How I Grew This: Real Stories of Digital Growth copertina

How I Grew This: Real Stories of Digital Growth

How I Grew This: Real Stories of Digital Growth

Di: Branch
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How I Grew This is a podcast hosted by Amanda Vandiver and Adam Landis exploring the real stories behind digital growth. Each episode features candid conversations with leaders in marketing, product, and tech about how they built, scaled, and navigated challenges in an ever-changing digital landscape. From breakthrough strategies to hard-earned lessons, guests share what actually worked—and what didn’t—along the way.2026 Branch Metrics Economia Gestione e leadership Management Marketing Marketing e vendite Successo personale Sviluppo personale
Episodi
  • The API of the Physical World: Sy Bohy on the Future of Connected Hardware

    The API of the Physical World: Sy Bohy on the Future of Connected Hardware
    Aug 20 2026
    What if the future of software wasn't building everything from scratch, but orchestrating the physical world through a single API? In this episode of How I Grew This, Amanda and Adam sit down with Sy Bohy, Founder and CEO of Seam, to explore why IoT integration is becoming the next critical infrastructure layer for developers, how AI is democratizing automation for prosumers and small businesses, and the counterintuitive strategy of knowing when not to build in-house. Whether you're a founder navigating the AI revolution or a builder looking to compete at scale, this conversation reveals why operational knowledge and distribution are now your greatest defensibility—and why the next golden age of discovery is just beginning. What You’ll Learn: How to identify defensible moats in a crowded AI landscapeWhy calculated early-career risk-taking compounds into founder advantageThe framework for choosing what not to build as a founderHow prosumer markets are reshaping SaaSWhy personalization at scale requires coordinating multiple devices, not just dataThe non-negotiable CEO skill in the AI era About the Guest(s): Sy Bohy is the Founder and CEO of Seam, a software platform providing a unified API to control any IoT device across thousands of brands and models. With a Stanford background and early experience at Nest—the pioneering company that kicked off the smart home revolution—Sy brings deep expertise in IoT infrastructure, hardware-software integration, and scaling connected device ecosystems. In this episode, Sy shares insights on how AI and agentic workflows are democratizing device automation for prosumers and enterprises alike, while offering actionable advice on building defensible companies in the age of AI. His work at Seam is enabling developers and businesses worldwide to coordinate the physical world at scale, making this conversation invaluable for founders, product leaders, and anyone building the infrastructure of tomorrow's autonomous environments. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to subscribe, rate, and review it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube Podcasts. Instructions on how to do this are here. Episode Highlights: [00:04:10] Take Calculated Risks Early in Your Career When You Have Financial Freedom Sy shares a transformative lesson from a Stanford professor who advised graduates to prioritize calculated risk-taking while young, rather than accepting high-paying corporate jobs that will always be available later in life. This insight is critical for founders and builders because the compounding advantage of early exposure to cutting-edge teams (like Nest's iPhone/iPod veterans) creates irreplaceable domain expertise that money cannot buy. Most early-career professionals face pressure to maximize salary, but this framework reframes that choice as a trade-off between short-term security and long-term founder advantage. The practical step is to identify high-impact teams solving important problems, even if compensation is dramatically lower than alternatives, and commit 2–4 years to mastery. Sy's decision to join Nest at $39,000/year instead of a $100k+ tech job directly enabled his later success in IoT—he developed operational knowledge and conviction about the space that competitors lacked. For ambitious builders, choosing learning over early wealth compounds into defensibility when you eventually start your own venture. [00:11:49] Developer-First Product Strategy Captures AI-Driven Market Expansion Sy shares that Seam initially experimented with selling to non-technical buyers but discovered the highest leverage came from building for developers, a choice that proved prescient when AI coding agents emerged and democratized programming. This insight matters because the recent 5–10x explosion in API key creation mirrors GitHub's massive growth in code commits—AI is not just a feature, it's expanding the entire addressable market of people capable of building software. Rather than chasing traditional enterprise buyers, Seam positioned itself as infrastructure for the next wave of builders, including non-technical founders and SMB operators coding their own solutions. The strategy is to build with the assumption that your primary user will soon have superhuman coding assistance, making ease-of-integration and complete API coverage the primary competitive moats. For Airbnb hosts automating their properties or small businesses orchestrating smart devices, Seam's API became essential because these operators could now write their own workflows instead of waiting for SaaS vendors. For any infrastructure company, betting on the developer audience early, before AI tools mainstream that audience, provides a massive timing advantage—you'll have market dominance when demand explosively expands. [00:17:11] Custom Tools Beat Generic SaaS in the Age of Personalized Agentic Workflows Sy reveals that Seam built its own CRM from scratch despite the conventional wisdom that this...
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    33 min
  • Shifting the Search Paradigm: How Branch Discovery Powers On-Device Intent for Half a Billion Users with Harish Thimmappa

    Shifting the Search Paradigm: How Branch Discovery Powers On-Device Intent for Half a Billion Users with Harish Thimmappa
    Jul 30 2026
    What if the most intimate device in your pocket could understand exactly what you need—before you even search for it? In this episode of How I Grew This, hosts Amanda and Adam sit down with Harish Thimmappa, SVP and GM of Discovery Ads at Branch, to explore an on-device solution revolutionizing app discovery. Learn why first-party data is becoming the ultimate competitive advantage, how Branch powers search experiences on half a billion devices worldwide, and the counterintuitive strategies that balance user privacy with advertising performance. Whether you're a marketer looking to diversify beyond Meta and Google, an app developer navigating a crowded ecosystem, or an AdTech enthusiast curious about the future of personalization, this conversation reveals the technology and thinking that's reshaping mobile commerce. Tune in to discover why the next generation of advertising isn't about who bids the most—it's about who understands the user best. What You’ll Learn: How to build trust by prioritizing user experience over ad loadWhy on-device bidding and ad selection outperforms cloud-based systemsThe power of behavioral pattern recognition beyond search intentHow to align supply and demand in ad tech marketplacesWhy first-party data is now the competitive moat in advertisingHow to position experimentation as table stakes for modern marketers About the Guest(s): Harish Thimmappa is the SVP and GM of Discovery Ads at Branch, leading a standalone business unit that has grown into a major force in mobile advertising. With over two decades of experience in adtech, Harish has built a reputation for scaling technology and advertising businesses, previously holding key roles at InMobi, Supersonic Ads, Kensho, and Unboxed. In this episode, he reveals how Branch Discovery leverages on-device machine learning and first-party data to deliver contextually relevant search results and ads to over 500 million devices globally, while maintaining user privacy and trust. Harish shares actionable strategies for marketers on experimenting with emerging ad platforms, demanding performance-based results, and diversifying spend beyond Meta and Google. His work in developing privacy-first, performance-driven advertising solutions makes this conversation essential listening for digital advertisers and adtech professionals seeking to understand the future of mobile discovery and app monetization. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to subscribe, rate, and review it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube Podcasts. Instructions on how to do this are here. Episode Highlights:[00:07:50] Maintain a 90/10 Organic-to-Ad Ratio to Build OEM Trust[00:00:32] Capture Non-Intuitive Behavioral Patterns to Unlock Deeper Targeting[00:17:03] Move Ad Selection On-Device to Overcome Connectivity and Privacy Constraints [00:19:58] Align Supply, Demand, and Product Teams to Prevent Monetization Failures [00:22:56] Win Advertiser Confidence Through Performance Rather Than Features Alone [00:33:20] Marketers Should Experiment Beyond Meta and Google to Find Information Asymmetries Episode Resources: Harish Thimmappa on LinkedInAmanda Vandiver on LinkedInAdam Landis on LinkedInBranch on LinkedInBranch WebsiteHow I Grew This on Apple PodcastsHow I Grew This on SpotifyHow I Grew This on Simplecast
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    35 min
  • Beyond the Install: Erica Johnson on Building Smarter Mobile Campaigns

    Beyond the Install: Erica Johnson on Building Smarter Mobile Campaigns
    Jul 9 2026

    What if the key to mobile campaign success wasn't just about driving installs? In this episode, host Amanda sits down with Erica Johnson, Director of Global Platforms at Publicis Collective, to explore why thinking beyond the install matters, how to build seamless cross-device experiences, and the critical role measurement plays in modern mobile advertising, alongside AI's growing influence. Whether you're navigating measurement challenges, managing complex global migrations, or preparing for 2026's mobile landscape, this conversation is packed with actionable strategies from the Publicis Mobile Summit. Tune in to uncover how a holistic approach to mobile campaigns drives real, measurable growth.

    What You’ll Learn:

    • How to move beyond install-focused metrics and measure long-term value
    • Why the web-to-app journey deserves immediate attention
    • The crawl-walk-run framework for executing large mobile campaigns
    • How to approach MMP migrations strategically
    • Why AI in ad operations requires teaching the technology your standards rather than fearing it
    • How to accelerate into leadership roles

    About the Guest(s):

    Erica Johnson is Director of Global Platforms at Publicis Collective, bringing deep expertise in digital marketing, media technology, and ad operations. With a career spanning mobile advertising, mobile measurement partners (MMPs), and campaign execution across social, search, programmatic, and CTV channels, she has become a recognized MMP power user and advocate for holistic campaign strategy. In this episode, Erica shares insider perspectives from the Publicis Mobile Summit on emerging trends shaping 2026, including the shift beyond install metrics, the transformative role of AI in ad operations, and strategies for seamless cross-device experiences. Her work migrating global clients across platforms and implementing sophisticated measurement infrastructure has positioned her as a thought leader for brands seeking to optimize mobile performance and measurement in an increasingly fragmented ecosystem. This conversation is essential for marketing professionals and growth strategists looking to navigate mobile advertising complexities and build sustainable, data-driven campaign foundations.

    If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to subscribe, rate, and review it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube Podcasts. Instructions on how to do this are here.

    Episode Highlights:

    [00:06:17] Think Beyond the Install to Drive Long-Term Mobile App Value

    [00:16:06] Prioritize Postback Events and Partner Configuration in MMP Migrations

    [00:17:27] Prioritize the Web-to-App Journey as a Critical Campaign Foundation

    [00:21:00] Adopt the Crawl-Walk-Run Framework for Large Campaign Execution

    [00:32:02] Lean Into AI Rather Than Fear It—Build Standards and Drive Quality Assurance

    [00:36:45] Pursue Challenging Projects to Build Leadership Credibility and Expertise

    Episode Resources:

    • Erica Johnson on LinkedIn
    • Publicis Collective on LinkedIn
    • Publicis Collective Website
    • Amanda Vandiver on LinkedIn
    • Branch on LinkedIn
    • Branch Website
    • How I Grew This on Apple Podcasts
    • How I Grew This on Spotify
    • How I Grew This on Simplecast
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    23 min
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