About this episode

In this episode, Kirby Grimes discusses the challenges in ad tech, the future of streaming, and his unique journey in the media industry.

Kirby Grimes helped build the first streaming TV apps on the planet. He co-founded Float Left, one of Roku's first development partners back in 2009, got acquired, launched 4320 (a B2B marketing agency for media tech companies), and now publishes The Streaming Wars. He also raps about the media industry on LinkedIn and made it to 42 without seeing Star Wars. In this episode of The ADOTAT Show, Pesach Lattin and Kirby get into: 00:00 Intro 01:30 Why ad-supported digital publishing is broken in 2026 06:00 The real reason recipe sites are unusable 10:00 Interruption vs ambient vs task-based attention in advertising 13:00 Contextual ads, dynamic creative, and why none of it works 16:30 Is YouTube TV? The fight nobody is winning 20:00 The Anti-Thought Leader Thought Leader 24:00 Building the Kirby Grimes brand from karaoke to rap singles 31:00 Wall Street is killing the streaming industry 36:00 What media looks like in 2036 40:00 Desert Island Five (no family, includes a therapist) 46:00 Mental health, freezing time, and life as a founder 51:00 Why Kirby went 42 years without watching Star Wars 55:00 Mark Echo, graffiti, and merging the creative and business self 59:00 The cardboard…

People in this episode

Host: Pesach Lattin

Guest: Kirby Grimes

Topics covered

• ad-supported digital publishing
• streaming industry
• advertising attention
• contextual ads
• media industry
• mental health
• branding

Keywords

• ad tech
• streaming
• YouTube TV
• display ads
• mental health
• branding
• advertising

Sponsors

Troutman Amin LLP, Incremental.com

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Float Left, YouTube TV

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