With Sony, Google, Facebook, Samsung, and others entering in the arena it's going to be really exciting to see who nails the consumer product and price point on the hardware side of things. On the content side of things I can't wait to see the amazing and immersive experiences developers will create over the next 10-20 years. 2. I want to see the intersection of social good and technology start to grow in the next 10-20 years. All too often problems being solved in tech are first world problems. Many of us forget that there are some huge global problems, particularly in the developing world, that need to be solved for the benefit of us all. I'd place my bets on social entrepreneurs rising up over the next 10-20 years to solve these problems. 3. Manned trip to Mars/ commercialized space travel. At some point in my life, I will be a space entrepreneur and plan on visiting space before I die. I suppose this is an area of personal interest that I would hedge my bets on. :)

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Mike Coutermarsh

@mscccc · Code @ Product Hunt

Hey! Nice to see you here :). I've been asking this to everyone on LIVE. I'd love to know your answer. What's the one challenge so far in your career that scared you the most?

@torbahax · CEO, Gab.ai #SpeakFreely

@mscccc True story: we applied to YC late and learned that we were accepted with two weeks left to move the team from the east coast to the west coast before the batch started. This two weeks happened to land during the last half of December (and the holiday travel season.) It was a nightmare and scary to be making such a big move and jump so quickly, but we made it happen.

Jake Crump

@jakecrump · Community Team with Product Hunt

What's something you've changed your mind about in the past year?

@torbahax · CEO, Gab.ai #SpeakFreely

@jakecrump For many years now I've been placing the business above my own personal health, well-being, and happiness. I was burned out a lot and working hard, but not smart. When I moved to the Bay Area a year ago I decided that I would start putting myself first and working smart, not hard.

John Freddy Vega

@freddier · CEO, Platzi.com

What's something big online advertisers do or know, that companies with small budgets in digital ads don't?

@torbahax · CEO, Gab.ai #SpeakFreely

@freddier 1. Have a strategy and clear objectives. 2. Segment your audience to corner your winning part of the market. 3. Treat it like a science experiment: always be testing new ideas.

Arun Pattnaik

@arunpattnaik · UX'er for web startups, maker of things.

What is your biggest business challenge at the moment? It could be specific to AutomateAds or the advertising/automation industry in general.

@torbahax · CEO, Gab.ai #SpeakFreely

@arunpattnaik Ads API dependency. One of the biggest problems we face is dealing with ads api compliance across multiple advertising channels. Things change. Things break. We take the brute force of any and all downtime/issues that any of the ad networks have in their API's. It's brutal, challenging, and a fun part of our startup journey.

Arun Pattnaik

@arunpattnaik · UX'er for web startups, maker of things.

@torbahax And what was your growth stage like? You must have had a fair share of competition from day-one. How difficult was it to get the first 100 customers? Did you have any interesting growth strategy (other than building the kick-ass product)?

@torbahax · CEO, Gab.ai #SpeakFreely

@arunpattnaik Our product drives growth with paid media by nature, so we used our own tool and eat our own dog food on the growth side of things. It also helped to be at YC surrounded by 100 other startups who all needed help with FB ads/paid media growth. :)

Thomas Stöcklein

@tomstocklein · FoundersFundersFuture.com

What are the most common mistakes advertisers make when buying and placing ads?

@torbahax · CEO, Gab.ai #SpeakFreely

@tomstocklein 1. Having no strategy. 2. Trying to scale up their budget too quickly. 3. Not taking the time to learn and experiment with different ad channels and types. I can't emphasize how important it is to have some sort of strategy and set objectives before you even spend a dime. Most people think that they can jump right into digital advertising and conversions will flood in the door. In general I'd say there is a 6-12 month learning curve for newer advertisers to figure all of these things out and learn by unfortunately burning a lot of cash with little strategy behind how it is being spent. Take the time to learn the different targeting, creative, and placement options that each ad channel offers, test with smaller sized budgets, learn, and scale up from there.