Brian Stempeck

In this episode, Nihal Mehta welcomes Brian Stempeck, former Chief Strategy Officer at The Trade Desk and now Co-Founder & CEO of Evertune, for a candid conversation on scaling category-defining companies, building enduring cultures, and navigating the next wave of AI innovation.

Brian shares his journey from being employee #8 at The Trade Desk—where he helped take the company from pre-revenue to a multi-billion dollar IPO—to launching Evertune, a startup reimagining how brands optimize for AI-native search.

Topics covered include:

• The strategic decision to empower, not displace, agencies—and why it worked
• Scaling from $0 to $800M+ in revenue: lessons from the front lines
• Preserving culture during hypergrowth (and why wall slogans don’t cut it)
• How introversion can be a superpower in sales and leadership
• The rise of AI-generated search traffic—and what it means for brands
• Building with integrity, trust, and long-term ambition

A must-listen for founders, operators, and investors focused on B2B SaaS, ad tech, or AI.