What does it really take to hold an industry accountable? In this episode of The Cred Podcast, host Mack McKelvey sits down with Sean Cunningham, President and CEO of the Video Advertising Bureau (VAB), for a candid conversation about the state of premium video, the battle for measurement transparency, and why the future of advertising depends on getting back to real humans. From the inside story of how the VAB took on Nielsen during COVID to why 54% of internet traffic being non-human should terrify every marketer, Sean makes the case that the advertising industry has been far too tolerant of opacity, bad behavior, and metrics of illusion. The conversation covers the full spectrum of today's video landscape: why not all impressions are created equal, how direct-to-consumer brands have proven premium video is a full-funnel performance driver, and why the "death of linear" is a myth. Sean also gives a preview of what the VAB will be bringing to Possible in a few weeks.

What if the most important decision your company makes this year isn't made by a human at all? In this episode of The Cred Podcast, Mack McKelvey sits down with serial entrepreneur Brian Kathman, CEO of OpsCanvas, to unpack one of the most underexplored frontiers in AI: decision memory.  Brian has been building companies since 1999 — from the world's first transactional online bank to mobile messaging long before the iPhone existed — and now he's tackling the question keeping enterprise leaders up at night: when do we trust AI to make the call? Brian introduces the concept of the "context graph" — the trillion-dollar missing layer that Foundation Capital calls the key to unlocking AI in production — and explains why 90% of enterprise AI initiatives are stuck in proof of concept. Spoiler: it's a trust problem, not a technology problem. They also dig into the "trust knob,"  the idea that handing decisions to AI isn't a binary switch but a dial, and that the smartest companies are figuring out how to turn it up gradually, without losing the humans along the way.

Decisions fail in the gaps, not the strategy. In this episode of The Cred Podcast, Denise Graziano (Founder and CEO of Graziano Associates) breaks down why smart teams still make costly decisions. It's not a lack of data or intelligence. It's misalignment, not thinking two steps ahead, or treating communication like an afterthought instead of a strategic tool. Denise has spent 30 years as a trusted advisor to CEOs, CFOs, and boards and she's watched the same pattern repeat itself: leadership teams who think they're aligned but aren't even defining the problem the same way. Meanwhile, speed driven by AI, investor pressure, and shrinking ROI runways pushes decisions forward before they're fully pressure-tested. And the fallout rarely looks like a bad strategy. It's simply a gap nobody closed. 

Most people think they're not qualified to make investment decisions. Cheryl Kellond thinks that's exactly the problem. A 3x founder, 3x Ironman, 4x mom, and CEO of PlayMoney, Cheryl is on a mission to open up early-stage investing to the people who actually understand the problems worth solving. In this episode, she challenges the outdated model of capital allocation and makes the case that the real barrier isn't money, expertise, or access. It's a system built for a world that no longer exists. At its core, this is a conversation about decision-making as a skill. Cheryl breaks down why small checks, consistent reps, and learning by doing matter more than waiting until you're "ready." She and Mack get into the math behind portfolio building, the reality that losses come before wins, and why the only thing that actually predicts success is how many decisions you make. If you've been sitting on the sidelines, consider this your push: first check calls game.

Feel stuck on a decision? Try interrogating the question. Pam Scott and Di Tompkins have been solving hard problems together for decades, and their first move is almost always to question whether someone is solving the right problem. As co-founders of The Curious Company, they bring outside perspective to mission-driven leaders who've hit a wall: a different color to paint with, a reframed question, and the kind of honest conversation most organizations aren't having internally. On this episode of The Cred Podcast, Mack sits down with two genuinely curious women who listen for a living, challenge with warmth, and have built a 26-year partnership by celebrating what makes them different. It's a conversation about creativity, decision-making, and what happens when you finally stop trying to answer the wrong question.  

In this episode of The Cred Podcast, Lana Kerr joins Mack McKelvey for a candid conversation about decision-making as a founder, CEO, and leader. From trusting instinct in the early stages of growth to learning when to slow down and bring in more voices, Lana reflects on how her approach has evolved over time. She talks about the difference between making business decisions and people decisions, the importance of starting with the desired outcome, and why culture fit is just as important as credentials. The result is a thoughtful look at what it really means to lead: making the call, owning the consequences, and keeping the team moving with momentum in the same direction. As Lana puts it, leadership is often 80% psychology and 20% strategy because a team's mindset and energy shape outcomes just as much as the plan itself.

Bill Shafton spent nine years as the legal backbone of Grindr, navigating a Chinese acquisition, a national security divestiture, and a Wall Street IPO. In this episode, he breaks down his philosophy on decision-making: how research sets the boundaries, but instinct drives the performance. Tune in to learn how Bill operates in the gray areas, making high-risk decisions with incomplete data, and why "technical correctness" doesn't shield you from reputational fallout. If compliance is the baseline, trust is the real metric. He also shares why the legal function is less like a gatekeeper and more like an institutional liver (not glamorous, but essential to keeping the whole body running).  

In this episode of The Cred Podcast, Mack talks with Steven Rosenblatt, co-founder and General Partner at Oceans, about how decisions really get made when you're building companies, backing founders, and choosing what to stand behind before the outcome is obvious. Steven reflects on the early mobile days, helping Apple launch iAd, and his time at Foursquare, where survival meant rethinking the business entirely. Those experiences now shape how he invests at Oceans: why it's all about the people, how he evaluates founders,  and why consensus can be dangerous in venture investing. More than anything, Steven makes clear that early-stage decision-making is about backing people and committing to the call.  

On this episode of The Cred Podcast, Tess Michaels, Founder and CEO of Clasp, joins Mack McKelvey to talk about making decisions while building a new category at the intersection of education, healthcare, and workforce retention,  where there is no established playbook to follow. Tess breaks down how customer signals shape better decisions, why pattern recognition beats perfect data, and how learning when to say no is critical to scaling without distraction. Listen in on a  sharp conversation on leadership, focus, and navigating the gray.

Rafat Ali doesn't take notes. And he makes decisions on instinct. In this episode, the founder and CEO of Skift breaks down how he actually makes decisions as a global operator, committing to a choice, avoiding second-guessing, and never falling in love with a single option. He explains how visualization helps him pressure-test hires, products, and acquisitions, why early yellow flags almost always turn red, and the defining mistake early in his career when he sold his first company. Rafat looks for two signals when decisions are being made. First, is there a clear owner who will carry it forward once the conversation ends, or is it drifting in a sea of shared responsibility? When no one is clearly on the hook, progress slows and things slip. Second, he pays attention to how people handle details as a gauge for decision readiness. The people who think through implications and follow through are usually the ones prepared to make the call, not just weigh in. Tune in for a candid conversation about instinct, ownership, and what it really means to decide.  

"I've probably seen more erroneous decision-making by over-reliance on data than by over-reliance on gut." In this episode of The Cred Podcast, Mack McKelvey sits down with Lisa Pellette, a global CMO and transformation leader whose career spans Levi's, Ralph Lauren, Lacoste, Casper, and Fossil Group, to talk about how data, context, and gut converge to inform decisions. Drawing on her background in psychology and decades of experience leading iconic brands and major transformations, Lisa unpacks the importance of defining a clear North Star, relying on contextual decision-making, and building your own team of decision-makers. Plus, learn how culture shapes whether mistakes are metabolized into momentum or friction.  

What happens when a lifelong fascination with space collides with a 30-year career in building complex commercial deals? This week, Mack McKelvey sits down with Sarah Pousho, Co-Founder and CEO of Space Bridge Partners, to explore the unconventional decisions that shaped her career and how she now helps fund some of the most ambitious space missions in the world. Sarah traces her path from aspiring astronaut to consumer products executive, and ultimately back to the space sector, where she leads a new model for funding exploration, science, and education missions. The conversation dives into: Making high-stakes decisions when the buck truly stops with you Blending gut instinct with expert input and data How decades of deal-making prepared Sarah for the complexities of space missions The personal decisions that quietly set the course for an entire career This episode is a candid look at confidence earned over time, the power of non-linear paths, and the "Sliding Doors" decisions you make in your life. 00:00 Journey to Space Bridge Partners 07:54 Decision-Making in High-Stakes Environments 19:19 Navigating Outcomes and Learning from Mistakes 27:04 Future Plans for Space Bridge Partners  

Marci Weisler didn't build her career by following a script. She followed her curiosity. From analyst to mobile pioneer, from co-founding SWSI Media (which became Viacom's Queen Boss) to leading a major line of business at T-Mobile and now advising companies as a managing director in investment banking — Marci has made a career out of stepping into what's new before it's obvious. In this episode, she talks with Mack about why she's always chased the "bright, shiny" emerging ideas, how her Head, Heart, Wallet framework keeps her grounded when the stakes rise, and what she's learned from the decisions that didn't go as planned. She also shares how decision-making shifts when you move from a startup to a matrixed giant, and why the environment you're in should shape how you choose. It's a practical, candid look at how leaders refine their judgment and why curiosity, not certainty, is often the smarter compass. 00:00 Marci Weisler's Career Journey 08:24 Decision-Making Frameworks 15:45 Navigating Decision Outcomes 25:58 Hiring Challenges and Lessons Learned 34:03 Rapid Fire Insights  

Camille Preston went to the beach to start writing her book… and it promptly snowed 13 inches for the first time in more than a decade. An abrupt reminder that conditions change fast, even when you think you know what's coming. It's the perfect setup for this conversation about how leaders actually make decisions today. A business psychologist and author of Living Real, Camille challenges the old markers of success and pushes leaders to understand themselves well enough to make decisions from the inside out. She talks about being "totally put together and a hot mess," not as a contradiction but as an honest snapshot of what it feels like to lead on shifting ground. In this conversation with Mack, Camille shares the tools she uses with leaders every day: adjusting altitude to get the right perspective, using integrated decision-making so the head, heart, and body all inform the choice, and applying her Donut Model to recognize when you're in comfort, growth, or approaching burnout. Across it all, she comes back to the idea that anchors her approach: be clear on the outcome, flexible on the approach. In a world flooded with data but starved for real clarity, Camille argues that the most valuable leadership skill is the ability to pause, shift perspective, and listen inward.  

Some people talk about trusting their gut. Gladys Kong has learned how to explain hers. In this conversation, the CEO of Azira joins Mack to talk about how she makes tough decisions: when to lean on data, when to listen to her instincts, and how to translate that gut feeling into something her team can understand and act on. With the precision of an engineer and the perspective of a seasoned leader, Gladys shares how she brings logic and empathy to the table and why transparency builds stronger teams than perfection ever could. Gladys reminds us that leadership isn't about having all the answers, it's about creating space for others to speak up, learn, and grow with you.