March 2438 mins
Mike O’Sullivan (Co-Founder of Sincera and GM of Product at The Trade Desk) sits down with Michael Rubenstein, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Firsthand, for a candid founder-to-founder conversation about innovation, risk, and leadership in the age of AI.
From DoubleClick to AppNexus (00:38) to Firsthand, Michael shares lessons from decades at the forefront of ad tech: what it means to build with purpose (04:50), how to hire and scale teams that thrive (14:15), and why the next wave of growth will come from brands who embrace AI directly (17:50).
This live episode was recorded at Advertising Week New York in October 2025.
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The Build with Mike O'Sullivan is a podcast produced by The Current which is owned and operated by The Trade Desk, Inc. Learn more: https://www.thecurrent.com/
Sincera was acquired by The Trade Desk, Inc.