Before “PPC” was even a term, Fred Vallaeys was helping Google build it. Now, he is on a mission to help marketers make sense of the monster it’s become.

Fred unpacks his journey from those early Google days to founding Optmyzr, revealing how marketing transformed from the simplicity of goto.com to our current maze of touchpoints.

He mentions five essential roles modern marketers must embody, from "PPC Doctor" diagnosing campaign ailments to "PPC Chef" combining ingredients in ways automation never could.

For anyone feeling swallowed by GA4 complexity or wondering if their job might vanish to algorithms, Fred offers refreshingly practical wisdom about layering your expertise on top of platform automation.

Connect with Fred:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/frederickvallaeys/

Connect with Bryan:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryankaras/

https://bryankaras.com/

Looking for quality digital marketing talent? Connect with Bryan's team at GrowTal. https://www.growtal.com/

Looking to solve your toughest marketing challenges? Connect with Bryan's team at Playbook Media. https://www.playbookmedia.com/

Jessica Postiglione couldn't find a fiber supplement that actually worked. So she made one.

This chat reveals how Bonny grew from personal frustration to thriving brand by tackling an uncomfortable topic with humor and brutal honesty.

Jessica spills the real secrets behind successful DTC brands while exposing why most fail miserably. You'll get practical strategies for finding your first customers, why Meta still delivers despite skeptics claiming otherwise, and how authentic branding builds tribes that sell your product for you.

In this episode, you’ll learn building community isn't just theory—it's the playbook that transformed her solution for better pooping into a business that customers literally thank her for creating.

Connect with Jessica:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-postiglione-81073615/

Connect with Bryan:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryankaras/

https://bryankaras.com/

Looking for quality digital marketing talent? Connect with Bryan's team at GrowTal. https://www.growtal.com/

Looking to solve your toughest marketing challenges? Connect with Bryan's team at Playbook Media. https://www.playbookmedia.com/

If you still trust your blended CAC, you might be burning cash.

In this episode of Catching Fire, Bryan Karas sits down with Austin Harrison, CEO of Northbeam—our Partner of the Month and a quiet force behind some of the fastest-scaling brands in the game. They get real about what’s broken in attribution, why creative is more than just an accessory to your brand, and how media mix modeling might be the underdog in your marketing strategy.

Austin doesn’t sugarcoat it. He explains why Northbeam bets on directional accuracy over perfection and how they’ve earned the trust of brands during the most chaotic shifts in digital marketing (yes, including post-iOS14).

Want to stop flying blind with your ad spend? This one’s got the insights most marketers aren’t talking about but should be.

Connect with Austin:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/maustinharrison/

Connect with Bryan:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryankaras/

https://bryankaras.com/

Looking for quality digital marketing talent? Connect with Bryan's team at GrowTal. https://www.growtal.com/

Looking to solve your toughest marketing challenges? Connect with Bryan's team at Playbook Media. https://www.playbookmedia.com/

In this episode, Bryan sits down with serial entrepreneur Chris Tolles, co-founder of Transparency Analytics and advisor at Common Crawl, to talk about what really drives innovation, from the explosion of private credit to the invisible data powering AI.

Chris shares wild stories from the trenches: selling a startup to Netscape in 6 weeks, building a $50M media company, and opening a sports bar before diving back into tech. He talks about the future of startups, offers advice on choosing co-founders, and reveals how a tiny nonprofit powers every major LLM today.

If you're building in tech, finance, or AI, don’t miss this one.

Connect with Chris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tolles/

Connect with Bryan:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryankaras/

https://bryankaras.com/

Looking for quality digital marketing talent? Connect with Bryan's team at GrowTal. https://www.growtal.com/

Looking to solve your toughest marketing challenges? Connect with Bryan's team at Playbook Media. https://www.playbookmedia.com/

Karthik Kalyanaraman built his company on blockchain, only to see the market vanish beneath him. With the world moving on, the pressure was real. Sleepless nights, silence on Discord, and raw uncertainty forced him and his team to reinvent everything from scratch.

In this episode, Karthik shares the gritty truth behind the creation of LangTrace and what it takes to keep moving when quitting feels easier.

You’ll hear why most AI tools fail, how “human-in-the-loop” plays out when everything is on the line, and the difference relentless adaptation makes in the real world. No startup gloss, just the reality of risk, reinvention, and hope after the crash.

This story goes beyond theory. It’s about resilience and the lessons that stick in a volatile market.

Connect with Karthik:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/karthikkalyanaraman/

Connect with Bryan:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryankaras/

https://bryankaras.com/

Looking for quality digital marketing talent? Connect with Bryan's team at GrowTal. https://www.growtal.com/

Looking to solve your toughest marketing challenges? Connect with Bryan's team at Playbook Media. https://www.playbookmedia.com/

What’s the difference between a $20 bottle of vodka and a $50 one?

Nothing—except the story you’ve been told.

In this episode, Bryan Karas sits down with award-winning creative director Christopher Donovan (Apple, Nike, HBO) for a conversation that throws out the marketing rulebook and replaces it with something more impactful: performance branding.

Inside:

• Why brand is just another word for trust
• How to break free from transactional messaging and spark emotional resonance
• The branding misstep that could cost Tesla its audience
• Why it’s not about “more data”—it’s about better storytelling
• And why nobody falls in love with a calculator (unless you were a TI kid…)

Whether you’re building a DTC startup or leading a legacy brand, this episode will make you think differently about creative, growth, and the stories your audience actually wants to hear.

Connect with Chris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherdonovan001/

Connect with Bryan:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryankaras/

https://bryankaras.com/

Looking for quality digital marketing talent? Connect with Bryan's team at GrowTal. https://www.growtal.com/

Looking to solve your toughest marketing challenges? Connect with Bryan's team at Playbook Media. https://www.playbookmedia.com/

When referrals dry up and your calendar's still full, it’s time for a new kind of growth.

In this episode of Catching Fire, fractional CMO and two-time CEO Maria Trysla shares her playbook for moving from founder-led to founder-inspired sales.

With stories from her time at Sprint, SaaS startups, and private equity-backed companies, Maria breaks down how to scale revenue without scaling stress. You’ll learn how to identify when your network is no longer enough, why retention and expansion often beat acquisition, and how aligning product, marketing, and customer success can spark explosive growth.

Whether you’re an early-stage founder or growing a lean team, this episode is packed with practical insights, honest reflection, and a framework to help you scale smarter.

Connect with Maria: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariatrysla/

Connect with Bryan:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryankaras/

https://bryankaras.com/

Looking for quality digital marketing talent? Connect with Bryan's team at GrowTal. https://www.growtal.com/

Looking to solve your toughest marketing challenges? Connect with Bryan's team at Playbook Media. https://www.playbookmedia.com/

Have you ever wondered how global brands like NASDAQ build massive followings online or what makes certain startups unforgettable? Join us for an insightful conversation on this week’s Catching Fire podcast, where we welcome Josh Matchiz, Partner at Redpoint Ventures and former Chief Digital Officer at NASDAQ.

Josh dives deep into his journey of transforming NASDAQ’s digital presence, explaining how he successfully captured millions of online followers through innovative and timely storytelling.

You'll learn how to manage fresh talent, tap into cultural trends, and why high-quality creative content often outperforms huge marketing budgets.

Also, we explore the concept of "performance branding," understand the growing role of AI in marketing, and discover practical, real-world strategies for enhancing your own brand's storytelling capabilities.

If you're a founder, marketer, or entrepreneur looking for authentic ways to elevate your brand, this episode is packed with valuable insights you won't want to miss.

Connect with Josh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshmachiz/

Connect with Bryan:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryankaras/

https://bryankaras.com/

Looking for quality digital marketing talent? Connect with Bryan's team at GrowTal. https://www.growtal.com/

Looking to solve your toughest marketing challenges? Connect with Bryan's team at Playbook Media. https://www.playbookmedia.com/