The Efficient Spend Podcast

Hosted by Paul Kovalski

Business

Website RSS feed

Episodes

Latest episode

Apr 2026

Language

About the show

Efficient Spend helps start-ups turn media spend into revenue. Learn the tools, tactics, and frameworks that the world's top marketers utilize to optimize their spend!

Listen to episodes

36 recent

April 7, 202634 min

The Future of Marketing Measurement Is Causal | Talgat Mussin

SUBSCRIBE TO LEARN FROM PAID MARKETING EXPERTS 🔔The Efficient Spend Podcast helps start-ups turn media spend into revenue. Learn how the world's top marketers manage their media mix to drive growth!In this episode of The Efficient Spend Podcast, Talgat Mussin, founder of Incrementality Insider and former measurement lead at Google, Amazon, and TikTok, talks about the complexities of marketing measurement and budget optimization. He shares his journey from contractor to industry expert, explains why attribution models are broken, and reveals how to uncover waste in ad spend using frameworks like geo-experimentation and MMM.About the Host: Paul is a paid marketing leader with 7+ years of experience optimizing marketing spend at venture-backed startups. He's driven $250M + in revenue through paid media and is passionate about helping startups deploy marketing dollars to drive growth.About the Guest: Talgat Mussin is a marketing measurement and incrementality strategist with nearly 10 years of experience leading performance for brands at Google, Amazon, and TikTok. As founder of Incrementality Insider, he helps companies cut waste and scale smarter by turning complex causal measurement and experimentation into clear, actionable strategies.VISIT OUR WEBSITE: https://www.efficientspend.com/CONNECT WITH PAUL: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulkovalski/CONNECT WITH TALGAT: https://www.linkedin.com/in/talgatmussin/EPISODE LINKS:https://www.incrementality.net/abouthttps://www.marketingevolution.com/marketing-essentials/media-mix-modelinghttps://advertising.amazon.com/en/learning-consolehttps://www.tiktok.com/business/en-US/solutions/measurementhttps://www.facebook.com/business/help

March 24, 202639 min

The Future of Content Intelligence With Adology | James Donner

SUBSCRIBE TO LEARN FROM PAID MARKETING EXPERTS 🔔The Efficient Spend Podcast helps start-ups turn media spend into revenue. Learn how the world's top marketers manage their media mix to drive growth!In this episode of The Efficient Spend Podcast, James Donner, founder of Adology, shares how AI is transforming creative analytics and competitive intelligence in marketing. James explains why unlocking insights from ad creatives is the next frontier, how to balance automation with strategy, and where AI still breaks down. He also highlights opportunities in white space detection, consumer sentiment analysis, and building smarter workflows for the future of marketing.About the Host: Paul is a paid marketing leader with 7+ years of experience optimizing marketing spend at venture-backed startups. He's driven $250M + in revenue through paid media and is passionate about helping startups deploy marketing dollars to drive growth.About the Guest: James Donner is the founder and CEO of Adology, an AI-driven creative analytics and marketing intelligence company. With over a decade leading media investment at Media.Monks and helping build Decoded Advertising into a 200-person agency, he specializes in unlocking growth by combining performance marketing expertise with cutting-edge AI insights.VISIT OUR WEBSITE: https://www.efficientspend.com/CONNECT WITH PAUL: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulkovalski/CONNECT WITH JAMES: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-donner-8430b555/EPISODE LINKS:https://www.getadology.ai/abouthttps://www.monks.com/what-we-dohttps://mailchimp.com/resources/ai-predictions/?https://squareholes.com/blog/2021/04/29/how-the-creative-and-creativity-can-help-drive-your-advertising-effectiveness/

November 11, 202542 min

Why Reddit Deserves a Spot in Your Media Mix | Colin Belyea

SUBSCRIBE TO LEARN FROM PAID MARKETING EXPERTS 🔔The Efficient Spend Podcast helps start-ups turn media spend into revenue. Learn how the world's top marketers manage their media mix to drive growth!In this episode of The Efficient Spend Podcast, Colin Belyea, growth marketer and Reddit strategist, explores how Reddit is becoming a high-leverage growth channel. Colin breaks down the shift toward zero-click search, why Reddit content ranks so well in AI and Google, and how to balance paid and organic efforts for long-term brand trust. He also shares tactical advice for measuring impact, building reputation, and avoiding common Reddit pitfalls.About the Host: Paul is a paid marketing leader with 7+ years of experience optimizing marketing spend at venture-backed startups. He's driven $250M + in revenue through paid media and is passionate about helping startups deploy marketing dollars to drive growth.About the Guest: Colin Belyea is a growth marketer and Reddit strategist with over 20 years of experience, leading performance for 15+ VC-backed startups through his work at No Growth, Karmic, and Telescope Digital. He helps brands turn Reddit into a scalable acquisition and trust-building channel by blending paid media expertise with deep community-driven strategy.VISIT OUR WEBSITE: https://www.efficientspend.com/CONNECT WITH PAUL: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulkovalski/CONNECT WITH COLIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinjamesbelyea/EPISODE LINKS:https://www.nogrowth.ca/our-workhttps://ads.reddit.com/https://blog.google/products/search/generative-ai-google-search-may-2024/https://news.ycombinator.com/https://platform.openai.com/docs/gptbot

October 28, 202541 min

Lessons from Building LiftLab Media Mix Modeling and Experimentation Platform | John Wallace

SUBSCRIBE TO LEARN FROM PAID MARKETING EXPERTS 🔔The Efficient Spend Podcast helps start-ups turn media spend into revenue. Learn how the world's top marketers manage their media mix to drive growth!In this episode of The Efficient Spend Podcast, John Wallace, founder of LiftLab, explores how combining media mix modeling with experimentation leads to more reliable marketing decisions. John shares lessons from building attribution systems, why marginal ROAS should be every marketer’s north star, and how to balance model outputs with human instinct. He also unpacks the role of AI in media planning and what marketers often get wrong when testing new channels.About the Host: Paul is a paid marketing leader with 7+ years of experience optimizing marketing spend at venture-backed startups. He's driven $250M + in revenue through paid media and is passionate about helping startups deploy marketing dollars to drive growth.About the Guest: John Wallace is a marketing measurement expert and founder with 24 years of experience in econometrics, attribution, and experimentation. He previously founded DataSong and now leads LiftLab, where he helps brands like Sephora, Thrive, and Skims optimize media spend with science-driven insights. John is passionate about building tools that bring clarity, trust, and economic discipline to marketing decisions.VISIT OUR WEBSITE: https://www.efficientspend.com/CONNECT WITH PAUL: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulkovalski/CONNECT WITH JOHN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnwallace-EPISODE LINKS:https://liftlab.com/about/https://www.amazon.com/Market-Response-Models-International-Monographs/dp/0792381585https://liftlab.com/blog/maximizing-marketing-with-the-ana/https://www.invoca.com/blog/media-mix-modeling

October 14, 202546 min

How to Align Product and Marketing at Your Startup | Andrei Vlasov

SUBSCRIBE TO LEARN FROM PAID MARKETING EXPERTS 🔔The Efficient Spend Podcast helps start-ups turn media spend into revenue. Learn how the world's top marketers manage their media mix to drive growth!In this episode of The Efficient Spend Podcast, Andrei Vlasov, growth leader and hybrid marketer, explores how blending paid marketing with product strategy creates sustainable growth. Andrei shares lessons from scaling acquisition across multiple channels, the importance of cross-functional collaboration, and aligning teams around ROI-driven metrics. He also dives into building effective YouTube influencer programs and why sharing insights across teams unlocks greater performance.About the Host: Paul is a paid marketing leader with over a decade of experience optimizing marketing spend at venture-backed startups. He's driven $250M + in revenue through paid media and is passionate about helping startups deploy marketing dollars to drive growth.About the Guest: Andrei Vlasov is a growth and marketing leader with over 15 years of experience across paid acquisition, product, and lifecycle. He’s led full-funnel growth at companies like Hover, Jam.dev, and Goodwall, driving millions of users and scaling cross-functional teams. Andrei now helps startups blend performance marketing with product strategy to unlock sustainable, ROI-driven growth.VISIT OUR WEBSITE:  https://www.efficientspend.com/CONNECT WITH PAUL: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulkovalski/CONNECT WITH ANDREI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrei-vlasov08/EPISODE LINKS:https://hover.to/about/https://jonahberger.com/books/contagious/https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/youtube-statshttps://influencermarketinghub.com/cpm-calculator/

September 30, 202544 min

Strategic Decision Making, The Role of the Data Scientist, and Building Uber | Sundar Swaminathan

SUBSCRIBE TO LEARN FROM PAID MARKETING EXPERTS 🔔The Efficient Spend Podcast helps start-ups turn media spend into revenue. Learn how the world's top marketers manage their media mix to drive growth!In this episode of The Efficient Spend Podcast, Sundar Swaminathan, Head of Data at Bounce and former Uber data science leader, explores the intersection of data analytics, AI, and growth marketing. Sundar shares insights from managing $1B in ad spend at Uber, the role of brand awareness in scaling businesses, and the evolving skill set for modern analysts. He also discusses decision-making frameworks, the future of AI-driven analytics, and strategies for optimizing media budgets effectively.About the Host: Paul is a paid marketing leader with over a decade of experience optimizing marketing spend at venture-backed startups. He's driven $250M + in revenue through paid media and is passionate about helping startups deploy marketing dollars to drive growth.About the Guest: Sundar Swaminathan is a data and marketing leader with over 15 years of experience in B2C growth, analytics, and data science. As the Head of Data at Bounce, a commoditized business in luggage storage, and former Uber data science leader, he has analyzed $1B in marketing spend, built high-impact analytics teams, and now helps startups scale through data-driven decision-making.VISIT OUR WEBSITE: https://www.efficientspend.com/CONNECT WITH PAUL: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulkovalski/CONNECT WITH SUNDAR: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sswamina3/EPISODE LINKS:https://bounce.com/bloghttps://experimental.substack.com/https://www.uber.com/https://www.marketingevolution.com/marketing-essentials/data-driven-marketing

March 3, 202548 min

Why Startups Struggle With Marketing Data (and How to Fix It) | Barbara Galiza

SUBSCRIBE TO LEARN FROM PAID MARKETING EXPERTS 🔔The Efficient Spend Podcast helps start-ups turn media spend into revenue. Learn how the world's top marketers manage their media mix to drive growth!In this episode of The Efficient Spend Podcast, growth and marketing analytics consultant Barbara Galiza shares insights on marketing data audits, triangulation, and optimizing paid versus organic strategies. Barbara discusses key challenges that startups face, such as data discrepancies, budget allocation, and balancing short-term performance with long-term brand-building goals.About the Host: Paul is a paid marketing leader with 7+ years of experience optimizing marketing spend at venture-backed startups. He's driven over $100 million in revenue through paid media and is passionate about helping startups deploy marketing dollars to drive growth.About the Guest: Barbara Galiza is a growth and marketing analytics consultant with over 10 years of experience helping startups optimize their media spend and measurement strategies. Passionate about simplifying complex marketing data, she has worked with diverse clients to improve performance through methodologies like marketing mix modeling and attribution.VISIT OUR WEBSITE: https://www.efficientspend.com/CONNECT WITH PAUL: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulkovalski/CONNECT WITH BARBARA: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbara-galiza/EPISODE LINKS:https://www.barbaragaliza.com/#about-mehttps://021newsletter.comhttps://blog.adroll.com/marketing-incrementality-testing/https://www.marketingevolution.com/knowledge-centerhttps://paramark.com/bloghttps://www.getdbt.com/blog

February 18, 202549 min

AI Visitor Scoring for a Future without Cookies | Constantine Yurevich of SegmentStream

SUBSCRIBE TO LEARN FROM PAID MARKETING EXPERTS 🔔The Efficient Spend Podcast helps start-ups turn media spend into revenue. Learn how the world's top marketers manage their media mix to drive growth!In this episode of The Efficient Spend Podcast, Constantine Yurevich, Founder and Chief Storyteller of SegmentStream shares the challenges in marketing measurement and innovative approaches to attribution and optimization. Constantine discusses insights into overcoming legacy systems, leveraging AI-powered visitor scoring, and navigating the evolving digital marketing landscape to maximize ROI and business growth.About the Host: Paul is a paid marketing leader with 7+ years of experience optimizing marketing spend at venture-backed startups. He's driven over $100 million in revenue through paid media and is passionate about helping startups deploy marketing dollars to drive growth.About the Guest: Constantine Yurevich is the Founder and Chief Storyteller at SegmentStream, an AI-powered platform helping fast-growing startups and DTC brands optimize marketing analytics for rapid growth. With over six years of experience building innovative solutions, he is passionate about transforming digital marketing strategies through advanced machine learning and data-driven insights.VISIT OUR WEBSITE: https://www.efficientspend.com/CONNECT WITH PAUL: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulkovalski/CONNECT WITH CONSTANTINE: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yurevichcv/EPISODE LINKS:https://segmentstream.com/abouthttps://segmentstream.com/resources/success-storieshttps://martech.org/martech-topics/https://www.marketingevolution.com/knowledge-centerhttps://www.adroll.com/bloghttps://www.adroll.com/features/digital-advertising-platform\

February 4, 202540 min

The Power of Social Selling for B2B Growth | Laura Erdem

SUBSCRIBE TO LEARN FROM PAID MARKETING EXPERTS 🔔The Efficient Spend Podcast helps start-ups turn media spend into revenue. Learn how the world's top marketers manage their media mix to drive growth!In this episode of the Efficient Spend Podcast, Laura Erdem, Sales Manager at Dreamdata, discusses the art of social selling and its impact on aligning sales and marketing efforts. Laura delves into building brand trust through authentic engagement, the role of content consistency across touchpoints, and the balance of organic versus paid strategies, offering actionable insights for developing long-term business relationships.About the Host: Paul is a paid marketing leader with 7+ years of experience optimizing marketing spend at venture-backed startups. He's driven over $100 million in revenue through paid media and is passionate about helping startups deploy marketing dollars to drive growth.About the Guest: Laura Erdem is a sales manager with over four years of experience driving growth for Dreamdata, where she leads the US sales team in outbound strategy, sales excellence, and team development. With a proven track record of closing major enterprise deals and building sales practices from scratch, she is passionate about aligning marketing and sales to drive measurable impact.VISIT OUR WEBSITE: https://www.efficientspend.com/CONNECT WITH PAUL: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulkovalski/CONNECT WITH LAURA: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lerdem/EPISODE LINKS:https://dreamdata.io/bloghttps://www.salesforce.com/blog-hub/https://buffer.com/resources/https://www.socialmediatoday.comhttps://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-strategy/https://contentmarketinginstitute.com

January 21, 202532 min

Media Mix Modeling for Ecommerce and Amazon Brands | Michael True of Prescient AI

SUBSCRIBE TO LEARN FROM PAID MARKETING EXPERTS 🔔The Efficient Spend Podcast helps start-ups turn media spend into revenue. Learn how the world's top marketers manage their media mix to drive growth!In this episode of the Efficient Spend Podcast, Michael True, CEO of Prescient AI, shares his approach to Media Mix Modeling (MMM) and how Prescient AI is reshaping the landscape of ad spend optimization. Michael delves into the nuances of rapid onboarding, campaign-level granularity, and leveraging triangulation for effective budget allocation, while also reflecting on the evolution of MMM in response to post-iOS 14.5 privacy shifts.About the Host: Paul is a paid marketing leader with 7+ years of experience optimizing marketing spend at venture-backed startups. He's driven over $100 million in revenue through paid media and is passionate about helping startups deploy marketing dollars to drive growth.About the Guest: Michael True is the co-founder and CEO of Prescient AI, an innovator in Media Mix Modeling and measurement technology. With a background in machine learning and analytics from roles at IBM, Oracle, and Opera Solutions, Michael is dedicated to empowering brands with rapid, campaign-level insights to optimize their paid media strategies.VISIT OUR WEBSITE: https://www.efficientspend.com/CONNECT WITH PAUL: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulkovalski/CONNECT WITH MICHAEL: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeljtrue/EPISODE LINKS:https://prescientai.com/blog/https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212023https://www.facebook.com/business/help/974558639546165?helpref=search&sr=1&query=incrementalityhttps://hexclad.com/pages/about-ushttps://www.applovin.com/blog/https://www.shopify.com/blog/roas