Erick Tseng — Founder & CEO at Next Chapter

Erick Tseng, a seasoned technology executive with a background spanning Google, Facebook, and mobile advertising, founded Next Chapter and assumed the role of Founder & CEO. Tseng previously served as Head of Mobile at Facebook and held senior product roles at Google, giving him deep expertise in mobile platforms, advertising technology, and consumer internet products. The founding of Next Chapter represents his transition from operating within large platform ecosystems to building an independent venture. Next Chapter, based on available public information from around 2021, appears to be an early-stage company. The specific product focus of Next Chapter was not widely publicized at the time of this event, which is consistent with a stealth or early-stage startup mode. Tseng's pedigree in mobile advertising and platform product development suggests the venture likely operates at the intersection of consumer technology and digital media or advertising. This leadership change is notable in the AdTech ecosystem because executives with Tseng's level of platform-side experience — particularly those who have worked on mobile advertising infrastructure at scale — are relatively rare founders. His departure from the large platform world to build independently signals confidence in opportunities outside the walled garden environment, which is a meaningful signal for the broader industry.

The founding of Next Chapter by Erick Tseng is a modest but meaningful signal in the AdTech and broader digital media ecosystem. Executives with direct experience building mobile advertising products at Google and Facebook carry institutional knowledge about how the largest walled gardens operate, including their data strategies, targeting methodologies, and monetization frameworks. When such individuals strike out independently, they often identify gaps or inefficiencies in the market that are difficult to address from within large platforms. Given the timing — circa 2021 — this founding occurred during a period of significant industry disruption, including Apple's ATT (App Tracking Transparency) rollout, the deprecation of third-party cookies on the horizon, and growing regulatory scrutiny of large platforms. A founder with Tseng's background would be well-positioned to build solutions addressing identity, mobile measurement, or privacy-compliant advertising infrastructure. The competitive landscape for such solutions was intensifying, with numerous startups and established players vying for position in a post-IDFA world. The broader AdTech market impact is limited in the immediate term given the early stage of the company, but Tseng's network and credibility could attract meaningful investor interest and talent, potentially making Next Chapter a company to watch in the mobile or identity segments of AdTech.