OhHello Ep. 108: Mike Hauptman on Building Culture Without Walls and Leading Remote Teams

Oct 28, 2025

In this discussion, Mike Hauptman, founder and CEO of AdLib, shares insights from his journey in the ad tech industry. He emphasizes evolving leadership to prioritize trust over control in a remote-first world. Mike reveals how the collapse of MediaMath pushed AdLib to innovate quickly, expanding its global team. He discusses fostering a strong company culture centered on empathy and vulnerability, while also addressing the challenges of maintaining connectivity remotely. Aspiring founders will appreciate his candid advice: just take the leap and start!

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INSIGHT

Single Launch Pad For Programmatic

AdLib is a single launch pad that unifies execution across DSPs, SSPs, and retail media without agencies needing separate commercial relationships.
This reduces specialized resource needs and simplifies programmatic campaign management for agencies and brands.

ANECDOTE

Founders' Long Road To Product

Mike and co-founder Dan built AdLib after years working together at MediaPlex and MediaMath and spotting customization needs in ad tech.
They started the company as a bootstrap experiment and iterated through multiple versions before finding product-market fit.

ANECDOTE

Pivot After MediaMath Collapse

AdLib incorporated in 2014 and went through pivots including influencer-amplification before scaling after MediaMath collapsed in 2023.
The team grew from three people to about 20 while connecting to 20+ platforms and expanding channels like YouTube and audio.

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In this episode, Jeremy Bloom sits down with Mike Hauptman, founder and CEO of AdLib, to explore how he’s redefining access to the programmatic advertising ecosystem and reshaping what leadership looks like in a remote-first world. Mike shares how AdLib evolved from a bootstrap experiment to a thriving global team of 20, serving independent agencies and brands with a unified platform that simplifies campaign execution across every DSP, SSP, and retail media network.

The conversation dives deep into leadership, culture, mentorship, and resilience, as Mike reflects on lessons learned from building a company through industry disruption, maintaining connections across continents, and fostering trust in a world without office walls.

Takeaways

AdLib was built to solve a long-standing problem in ad tech: fragmented access across programmatic platforms.
Mike and co-founder Dan Bogert turned a shared frustration into a company through persistence, patience, and self-funding.
The collapse of MediaMath became a turning point that forced AdLib to evolve quickly and expand its reach.
Leadership, for Mike, is about trust, not control, and giving people the space to deliver their best work.
Running a remote team means finding new ways to create closeness and connection beyond office walls.
A strong culture starts with empathy, small gestures of care, and genuine investment in people’s wellbeing.
Transparency and vulnerability are core to how Mike communicates, both in success and in struggle.
Mentorship and family values have shaped his belief in showing up, working hard, and staying grounded.
Mike’s advice to future founders: take the leap, stay curious, and don’t let fear of failure hold you back.

Chapters 00:00 Introductions and Mike’s Background

01:55 What AdLib Does and Its Purpose

03:22 The Journey from MediaMath to Founding AdLib

05:17 Early Iterations and Lessons from Bootstrapping

07:22 Evolving Leadership and Culture in a Remote World

09:47 Building Trust and Accountability Across Teams

11:23 Attracting Global Talent and Creating Belonging

13:59 Investing in People and Wellbeing

15:18 Fostering Vulnerability and Openness Remotely

17:17 Preparing for Growth and Staying Agile

19:22 Leading with Empathy Through Life’s Highs and Lows

20:14 Mentors, Work Ethic, and Life Lessons

22:35 Hard Lessons in Trust and Perseverance

24:01 Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs