Latest / Genuin Connections / Genuin Connections: Episode 16 -- Ashan Khan (Uber Ads) & Scott Hendrickson (Firmly) at POSSIBLE 26

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Genuin Connections: Episode 16 -- Ashan Khan (Uber Ads) & Scott Hendrickson (Firmly) at POSSIBLE 26 · Genuin Connections

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  This is genuine connections featuring
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  collaborative conversations about
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  community, content, creativity,
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  commerce, and the convergence of media
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  and marketing.
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  Welcome to a very special episode of
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  Genuine Connections here at Possible
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  2026 in Miami Beach. I am Genuine CMO
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  Matt Wurst and I am excited to have two
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  very special guests here with me on set
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  on site here in the genuine suite and we
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  are going to be talking about a topic
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  that I think overlaps and intersects
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  with all of us. But I want to first
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  acknowledge our guests here and visitors
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  in the room. We are doing this live. So
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  as we know in Hollywood and maybe in
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  Miami, this is uh this is this is this
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  is going to be an adventure. So, I'm
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  excited to have you guys. Welcome. I
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  have with me Ashen Khan, who's the head
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  of global agency partnerships at Uber
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  Advertising, and Scott Hendrickson, CRO
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  at Firmly. So, welcome guys.
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  >> Thank you. Thank you.
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  >> How is your possible Ben? Is it more
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  probable at this point or is it still
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  possible?
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  >> It's deterministic actually.
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  >> And we're going to start measuring
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  outcomes almost immediately in real
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  time.
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  >> It's been an amazing event. Like 7,00
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  people here. This is like it's a it's
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  been amazing. I want to just let you
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  guys both introduce yourselves cuz it's
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  somewhat rare that we have two guests in
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  this conversation.
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  >> The first on all the way to my right is
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  Ashen.
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  >> Sure.
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  >> Thank you.
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  >> Uh thanks for having us Matt. Uh Ashan
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  again I lead our global agency
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  partnerships team with Uber Advertising
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  and excited to be here. So thanks for
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  having us.
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  >> Cool. And I'm Scott Henderson, chief
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  revenue officer at uh Firmly.
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  >> Okay. So, our topic today that we're
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  going to be talking about broadly, but
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  we'll,
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  >> you know, we'll go up and down the Miami
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  coastline here having having a
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  conversation,
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  >> but we've called this episode from
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  discovery to decision, collapsing the
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  distance between content and commerce.
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  And as we've heard throughout the week
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  here, people talking about retail and
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  commerce media, about AI and tech, about
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  how the intersection of consumer
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  behavior is informing and then informed
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  by the technology, the creative, the
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  tools we're all using, the tools that we
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  are building. And in some ways, it's
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  becoming even more autonomous and
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  adaptive than ever, which is exciting.
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  >> I though heard someone say recently that
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  the funnel is dead. And then I heard
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  more people say it. And then I started
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  hearing everyone say it. Have you heard
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  this expression that the funnel is dead
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  in our ecosystem? Is it becoming
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  commonplace?
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  >> I mean, I think it's it's the funnel is
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  absolutely evolving. I think if you if
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  you look back when digital first reared
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  its head, the the the purchase funnel
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  became coined more of a purchase
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  pretzel, right? You might start online,
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  then you go to in store, you go mobile,
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  and it like you the the user is moving
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  around in different places. It wasn't
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  just go to a store and be and be done.
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  If you look at today in a world of of
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  AI, the funnel is becoming more from my
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  perspective more like an accordion,
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  >> right? Where if you're you go into an
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  LLM and you search for a specific
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  specific product, immediately you have
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  an answer, right? And that answer might
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  be the right answer, it might be the
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  wrong answer and it gives you the
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  opportunity to to buy right then and
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  there. If that's not what the user
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  wants, then it expands. it potentially
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  expands back out, right? User at, you
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  know, looks for more information to say.
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  So, I think it's I think it's absolutely
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  evolving. It sure as hell is not is not
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  dead by any consider by any thought. And
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  I think if you look at consideration and
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  the media that's needed in order to
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  drive brand awareness
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  >> um and consideration is still absolutely
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  absolutely critical. The question is how
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  do you connect the upper funnel to um
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  ultimately you know bottom funnel
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  conversion which is where which is what
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  I think is is evolving and super
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  exciting
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  >> and Ashton from where you set this
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  journey
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  >> literally and both figuratively I guess
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  metaphorically and in every way right
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  Uber and Uber advertising is all about
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  connecting the journey the decisions the
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  discovery and the experience throughout
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  it is not linear the ride may be linear
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  sometimes
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  >> but the experience for the consumer is
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  not so what's changed
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  over the last few years and even more
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  recently from your perspective.
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  >> Yeah, sure. And picking up on um Scott's
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  point like the funnel is not dead.
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  Brands still need to drive awareness,
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  drive cons consideration, conversion,
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  etc. I think it's the way that it
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  operates. What we see I think a big
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  difference that we see is the um
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  intention that and the specificity that
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  people come into the platform with. So
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  the discovery to conversion is uh is
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  sort of shortened, right? you you get in
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  an Uber, you're entering the Font
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  Fountain Blue or Eden Rock, etc. So,
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  people are coming in with a a specific
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  item in mind even on the Uber Eat side
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  when they come in to purchase beverage,
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  per purchase food, etc. So, the um that
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  piece has changed. So the opportunity in
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  terms of like hey okay how does a brand
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  sort of get their awareness or get their
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  message and then help drive a conversion
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  um just kind of happens a little bit
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  differently through whether it's through
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  the content whether it's through the
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  messaging or even through the ad
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  products
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  >> and Uber advertising is sitting on a
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  trove of data you know where I'm going
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  where I've been now more broadly what
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  I'm eating where I'm ordering from where
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  I'm helicoptering to. I don't know is
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  that evening still a thing? I'm not
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  sure. Um, but with all of that data, and
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  I'm sure there are so many platforms
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  that are just jealous of the information
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  that you have. Um, how does that change
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  what a commerce media experience and a
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  network can actually deliver versus
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  where brands have kind of been promised
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  something by every other retail or
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  commerce media?
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  >> Yeah, sure. Solution.
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  >> Yeah. I won't necessarily speak against
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  the others at the market.
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  >> What's unique and special about it? It
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  it is both sides of the house in terms
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  of understanding what are their purchase
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  behaviors and decisions on the Uber Eat
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  side and then also on what we call a
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  mobility side. You think about the rider
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  app, the black app, what's their
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  behaviors, what are their destinations,
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  what are their trips and how do we
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  actually help brands uh kind of connect
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  and bridge both sides of it, right? So,
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  if you are if you're a CPG or a QSR
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  brand, there's a there's a whole another
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  set of valuable insights to help inform
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  your decisions about who do you want to
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  target, what message do you want, do you
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  want to actually drive them to your app,
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  to the store, or back into Uber Eats to
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  drive a conversion. So, it's a really uh
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  kind of complete and full ecosystem that
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  we can actually bring to a brand and
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  have a have a pretty interesting
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  conversation around. And and Scott, I
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  know firmly is built around buying at
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  the moment of inspiration,
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  >> right? Where is that moment actually
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  happening now? Is there one place or
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  there multiple places or can it not even
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  really be pinpointed because it's
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  happening everywhere and all the time?
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  >> Yeah. So um so so firmly what we've what
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  we've built is we've enabled we've
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  created a technology that enables a user
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  to check out with a merchant
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  irregardless of where they of where they
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  are. Um and so that could be inside of a
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  publisher experience where publishers
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  are recommending content instead of
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  redirecting out to an affiliate through
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  an affiliate link and there being 15
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  clicks in order to ultimately drive a
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  conversion. Right? you could the
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  publisher can now convert the user right
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  then and there uh inside of LLMs um
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  which is a commerce is obviously an
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  extremely extremely important and um uh
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  topic today uh and one that's going to
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  completely change commerce in the in the
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  future um it can now happen inside of an
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  LLM it can happen inside of an ad
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  experience uh it can happen into inside
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  of a vertical um shopping assistant like
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  a wizard AI and so these are all things
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  that are happening today that firmly
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  specifically is is enabling and it's
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  just simply at making it easier for the
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  consumer to buy the product when and
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  where they want to buy the product,
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  right? But doing it in a way where the
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  merchant still benefits, right? Merchant
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  still remains the merchant of record.
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  The data still flows to the merchant.
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  This isn't Tik Tok shop. We are the
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  antithesis of Tik Tok shop.
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  >> Tik Tok shop I mean you look at the
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  success that they've had. Mind-boggling,
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  incredibly huge. The problem with Tik
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  Tok shop is that the merchant is not the
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  merchant record. the Tik Tok shop is and
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  Tik Tok has specifically said I'm not
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  sharing any data with any so that's so
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  the question around lifetime value if
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  you're a merchant you want to make it
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  easier for a consumer to buy but you
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  need to maintain that that lifetime that
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  lifetime value so I think that
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  holistically the question isn't whether
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  you the the merchant should enable a
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  checkout experience wherever the
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  consumer wants to do it if the question
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  is how um and um how do they do it in a
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  way that benefits their business while
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  also making it easier um for the
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  consumer. You
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  >> know, we've been now 48 hours here in
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  Miami and we're immersed in innovation
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  and relationships and authentic and
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  genuine connections that are happening.
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  But we also hear the word agentic
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  attached to everything. I think I was in
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  an agentic elevator ride. I was in an
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  agentic Uber ride at one point. I don't
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  I can't keep track of it.
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  >> Was it really you? No.
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  >> Was it? I don't know. I'm here, but is
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  it me? Who knows? Um, Ashton, I guess
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  I'll start with you. From the from the
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  media side, what does a Gentic actually
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  mean for a commerce media experience?
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  >> Sure. I think it's um, uh, how are we
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  deploying the technology to make things
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  a little bit more seamless? I think the
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  um, the big piece and kind of picking up
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  on what you said is around the
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  measurement side of it, right? And so
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  how do we also because with these new
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  solutions agent versus in a chatbot etc.
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  It sort of further fragments the market.
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  So how do we as between publishers
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  between brands between marketplaces kind
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  of help push and ensure that we are able
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  to support measurement on all sides of
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  the house so that for the brand it's
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  still very understandable in terms of
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  hey where's the uh where's the
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  conversion coming from you know to your
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  point on the hey how does a gentic work
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  within a a commerce network. I mean
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  there's many applications and you see
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  some of the things that have been
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  announced in the past whether it's
• 10:29
  around shop assistant etc. So
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  >> yeah even even payment transaction
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  optimization at some point right we've
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  we've heard we've heard people talking
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  about and and from from your perspective
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  Scott like the transaction side you've
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  built
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  >> the pipes what's real today and what's
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  like 18 months 5 years out
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  >> yes
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  >> and like where are merchants even
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  wasting their time.
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  >> Yeah. So um I think I I think today so
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  when you think about agentic commerce
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  today there's still very much a human in
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  the loop. So like as an example, when we
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  say that we are an agentic commerce
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  platform, what that specifically means
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  is that we have agents that understand
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  how how to integrate into a merchants's
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  backend to then enable to then surface
• 11:16
  their product pages, their product
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  catalog, their real-time price,
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  real-time inventory, their checkout into
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  these different destinations. Now, when
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  the user checks out, it's clear as day
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  that they're checking out. with Best
• 11:28
  Buy. The human is pressing the button
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  that says buy I want to buy these
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  AirPods with with with Best Buy. They
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  just happen to be doing it inside of
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  Wizard AI or inside of a publisher. So
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  the method in how we integrate is done
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  through our agents, the tech that we've
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  built, but and and we surface this
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  inside of Agentic channels like LLMs,
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  but it's not an independent agent
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  working on behalf of a user who says,
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  "I'm going to Miami. Um, please book me
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  a hotel that's near the Fountain Blue
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  and do it for a price that's x, y, and
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  z." Like, you know, or I'm going on
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  vacation with my wife. Please find a
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  spot. If there's an agent that can
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  understand my wife, God bless you. I
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  love you. You're beautiful. Um, like I
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  would absolutely love that. I don't
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  think that we're I don't think that
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  >> the promise.
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  >> I don't think we're I don't think we're
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  there. But but we will get to a place
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  especially if you think about like
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  Uber's use case. I think that broadly
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  speaking, not all shopping journeys are
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  created equal. They're not the same. In
• 12:29
  the media, they talk about it all as
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  though it's all the same and
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  everything's going to be disrupted in a
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  huge way. for you to say, "Uber, please
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  um get buy me or I want to order two
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  pies from my favorite pizza shop." Like,
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  you've already gone through that
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  purchase consideration. You trust Uber,
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  you trust, you know the pizza that you
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  want to buy. And so that maybe you might
• 12:50
  delegate to an agent. But when it comes
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  to travel, when it comes to clothes,
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  when it comes to anything that requires
• 12:57
  purchase consideration, it's still very
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  much a human in the loop. I think both
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  today and also in the future. Um I also
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  think that like as we look look ahead
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  several years I think there's like two
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  key things two conversations in the
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  marketplace that will ultimately
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  um come come together. One is you've got
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  attention right like how do you get a
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  user's attention in order to drive
• 13:24
  certain consideration create awareness
• 13:26
  uh you know etc right? And there's lots
• 13:28
  of technology that's focusing on that.
• 13:30
  There's also lots of technology that's
• 13:31
  focused on convenience, right? Both
• 13:33
  things that you know convenience, how do
• 13:35
  you make it easier for a user to just
• 13:37
  buy, shop, engage, etc. Like two key
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  things. I think those two worlds will
• 13:44
  eventually start coming together where
• 13:46
  if you're deploying a brand media
• 13:48
  campaign, why not give them the
• 13:50
  opportunity to to buy now if that's what
• 13:52
  they want to do? Right now, they're
• 13:53
  they're happening in in in silos and it
• 13:56
  doesn't make any it doesn't make a lot
• 13:57
  of sense. It's you you got their
• 13:59
  attention. There's some context there.
• 14:02
  If the user wants to buy, great. If they
• 14:04
  don't want to buy, that's that's fine
• 14:05
  too, right? But and you can measure it
• 14:07
  there. So be there two different forms
• 14:09
  of measuring
• 14:09
  >> revenue on the table because there is
• 14:12
  this gap between the attention and the
• 14:16
  actual transaction. So whose job is it
• 14:18
  to build the solution that solves for
• 14:22
  this? Is there someone working on that?
• 14:24
  Is there a right answer or is it really
• 14:26
  that's the blue sky right now and where
• 14:28
  that gap can be closed? It's up for
• 14:31
  grabs.
• 14:32
  >> Yeah, I mean I think it's sort of a
• 14:35
  collaboration of multiple parties,
• 14:36
  right? Like everyone's going to have
• 14:37
  their own either policy what they're
• 14:40
  willing to share from a data standpoint.
• 14:42
  So it's going to be a collab I don't
• 14:44
  think it's too different uh from what
• 14:47
  groups are trying to do now between
• 14:49
  agency, brand, partner, platform, etc.
• 14:52
  this it's sort of increased
• 14:54
  collaboration to ultimately like all
• 14:56
  ships will rise if we help show that
• 14:58
  brand X has driven positive results or
• 15:01
  whatever the case is right
• 15:02
  >> so I want to I want to drill into that
• 15:05
  one one bit because you're working with
• 15:06
  agencies
• 15:08
  >> um I have an agency background I know
• 15:10
  they continue to evolve
• 15:12
  >> very rapidly there is consolidation and
• 15:14
  I'm not going to ask you to comment on
• 15:16
  any of that because in many ways as
• 15:19
  these moments of transformation happen
• 15:21
  agencies are often at the forefront of
• 15:22
  defining it.
• 15:23
  >> When the social media era was first
• 15:26
  really driving marketing and consumer
• 15:28
  experiences, it was agencies working
• 15:30
  with their brands to enable what could
• 15:32
  happen on the platform. Now, here we are
• 15:35
  again in this new wave of
• 15:38
  commerce and retail and Agentic all
• 15:42
  colliding and maybe converging in some
• 15:44
  way. Does that make commerce media
• 15:48
  easier or harder to sell now that
• 15:50
  agencies are back in this limelight of
• 15:54
  and potential for driving opportunity?
• 15:57
  >> I I wouldn't say it's harder to sell or
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  easier. I think some of the silos that
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  have existed in this industry in
• 16:05
  perpetuity kind of still
• 16:08
  >> are still there, right? And our platform
• 16:09
  is is very unique in terms of if you
• 16:11
  think about the Uber Eats side and what
• 16:13
  it can do for endemic categories on the
• 16:15
  CPG and on the QSR side as opposed to uh
• 16:19
  what we would say are non-endemic uh
• 16:21
  clients uh and and sort of where they
• 16:24
  lean into from an ad solution etc.
• 16:26
  Right? So the um some of those things
• 16:29
  still have to be addressed. I wouldn't
• 16:31
  say it's it's necessarily harder or
• 16:34
  easier. I think it's the opportunity of
• 16:36
  sort of how you educate the marketplace
• 16:38
  and kind of find that common ground
• 16:40
  right so we are talking about hey like
• 16:42
  what's unique and if we if we take this
• 16:44
  very uh commerce endemic uh focused
• 16:47
  approach again the opportunity is on
• 16:50
  what we would say is the mobility side
• 16:51
  right like you may be a a pizza brand or
• 16:54
  a burger brand or whatever the case is
• 16:55
  and do tons of volume and drive tons of
• 16:57
  conversions within the Uber Eats side of
• 16:59
  it but don't forget about the other side
• 17:01
  like those same people are not just
• 17:02
  ordering on Uber Eats to have stuff
• 17:04
  delivered or to go and pick it up.
• 17:06
  They're taking trips in an Uber. They're
• 17:08
  doing all these other activities. So, so
• 17:10
  I think it still comes down to uh the
• 17:13
  job of like education helping to helping
• 17:16
  to sort of move the ball forward on
• 17:17
  multiple sides because you know you
• 17:19
  still have uh clients and so forth where
• 17:22
  some say actually if it's if it's a
• 17:25
  commerce or if you're bucketed into
• 17:26
  retail media the brand is going to own
• 17:28
  that. If you're upper funnel the agency
• 17:30
  is going to own that. So some of these
• 17:32
  silos still have to they they still
• 17:34
  exist and we're still uh sort of driving
• 17:36
  on all sides to to move the ball
• 17:38
  forward.
• 17:38
  >> So the answer to the question who
• 17:40
  actually owns the advertiser
• 17:41
  relationship now is it depends.
• 17:44
  >> I I mean I think to be honest it's sort
• 17:46
  of always dependent to a degree, right?
• 17:49
  So it kind of Yeah, I guess. Yeah. So,
• 17:52
  >> um, and Scott, you've been you've been
• 17:55
  part of and through multiple
• 17:57
  acquisitions and exits, which is an
• 18:00
  incredible adventure for those in the
• 18:02
  entrepreneurial space and those in the
• 18:04
  technology space. And it's, you know,
• 18:05
  comes with highs and lows, but it also
• 18:07
  means being proactive, being adaptive
• 18:09
  and reactive.
• 18:11
  At this moment, like where we are in
• 18:13
  this inflection point that I think um,
• 18:15
  so many of us feel but maybe not able to
• 18:18
  clearly define yet. What does a merchant
• 18:21
  or a a media company actually need to
• 18:24
  have in place whether it's operationally
• 18:26
  or even technically before an
• 18:28
  infrastructure partnership like firmly
• 18:32
  is can create like real value for for um
• 18:36
  a partner?
• 18:37
  >> Yeah. I mean, so I I guess how how I'd
• 18:40
  answer that that that question is it
• 18:43
  it's it's to start, right?
• 18:46
  old former CEO of mine um would would
• 18:49
  regularly say just left foot right foot
• 18:50
  like just keep just keep going forward
• 18:52
  just just kept just just start just just
• 18:54
  walk you don't just you don't need to
• 18:56
  run you don't you just take a step so
• 18:58
  for those who and the coralary is a lot
• 19:02
  of folks on the publisher or the
• 19:04
  platform side they don't yet really know
• 19:06
  what to do with the data so the fact
• 19:09
  that they might utilize our APIs to
• 19:12
  create a native checkout experience they
• 19:14
  understand exactly
• 19:15
  at a skew level what products were
• 19:18
  purchased as a result of their ad or the
• 19:20
  content that was that they produced
• 19:22
  which is a first time all right um for
• 19:24
  for them like right now if you look more
• 19:27
  holistic like more broadly like through
• 19:28
  affiliate links etc u attribution is
• 19:31
  delayed it takes 30 to 60 days to
• 19:33
  understand what your what actually what
• 19:35
  sales were generated but you don't know
• 19:37
  what they bought you wrote an article
• 19:38
  about airpods and they end up buying
• 19:40
  diapers uh through you don't know you
• 19:43
  don't know the answer to that question
• 19:44
  right and So um a lot of them don't know
• 19:46
  what to do with the data to then figure
• 19:49
  out how to activate it. So like step one
• 19:52
  is is is start see better see better
• 19:55
  conversions see better engagement. Step
• 19:56
  two is utilize the data as a way to say
• 19:59
  okay for these customers I can now
• 20:00
  re-engage them in a more intelligent way
• 20:02
  and recommend product. I just saw that
• 20:04
  they they just bought AirPods because of
• 20:06
  the article last week. I just saw the
• 20:08
  user again. Maybe I should use that data
• 20:11
  to give them a different product
• 20:13
  recommendation. Right? because and you
• 20:14
  start to understand the the the your
• 20:16
  users at a at a true user level and then
• 20:20
  be able to service them in ways that
• 20:22
  you've never been able to service them
• 20:23
  before, right? Like that's a massive
• 20:26
  massive massive opportunity.
• 20:28
  >> That doesn't all need to be solved day
• 20:31
  one. I would encourage them to move very
• 20:33
  very quickly.
• 20:34
  >> We call that textual continuity
• 20:36
  >> in a look in in a world where LLMs
• 20:39
  continue to eat others lunches, right?
• 20:42
  They they're take from whether it be
• 20:43
  publishers, apps, etc. They're taking
• 20:45
  attention,
• 20:47
  right, from other from other channels.
• 20:49
  The only way in to survive is to have
• 20:52
  better relationships with your
• 20:54
  customers. The only way to do that is to
• 20:55
  better to have better data to help
• 20:57
  understand exactly who they are and what
• 20:59
  they want and then how to and and
• 21:01
  service them. That that's a huge path.
• 21:03
  That's a huge opportunity, a huge path
• 21:05
  forward.
• 21:06
  >> Not too different than what Uber has,
• 21:08
  right? and what Uber does. You can see
• 21:10
  you can see the history and you guys
• 21:12
  know how to recommend and and and and
• 21:14
  use that better than anybody. There's a
• 21:16
  lot of other publishers, apps, and
• 21:18
  channels that should be following in
• 21:20
  Uber's footsteps. Um they're far away
• 21:23
  from getting to where Uber is today. Um
• 21:26
  but it doesn't need to that does but it
• 21:27
  doesn't need to be in the far too far
• 21:29
  distant future for them to get there,
• 21:31
  especially at the speed of which the
• 21:32
  market and this technology is evolving.
• 21:34
  So I want to I I'll wrap up and and ask
• 21:37
  a a timely question based on the fact
• 21:40
  that we are here at possible. It is a
• 21:42
  marathon of meetings. It is a
• 21:45
  >> sprint in the sunshine. We all come back
• 21:47
  a little bit sweaty after between these
• 21:50
  meetings and waiting for elevators and
• 21:52
  dodging people in the in the lobbies.
• 21:55
  But is there something that you've heard
• 21:57
  or as part of meetings or maybe even
• 22:00
  someone on a panel on stage whether it's
• 22:02
  a CMO or a media lead that they're
• 22:05
  saying that they're sharing that they're
• 22:07
  pontificating about that you're like yes
• 22:09
  this is this is right this is what we
• 22:12
  are getting right about the commerce
• 22:14
  media space right now about the consumer
• 22:16
  experience where we are today or on the
• 22:19
  flip side is there one thing you've
• 22:20
  heard you can user's choice here that
• 22:23
  you're like nope I need to correct this.
• 22:25
  We need to get ahead of this. Either
• 22:27
  one. So, let's start with you, Ash.
• 22:29
  >> Yeah, sure. I think the um and even a
• 22:31
  little bit more broadly on the than just
• 22:33
  commerce is the
• 22:35
  the I would say like the systems and the
• 22:38
  data collaboration and how we work
• 22:40
  together to do exactly some of what uh
• 22:43
  Scott was just talking about, right?
• 22:44
  like the the ability for us to actually
• 22:47
  help a client make sense of our
• 22:49
  audiences and our data, match it to
• 22:52
  their data sets and how how quickly
• 22:54
  that's also accelerating and improving
• 22:56
  on the sort of hold co agency side is is
• 22:59
  the is an area of opportunity and sort
• 23:01
  of a massive area of excitement, right?
• 23:03
  Because then it just kind of helps sort
• 23:05
  of power the flywheel all that much more
• 23:06
  faster and again kind of helps the the
• 23:08
  whole industry perform better. So, so,
• 23:10
  so again maybe a little bit geeky, but I
• 23:13
  am very excited for how the measurement
• 23:15
  and understanding the different houses
• 23:18
  and the different data sets are moving
• 23:19
  to to sort of help all parties.
• 23:22
  >> Yeah. So, the one positive I'm a
• 23:26
  positive guy, man. You know what I mean?
• 23:27
  Like I always got to talk I got to talk
• 23:29
  about the good stuff, right? But the
• 23:31
  positive is that that that everything
• 23:34
  >> in the future will be retail media in
• 23:35
  some form because it'll be tied back to
• 23:38
  actual data that the CMO can understand
• 23:43
  and directly attack to. Right
• 23:45
  >> now the flip side of that which I'll say
• 23:47
  is we need fewer walled gardens for that
• 23:49
  to actually happen. So I think that like
• 23:51
  the vision and what I heard today is
• 23:54
  like that sounds freaking beautiful and
• 23:56
  great and very smart. Um, I'll be very
• 23:59
  curious. I'll be very I'm I'm excited to
• 24:02
  see
• 24:03
  >> how the retail media go walled Gardens
• 24:06
  um ultimately figure out how to play
• 24:08
  nice together. Um, and and I I think
• 24:10
  that that's a big
• 24:11
  >> that's a big dream, dude. That's a big
• 24:14
  big dream.
• 24:15
  >> I It's a great note to end on because as
• 24:17
  you guys know and our and our listeners
• 24:19
  know, this is the challenge. This is the
• 24:21
  vision. This is the opportunity that
• 24:23
  we're building and why we're here is to
• 24:26
  connect everyone across this ecosystem
• 24:28
  in a way that benefits the brands, the
• 24:31
  retailers, the consumers and um and
• 24:34
  drives just positive experiences moving
• 24:37
  forward. So, we'll be back here next
• 24:39
  year, but it's not going to be a full
• 24:41
  year before we see each other and
• 24:43
  connect. And there's another and then
• 24:45
  another and then another event where we
• 24:47
  will um check in with one another, but
• 24:49
  continue to drive progress. But before I
• 24:52
  let you go, I wanted to just thank you
• 24:53
  and and tell Scott, you've got all the
• 24:55
  bracelets from all the events, all the
• 24:56
  venues and parties. What's the what's
• 24:58
  the coolest place that you've been in or
• 25:00
  the coolest person that you've met? Cuz
• 25:01
  I only have a few. You're everything.
• 25:04
  I'm not out.
• 25:06
  These things they they they strap them
• 25:08
  on to you and then they you got to I
• 25:10
  need I need a knife to get them cut off.
• 25:11
  >> That's right. You go home, you're
• 25:12
  weighted down the uh plane with it.
• 25:14
  >> Yeah. Yeah. I'm not that cool of a guy,
• 25:16
  man. Well,
• 25:17
  >> you know, so
• 25:18
  >> I I appreciate the How about you? How
• 25:21
  about you, man? Matt [ __ ] worst. How
• 25:22
  about it?
• 25:23
  >> It's uh Look, this these are about
• 25:25
  genuine connections. So, I appreciate
• 25:27
  you guys being here
• 25:29
  >> listening to me, answering the questions
• 25:31
  we have, sharing with us,
• 25:34
  >> and um hope you guys have a great rest
• 25:36
  of the show.
• 25:36
  >> Likewise. Can we give your wife a shout
• 25:38
  out? Also, it's her birthday.
• 25:40
  >> We sure can.
• 25:41
  >> Wow.
• 25:42
  >> Thank you for saving the day and maybe
• 25:44
  my marriage.
• 25:46
  >> Happy birthday.
• 25:47
  >> Happy birthday, Lee. I love you. Sorry
• 25:49
  you're not here and sorry I'm not home,
• 25:50
  but um in your absence, I'm spending
• 25:53
  time with other quality people who are
• 25:56
  making the world a better place just
• 25:57
  like you're doing. So, thanks guys.
• 26:00
  >> Thanks.
• 26:01
  >> Love it.