Dave Morgan

Dave Morgan is one of the most consequential entrepreneurs in advertising technology history, having founded three companies — Real Media, TACODA, and Simulmedia — that each defined a new era of digital and television advertising. Where most industry figures shape one category, Morgan has repeatedly identified inflection points before the market caught up: building ad serving infrastructure in 1995, pioneering behavioral targeting in 2001, and applying programmatic audience logic to television in 2008. His work has fundamentally altered how advertisers think about data, targeting, and media efficiency across both digital and TV ecosystems. At Simulmedia, Morgan has spent over 15 years translating the data-driven rigor of digital advertising into the television world, enabling advertisers to plan and buy TV audiences with the precision previously reserved for online campaigns. The company's TV+ platform connects linear and streaming inventory, helping brands reach specific audience segments across the fragmented TV landscape. His earlier company TACODA, which built one of the first large-scale behavioral targeting networks, was acquired by AOL in 2007 for approximately $275 million — validating the audience-data approach that would become standard across the industry. Real Media, founded in 1995, was among the earliest ad serving and network optimization platforms and was later acquired by 24/7 Real Media. Beyond his operating roles, Morgan is a prolific thought leader who has written a long-running column for MediaPost and speaks regularly at major industry conferences including Advertising Week, CES, and TVOT. He is widely regarded as a bridge figure between the old world of television buying and the new world of programmatic media, and his consistent track record of building category-defining companies gives his commentary unusual credibility. With more than 30 years in the industry, he remains actively engaged as both an operator and a public intellectual shaping the conversation around TV's digital transformation.

• J.D., Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law
• B.A., Pennsylvania State University

• Founded Real Media (1995), one of the earliest ad serving and ad network optimization platforms
• Founded TACODA (2001), a pioneering behavioral targeting company acquired by AOL for ~$275 million in 2007
• Founded Simulmedia (2008), bringing programmatic audience targeting to television advertising
• Long-running columnist for MediaPost covering advertising technology and media convergence
• Built and scaled three venture-backed AdTech companies across three distinct technology cycles

• Regular columnist, MediaPost (ongoing)
• Contributor, various AdTech and media industry trade publications