The Good, The Bad & The Unexpected: How Two Rival Agencies Merged to Reshape Podcasting

To make an industry better, you can’t be afraid to shake things up.

We’re celebrating one whole year since two competitors, Oxford Road and Veritone One, joined forces to become the world’s largest podcast and creator-based video agency.

Dan Granger (CEO & Founder, Oxford Road) gathered leaders from across the new organization to talk about wins, hard-fought lessons, and tips for anyone looking to create chaos for the better. It’s part victory lap, part therapy, and part masterclass. Joining are some of  our fearless leaders who led the charge during this formative year:

• Bart Roselli (EVP of Media, Oxford Road)
• Courtney O’Connor (Director, Podcast Media, Oxford Road)
• Hilary Shafer (SVP of Podcast & Influencer, Oxford Road)
• Kyle Jelinek (VP of Client Services, Oxford Road) and
• Miranda Romano (SVP of Media, Oxford Road

The team’s talking: Slow and Steady, Spider-Man Wisdom, Staying Humble, and more. Let’s dig in.

“ You need to come in and you need to be ready to listen, you need to be ready to observe, and ready to admit where maybe we were wrong in the past and that there’s a better path forward. With that, I think anything’s possible.” – Dan Granger (CEO & Founder, Oxford Road)

Not Fast and Furious: Big ideas spark the fire, but optimism, effort, and humility fuel it. In an industry that moves at the speed of sound, it’s hard to merge two companies without burning out. This is why it was crucial for our leaders and team to thoroughly and critically examine our processes, without missing a beat. It’s also okay to adjust your timing if you don’t get it right the first time. As Hillary puts it: “When I think back to initial timelines and goals we set, I have to chuckle… It’s not that mountains haven’t been moved. They just took longer because there were many more details.”

“With Great Power” – Bart took his inspiration from a famous Spider-Man quote: “This is not just about creating leverage. It’s, ‘how do we make the industry better?’” If Oxford Road had tried to just grow without a bigger mission of improving the industry, we wouldn’t have smashed our employee (and client) retention goals. For anyone facing significant challenges, it helps to remember your ‘why’.

Values > Tactics – How do you move through differences? Focus on that common goal, and welcome the chance to improve with your top competitor. ”It’s been fascinating just to see, “Oh, you know what? We didn’t think of that, and you guys did that a hell of a lot better,” and vice versa. When the goal is to be better, you put your ego aside to find new solutions. Turns out if you approach improvement with humility, you can do almost anything, including unlocking 30% gains for Oxford Road clients year over year.

Want more insights from a year of growth? Check out the full episode below: