CEO. Thought Leader. Bonsai pruner.
Born and raised in New York, Adam bought a one way ticket to California after graduating from Cornell. From an early age, he was attracted to art and technology— programming video games on a PET computer in 6th grade — so the exploding digital scene in 1996 San Francisco felt like home.
In the entrepreneurial spirit, he bought a book on Photoshop and declared himself a web designer. After a few years at a handful of agencies, he had officially earned the title. In 1997, he was blogging before the word “blog” was coined. In 1998, he was the resident Flash guy at Think New Ideas, a hot integrated agency. In 2000, he was recruited to help start the SF office of Tribal DDB.
Adam and his partners founded Traction in 2001 (in the spare bedroom of his apartment) on the principle that doing great work is easier with talented people you like and admire. Twenty great years of collaboration with some of the world's greatest brands have borne out that philosophy.
In 2019, he led the transformation of Traction into a marketing accelerator to better serve the needs of brands in today's fast-paced, data-driven environment. He plays a hands-on strategic role with Traction's clients to help ensure that their business objectives are aligned with the needs, desires and behaviors of their customers.
A prolific writer, Adam has spoken at dozens of industry conferences around the world and published over one hundred articles in industry publications such as Adweek, Ad Age, Forbes, Entrepreneur, Mashable, and others. In 2013, he was a MediaPost All-Star, an award given to the three most influential digital creatives in the US each year. He is an amateur bonsai artist and can occasionally be found at Lake Merritt in Oakland practicing tai chi.
I never got to meet Bill Bernbach, but the man had one hell of an impact on me. My first job in advertising was when I was recruited from an agency that mostly built websites to start the San Francisco office of Tribal DDB. They handed us a book of Bill Bernbach quotes on our first day.
In our last post, we explored how cybersecurity brands can stand out amid a sea of sameness. Today, I want to push deeper—into a distinction I hear too rarely: branding vs. brand-building. And I’ll walk you through a real example: how we brought the power of both to life for Recorded Future’s biggest Predict conference yet.
At an exclusive Futureproof dinner during Advertising Week NYC, leaders gathered to discuss how AI is reshaping marketing. No panels. No fluff. Just raw, honest conversation about brand, bias, creativity—and what it means to lead in a world moving faster than ever.
