How to Build a Career in Streaming TV with Alexandra Mills, Director of People @ [cognition]

How to Build a Career in Streaming TV with Alexandra Mills, Director of People @ [cognition]

In this episode of [radically candid], host Ava Hinds sits down with Alexandra Mills [https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandrabouchard/], Director of People at [cognition], for a conversation about how to build a career in Streaming TV. Alex shares what actually gets a candidate noticed in a fast-growing company, why curiosity and caring matter more than a perfect resume, and how [cognition] protects its culture while doubling in size. Who's This Conversation For?  This conversation is for job seekers who want to stand out in a competitive streaming TV market, early-career professionals breaking into ad tech without a traditional background, and hiring leaders thinking about how to scale a team without losing what makes their culture work. What You'll Learn By Listening 1. Soft Skills Can Matter as Much as Your Resume Alex explains why [cognition] looks past the black-and-white of what's on a resume. Your skill set and background help, but how you show up as a human is just as important. * A candidate without prior experience can come in with fresh eyes and learn how the team actually works. 2. Authenticity Beats AI-Generated Polish Alex revisits her own advice from last year, know thyself and be authentic, and applies it to a world where most applicants are using AI to some degree. The tool isn't the problem. Replacing yourself with it is. * The tells are easy to spot: robotic phrasing, generic copy, the same opening line everyone else uses. Use AI as a companion to express your authentic self, not as a substitute for it. 3. Your Digital Footprint Should Tell One Story Alex uses the "one shoe" analogy to explain why your resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn profile all need to be cohesive and updated. You wouldn't show up to work missing a shoe, so don't show up online with a piece of you missing. * Cover letters are often optional, but Alex recommends including one. What stands out in the sea of templates is a specific reference to the company's website or work, or a genuine personal story that ties to how you'd show up in the role. 4. The First Three Seconds Set the Tone Alex can tell a lot about a candidate by how they open the call. Energy and warmth go a long way, and nerves are completely human. * Saying "I'm a little nervous, but I'm so excited to learn about this" lands far better than a flat "hi, nice to meet you." Caring is the through-line and a flat open sets the tone for the rest of the conversation. 5. The Interview Is a Two-Way Street Alex encourages candidates to interview the company right back. Asking thoughtful questions doesn't read as ungrateful, it signals you're serious about the role. * No questions are off limits. Ask about benefits, the day-to-day, your future manager, expectations, and next steps. The best interviews feel like a conversation you don't want to end. 6. Bet on Potential, and Protect the Culture as You Grow [cognition] is intentional about taking chances on people who don't have the perfect background but show real potential. Alex points to her own role, which didn't exist until she pitched it. * The company doubled in the last year, but the goal isn't a headcount number, it's growing strategically. That means promoting internally, rewarding hard work quickly, and keeping the small things sacred, from Friday lunches to office candy-tasting contests.

Account Management 101: Manage, Retain, and Scale with Ilka Pritchard, Director of Account Management

In this episode of [radically candid], host Ava Hinds sits down with Ilka Pritchard [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ilkapritchard/], Director of Account Management at [cognition], to dig into one of the most critical parts of the business: client relationships. From onboarding through long-term partnerships, this conversation covers what it takes to manage, scale, and retain the accounts that keep everything moving. Who's This Conversation For? This conversation is for anyone who wants to understand how strong client relationships are built and maintained in the programmatic and Streaming TV space. Whether you're in account management, working alongside it, or just curious about how [cognition] approaches partnership, this one's for you. What You'll Learn By Listening 1) From Choir Tours to Ad Tech (0:45) Before [cognition], Ilka spent 11 years organizing international choir tours. That same instinct, building trust and helping people succeed, carried directly into her pivot into ad tech. * Great AM skills aren't industry-specific. Curiosity and relationship-building translate anywhere. 2) The AM Team Is the Voice of the Customer (2:40) Day-to-day account management runs on constant communication, internally and externally. Ilka explains how the team brings client feedback to product and tech, advocating for clients in every internal room. * 💡 Key Takeaway: Great AMs have their clients' backs internally. That advocacy turns a vendor into a partner. 3) Responsiveness Without Instant Answers (4:30) Being responsive doesn't mean having an immediate solution. Acknowledging the request, communicating progress, and following up when promised builds far more trust than a half-formed response. * Trust is built in the follow-through, not the first reply. 4) Retention Comes From Active Listening (5:26) Three months or three years in, complacency is the killer. Ilka makes the case that retention hinges on active listening and tying every interaction back to value. Sometimes what a client asks for isn't what will actually solve their problem. * Clients renew when they feel heard. The questions you ask matter as much as the answers you deliver. 5) The Lifecycle Starts Before the Contract (7:13) The client journey begins well before signature, sales discovery, internal and external kickoffs, and a cadence built around what success looks like for that client. * A great kickoff sets the tone for everything that follows. 6) You Don't Need Every Answer, You Need to Care (9:04) Ilka looks for people who like working with people, bring curiosity, and have demonstrated respect and collaboration.  The biggest mistake? AMs who think they need every answer themselves instead of leaning on the team. * Authenticity is the filter. If someone shows up willing to learn and stay themselves, the rest can be built. 7) Data Only Matters in Context (14:49) Reporting is essential, but only when tied to what the client cares about. The team surfaces trends, raises flags proactively, and connects every number back to the client's broader goals. * Data without context is noise. The value is in the connection. 8) Programmatic Misconceptions Worth Addressing (16:27) From "I didn't see my ad, but I know it's working" to preamp vs. FAST, Ilka shares the misconceptions she hears most and why education is core to the AM role. * The clients seeing the most success aren't asking whether to do programmatic. They're asking how to integrate it. Connect with Ilka on LinkedIn here! [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ilkapritchard/]

Behind the Build of Q1 Product Innovation with Michael Lieberman, VP of Innovation at [cognition]

In this episode of [radically candid], host Ava Hinds sits down with Michael Lieberman, Vice President of Innovation at [cognition], to recap what the team has been building in Q1 and where innovation is headed for the rest of the year. Who's This Conversation For? This conversation is for anyone who wants to understand the technology and strategy behind [cognition]'s platform. Whether you're a partner looking to get more out of your measurement capabilities or someone in ad tech curious about how cross-channel measurement and Streaming TV attribution are evolving, this one's for you. What You'll Learn By Listening 1) What the Headless Analytics Tag Actually Does Michael walks through how HAT connects the dots across the entire customer journey, from a Streaming TV impression to on-site activity to a form fill. Using a real-world example of someone watching Amazon Prime, searching on their phone, and landing on a dealer site, he explains how HAT stitches that full path together in a way traditional attribution tools can't. * HAT isn't just another pixel. It's two components working together, on-site tracking and a pixel on the creative, to give clients a direct line from impression to conversion. 2) Cross-Channel Visibility Is Expanding HAT doesn't just measure Streaming TV. Because of the on-site tracking layer, clients are also gaining visibility into how search, social, and other channels are performing alongside their streaming campaigns. Michael explains how combining all of those signals is becoming a bigger part of what clients expect and leverage. * Measurement isn't siloed anymore. Clients are starting to see the full picture of how every channel contributes, not just the ones [cognition] executes on. 3) OEM Programs Are Getting Smarter A big Q1 effort focused on helping clients who run OEM programs better manage, filter, and report on those campaigns. Michael shares a fun insight about how customer paths don't always go in a straight line, sometimes a tier-three ad sends someone to the OEM site first before they end up exactly where the ad intended. * The data tells a story. Customers get where the ad wants them to go, but the journey is more complex than most people assume, and now clients can see that. 4) Media Execution Is Getting Faster On the execution side, Q1 was about making the managed service team more efficient and effective. Michael explains why speed of execution is one of the biggest pieces of value [cognition] brings to partners, and why a lot of behind-the-scenes work went into making that faster this quarter. * Not every innovation is client-facing. Some of the most important work is operational, helping the team move quicker so clients see results sooner. 5) DV360 and Beyond [cognition] has been enhancing its DV360 offering with plans to integrate and support more platforms in the months ahead. Michael frames this as part of a larger mission: providing measurement and insight across every channel and DSP clients are working in, not just the ones [cognition] started with. * The vision is platform-agnostic measurement. As new channels and DSPs are added, clients should expect consistent insight no matter where their media runs. 6) What's Next and Why Michael Is Excited Looking ahead, Michael points to new technologies, clean room capabilities, and the speed at which the team can now bring new products to market. At its core, the goal is the same: give partners the tools and insights they need to grow their business, because when they grow, [cognition] grows. * The pace of innovation is accelerating. What's coming in Q2 and beyond is going to give partners yet another reason to lean into the platform.

How Design Drives Real Business Growth with Renuka Lakra, Senior UX Designer at [cognition]

In this episode of [radically candid], host Ava Hinds sits down with Renuka Lakra, Senior UX Designer at [cognition], for a conversation about why design is one of the most undervalued growth levers in business. Renuka shares her perspective on how great UX closes the gap between a product and the people using it, why function always comes before aesthetics, and how a single design decision can move millions in revenue. Who's This Conversation For?  This conversation is for startup founders who want to understand how design drives real business outcomes, anyone building or managing a software product who wants to invest in UX the right way, and designers looking for language to advocate for the strategic value of their work. What You'll Learn By Listening 1. UX Design Is Function Before Aesthetics Renuka reframes what UX design actually is and why it belongs at the start of the software development process, not the end. A product is a tool, not a piece of art, and if it doesn't function the way users expect, no amount of visual polish will save it. * Learn why the word "design" creates confusion and why terms like UX strategy or UX architecture better communicate what the work really involves. 2. Empathy Is the Designer's Most Important Tool Renuka walks through two everyday examples, Gmail's forgotten-attachment reminder and Canva's template library, to show how the best products anticipate user needs before users even realize them. * Gmail isn't showing you a beautiful screen when it catches a missing attachment. It's preventing a mistake and building trust. Canva's templates aren't there to look pretty, they're there to remove the paralysis of a blank page so someone with zero design skills can produce professional work in five minutes. 3. One Design Decision That Doubled Airbnb's Revenue In 2009, Airbnb was nearly dead at $200 a week. The founders flew to New York, knocked on doors, and found the problem, terrible listing photos. They rented a camera, took professional shots, and revenue doubled in a single week. * Same platform, same listings, same city. Just better photos. From 2010 to 2012, bookings went from almost nothing to nearly 5 million nights.  4. Amazon's One-Click Checkout and 300% Conversion Lift People already knew what they wanted to buy. The problem was the checkout process had too many steps, and that's exactly where the drop-off was happening. Amazon reduced the entire flow to one click. * Conversion rates went from 2.5% to over 10%. More people who wanted to buy something actually completed the purchase. 5. Give Designers Goals, Not Tasks Give your UX designer a North Star goal, not a feature to design. Make them part of your product strategy and let them understand your business. * Airbnb's goal was to increase bookings. Spotify's goal was to keep users listening longer. Duolingo's goal was to bring users back every day. None of those are feature requests. They're real business problems, and that's exactly where design should start. 6. Dark Design and Why Values Come First Renuka opens up about dark design patterns, the manipulative UX tactics some companies use to make it harder for users to cancel, unsubscribe, or leave.  * If your values don't align with designing against the user, don't do it. As a UX designer, Renuka's stance is clear: she advocates for users, always. Connect with Renuka Lakra on LinkedIn here! [https://www.linkedin.com/in/renukalakra/]

How Culture Is Built Not Just Talked About with Bill Schomburg

In this episode of [radically candid], host Ava Hinds sits down with Bill Schomberg [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bschomburg/], one of [cognition]'s founding advisors, to go all the way back to the beginning and explore how culture, values, and relationships built the foundation for everything the company is today. Who's This Conversation For? This conversation is for anyone who wants to understand what makes [cognition] different from the inside out. Whether you're a new hire trying to understand the DNA of the company, a long-time team member who wants to hear how it all started, or someone on the outside curious about what a values-driven ad tech company actually looks like, this one's for you. What You'll Learn By Listening 1) How It All Started Before It Started Bill wasn't looking for an advisory role, he didn't even know it was a possibility. After connecting with Carson at a digital dealer meeting and having a two-hour conversation, an unexpected email and phone call changed everything. He joined [cognition] before most people knew it existed. * The Payoff: Sometimes the most important roles aren't ones you apply for. Community and genuine connection open doors you didn't know were there. 2) The Founders Learned to Disagree In the earliest team conversations, Bill noticed a problem: nobody pushed back. Everyone agreed, which meant most of the room wasn't adding value. Today, that dynamic has completely flipped. Different opinions are welcomed, and that shift is one of the biggest reasons the company has scaled the way it has. * 💡 Key Takeaway: Agreement isn't alignment. Real growth starts when people feel safe enough to challenge each other. 3) DIRT Values and the SOIL Framework Dare, Innovate, Respect, Trust, the core values that spell DIRT aren't just a poster on the wall. Bill connects them to his own framework, SOIL (Signs of Intelligent Life), drawing on his upbringing around Nebraska farming to explain why healthy culture, like fertile soil, has to be intentionally tended season after season. * Culture isn't maintenance. It's constant effort, accountability, and expectation, and [cognition] treats it that way every day. 4) Failure Is the Fastest Way to Learn Bill shares the image of a brick wall where the failure bricks far outnumber the success ones, and that's exactly how it should be. At [cognition], failure isn't a setback. It's expected, encouraged, and treated as the engine behind innovation. * The company is on a rocket ship trajectory, and the people who thrive here are the ones who let go of the idea that failure is a negative. 5) You Can't Teach Someone to Care When it comes to hiring, Bill and Ava land on the one quality that matters most: caring. Skills can be taught, products can be learned, but showing up every day wanting to make an impact is something a person either brings with them or they don't. * That's the filter. If someone cares, everything else [cognition] needs from them can be built. Connect with Bill Schomberg on LinkedIn here! [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bschomburg/]