When I first met Mark Douglas, he didn’t start with the product. He walked me through the office, introduced me to team members, and showed me the kitchen he built so people could gather and share meals. He talked about culture. About equity. About what it means for everyone in a company to have real ownership, not just on the cap table, but in the outcome.

That first meeting shaped everything that came next. Over time, it became clear that Mark and the team weren’t just building a performance marketing platform. He was laying the foundation for a company with longevity where values, vision, and velocity could coexist.

As MNTN went public today, I’ve been reflecting on what set this company apart: clear vision, grit, and the discipline to build ahead of the market. 

Mark has always had a remarkable instinct for where technology is headed. His product and engineering background from Oracle to eHarmony put him at the intersection of data, media, and performance. 

Years ago, before connected TV was widely discussed, Mark saw three critical shifts coming

• The decline of cookie-based targeting

• The fragmentation and rise of streaming

• The growing pressure on marketers to prove ROI faster

We talked about these changes in some of our earliest conversations. Mark didn’t frame them as abstract trends, he spoke with conviction about how they would reshape advertising entirely. At the time, most founders were optimizing for that current cycle. Mark was quietly building for the next one.

In 2021, I met Ryan Reynolds. He and George Dewey had built Maximum Effort into one of the most relevant creative shops in the industry born out of their work on Deadpool. When the studio cut back on the film’s marketing budget, Ryan and his team got scrappy. They created content quickly, leaned into social and earned media, and even rewrote parts of the script to build in brand integration. The campaign became the blueprint for Maximum Effort: culturally attuned, fast-moving creative that delivers without the layers of traditional marketing.

As they shared their vision for where they wanted to go next, it clicked. I remember saying, I have a company that’s building the infrastructure for exactly what you’re describing.

I introduced them to Mark.

Three days after their first meeting, Ryan said, “I want in.” Within weeks, Maximum Effort became part of MNTN, and Ryan joined as Chief Creative Officer.

That partnership was a strategic unlock. MNTN already had the tech. Maximum Effort brought creative velocity. Together, they turned television advertising into something agile, accessible, and effective. Brands could launch campaigns for as little as $5,000, with unskippable spots delivered to highly targeted audiences in days.

The results were immediate: inbound leads jumped from 2% to over 64%, and more than 92% of MNTN’s customers were new to TV advertising altogether.

The company sits at the intersection of two massive shifts, how people consume media, and how brands measure marketing impact.  In 2024, streaming subscription revenues overtook those of traditional TV for the first time. And connected TV ad spend is projected to grow from $33.5 billion in 2024 to nearly $47 billion by 2028, according to eMarketer. MNTN didn’t just benefit from this shift, it anticipated it.

MNTN’s IPO will introduce the company to a broader set of public market investors. But the company’s real value lies in how it was built.

For founders, it’s a reminder that grit and discipline are what turn vision into results. Mark and the MNTN team stayed focused, moved early, and built steadily, even when the path wasn’t obvious. 

For investors, it’s a case study in timing, trust, and the kind of leadership that endures.

Mark’s leadership and his ability to see around corners made this moment possible. I’m grateful to have played a small part in connecting the right people at the right time. 

To the entire MNTN team and board, including Joe Johnson, Grant Ries, Hadi Partovi, Joseph Kaiser, Jim Andelman, and Peter Lee as well as our exceptional advisors at Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, and Evercore: thank you. And to our co-investors, including BlackRock, Fidelity, Mercato Partners, Baroda Ventures, Daher Capital, Qualcomm Ventures, Rincon Venture Partners, Lighthouse Capital Partners, SV Angel, and of course the Greycroft team, who supported MNTN across so many pivotal chapters: we’re deeply appreciative.

While MNTN is scaling the connected TV mountain, the landscape of advertising technology is always evolving. There is always another MNTN to climb, and with each shift, new terrain emerges. I can’t wait to see what comes next.