Brian Mikalis

* Brought in to design and launch an advertising business from scratch within a subscription-led creator platform, operating as a publisher running a live programmatic ad stack. * Managed a setup heavily dependent on GAM and AdX, with AppLovin, Meta SDK, and a roster of SSPs (Magnite, Pubmatic, Index, Nexxen). Experienced firsthand the fragmentation, manual work, and lack of auction visibility that mid-sized publishers face when optimizing revenue without a large internal team. * Evaluated and partnered with Freestar for web monetization; assessed Nimbus for in-app. Identified opportunity to position a best-of-breed in-app solution alongside Freestar's web offering as a unified publisher monetization stack. * Defined GTM across programmatic and direct sales; doubled revenue run-rate and built a roadmap for scale before the company chose to prioritize its subscription and creator tools business.

* Co-founded a performance marketing company in the pay-per-call space targeting personal finance (debt settlement, debt consolidation, credit repair), informed by direct experience overseeing the $70M acquisition of a social lead generation business at MediaAlpha. * Deployed personal capital into live paid social campaigns on Meta; operated the full stack hands-on across creative production, campaign management, call tracking, IVR routing, and demand network relationships. * Became intensive early adopters of AI marketing and workflow tools, attracting inbound from AI startup founders seeking operational perspective on GTM strategy and product-market fit. *Made the decision to wind down after the category's dominant players proved to be operating deceptively, a line we were not willing to cross; provided informal GTM advisory to select AI product teams.

* Led sales and account teams across a $1B+ annual revenue platform connecting insurance advertisers and publishers, with accountability spanning enterprise, mid-market, and local channels. * Owned the company’s owned-and-operated media business, overseeing an internal performance marketing team running paid social and search campaigns to generate P&C and health insurance leads at scale. * Led diligence and post-acquisition integration of PocketYourDollars ($70M), a social-first lead generation business; embedded with the acquired team to fully internalize their creative methodology and campaign operations. * Built an inside sales motion from scratch targeting local insurance agents; supported post-IPO growth initiatives across product, partnerships, and revenue operations.

* Advised leadership on customer segmentation and go-to-market strategy through acquisition by Claritas.

* Joined as first SVP at a venture-backed ($30M raised) digital OOH startup placing screens on taxis and rideshares; tripled quarterly revenue from $1.1M to $3.4M while expanding from 2 to 5 markets in under nine months. * Scaled sales organization from 6 to 50+ sellers; identified that OOH-background sellers significantly outperformed digital sellers given the product’s stage and restructured hiring accordingly. * Achieved 58% repeat customer rate across advertisers including United Airlines, Adidas, Salesforce, and Postmates despite meaningful product and market scale limitations.

* Built Pandora’s monetization organization from zero to approximately $300M in annual revenue, helping take the company beyond $1B overall. * Repeatedly identified and built adjacent revenue motions around the core business: mobile partnerships, direct response, app developer advertising, inside sales, local, programmatic, and third-party publisher audio inventory. * Built and led a 100+ person revenue organization across multiple functions and geographies. * Partnered closely with product and engineering to launch new monetization capabilities, inventory extensions, and platform integrations.

* Early employee at a self-service ad tech startup; led exchange integrations and launched publisher-facing self-service solutions.

* Built and led digital advertising programs for enterprise advertisers; partnered with agencies and brands across multiple verticals in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Two-month course for senior leaders overseeing the integration of AI into their organization's business strategy

Completed six course Certificate Program in Commercial Real Estate through eCornell. Courses included: Financing Real Estate Investments, Commercial Real Estate Development, Property Management, Managing Development Projects, Real Estate Investment Decisions, & Optimizing Asset Management Strategies.