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OhHello - Jason Damata
25 Plays1 month ago
OhHello - it's episode 93 w/ OhHello mentor and advertising agency, creative expert, entrepreneur. and marketing exec Jason Damata
Jason Damata is the founder and CEO of Fabric Media, an award-winning communications and strategic consulting group launched in 2007 to serve innovative companies at the intersection of media, technology and advertising.
Fabric develops and executes go-to-market programs that accelerate growth, build brand equity and deliver positive impact for companies that are evolving how content is experienced, delivered and monetized, including TV makers and networks, streamers, leading ad tech/martech platforms and measurement companies.
Damata is also the co-owner and publisher of TVREV, an analyst group and media company with 40,000 subscribers known for its industry trend reports, and The Measure, a forum for data-based reporting and bespoke insight services.
He has helped architect go-to-market strategies and establis marketing operations for numerous companies from start-up to merger and acquisition (for 10 partners) or major funding events (for 18). Among them: Damata led Fabric through a decade of service for iSpot.tv, a pioneer in TV measurement; seven years for Madhive, the streaming ad tech company reshaping local TV; and seven years for smart TV maker VIZIO through its transformation to a software-led company — including leading marketing for the IPO; the launches of VIZIO Ads and Inscape (VIZIO’s data division); and the expansion of its SmartCast OS.
He also served as Acting CMO for Trendrr, the first company to quantify real-time social trends, until it was acquired by Twitter; served as the CMO of bebo.com when it was the world’s third-largest social network; has put in 7-plus years in service of CreatorIQ, the world’s largest social media data platform; Tubular Labs, the world’s largest social video measurement platform and explore.org, where he helped build the planet’s largest live internet TV network (for animals!).
Damata is an active investor in and advisor to technology start-ups that aim to bring better accountability, transparency and innovation to the media industry.
In 2014, Damata moved from Denver to Los Angeles to start Fabric’s studios division, which houses a cross-disciplinary consortium for artists and creators to collaborate on projects and events while developing IP in emerging media fields.
Damata got his start in media at C-SPAN in 2002, helping to produce distance education programming and later traveling the country in collaboration with cable companies.
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Transcript
Intro
Introduction and Icebreaker
00:00:05
Jeremy Bloom
oh hello, Jason.
00:00:07
Jason Damata
Hello, Jeremy.
00:00:09
Jeremy Bloom
How are you?
00:00:10
Jason Damata
Good. That's so fun. i've always I've been watching you do that. and I should have practiced my dance move, but whatever.
00:00:15
Jason Damata
Good to be here.
00:00:15
Jeremy Bloom
what?
00:00:15
Jeremy Bloom
You age yourself a little bit, but I age myself every single time I do it. It was fun.
00:00:19
Jason Damata
baby.
00:00:19
Jeremy Bloom
and It was really fun.
00:00:21
Jason Damata
Mm-hmm.
00:00:22
Jeremy Bloom
Exactly. Uh, so we each had an amazing, fun coffee talk and, uh, we were, we were talking specifically about some guidance and advice that you give your 17 year old son.
00:00:35
Jeremy Bloom
And Jason, I've had the pleasure of getting to know you over the past
Jason's Background and Career
00:00:38
Jeremy Bloom
year. Why don't you do a very quick, just introduction of yourself. And then from there, we're going to jump straight into what we're just talking about, what you tell your son.
00:00:45
Jason Damata
Sure. Sure. Absolutely. Name's Jason DeMotta. I run an agency called Fabric Media. We're going on our 17th year helping brands, media companies, technology companies grow.
00:00:59
Jason Damata
We do marketing, public relations, communications. We also have publications, TV Rev and The Measure, where we try to bring communities together. together
00:01:07
Jeremy Bloom
Big fan of TV Rev. Been following you for a long time. And congrats on all you guys have done on the fabric side as well.
00:01:10
Jason Damata
Thank
00:01:15
Jeremy Bloom
So, all right, let's talk about the guidance that you're giving your son.
Advice on Procrastination
00:01:19
Jason Damata
Sure, yeah. I mean, I knew, you know, Oh, Hello is great. Learning about it's been inspiring. And I was thinking about this conversation and i went back to my notes.
00:01:24
Jeremy Bloom
Thank you.
00:01:28
Jason Damata
I keep notes around things I talk to my son about that actually in the com and the process of conversation actually teach me. And the other day, you know, he's chronically putting things off. And I said to him, you know, the easy way is actually the hard way.
00:01:45
Jason Damata
Because you're if you delay things and you're constantly making excuses for, you know, I'll do it later, you're just adding to the pressure and you're adding to the psychic weight. And you're also assuming this identity of of someone who's not doing what they're supposed to do.
00:02:00
Jason Damata
And it's harder than if you just like keep going, pushing through, pushing through. it Because then at least step by step you get there. It's kind of like... When I clean the kitchen, I clean it like a spaz, but I'm like one task at a time and pretty soon it's done. doesn't have to be methodical. There's no right or wrong way i do it, but that's, yeah, I have this whole running list with him. And I think that kind of broke through to him.
00:02:22
Jeremy Bloom
Well, and we were also talking about just there are three different kinds of of people in the
Types of People and Work Styles
00:02:25
Jeremy Bloom
world. There are the kinds of people that have a low due to say ratio where they say they're going to do something and they never get it done. I'll get to it one day. and I'm going to go to Australia. I'm going to go to Croatia. I'm going to go to Tokyo. And they never leave their home.
00:02:40
Jason Damata
yeah
00:02:41
Jeremy Bloom
There are some people, i'm going to look for a new job one day. They never look. There are other people that say they're going to do something, and they are militant, and they are great at making lists, and they have this innate ability to sit and cross off every single thing. There's the dopamine effect of chastrofism.
00:02:58
Jeremy Bloom
I did it. did it. I did it. And then there are other people, and this is what what I was telling you and and where we were joking how we both seem to be cut from this kind of cloth of just juggling a bunch of balls at once, spinning plates at once, where things are being thrown at you and you're just able to tackle those tasks at once.
00:03:00
Jason Damata
yeah
00:03:18
Jeremy Bloom
They might not be organized. It might be a disarray to some, but you're able to just like thrive in the disarray and the chaos.
00:03:23
Jason Damata
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
00:03:27
Jeremy Bloom
But In your own mind, it's a way to accomplish each task. And that way you feel a little little bit more relieved and relaxed at the end of the day because you're able just to to get everything done.
00:03:39
Jason Damata
Yeah. Yeah. I, I think I toggle between all three, but the last one you described is definitely where I find my comfort zone. Uh, it's like rapid fire, monotasking, you know, i'm constantly doing lots of things.
00:03:49
Jeremy Bloom
I like that.
00:03:51
Jason Damata
Wanted like intense focus for little spurts of time, but just never stopped moving. And I learned, you know, i think growing up in the restaurant business, just never stopped moving and you'll just make more money.
00:04:03
Jason Damata
And I would always make more money than my counterparts with like hang out and talk in the back room. And i'm like, I'm going bust a table. That way I can flip my table quicker. I'm going to help that the more I check in on customers, the more they what I can turn the table over.
00:04:14
Jason Damata
And so you and learn a lot of different ways.
00:04:15
Jeremy Bloom
course.
00:04:17
Jason Damata
But yeah.
00:04:18
Jeremy Bloom
grew up in a similar similar way.
Lessons from Family and Mentors
00:04:19
Jeremy Bloom
tell us a little bit more about some some mentors that have helped you across your career that have gotten you to be the entrepreneur of having multiple businesses of of where you are today.
00:04:30
Jeremy Bloom
Who's made a big impact?
00:04:31
Jason Damata
Sure. Yeah, I mean, the first one's my grandfather, Rocco. He was, you know, Italian immigrant, like left school in seventh grade after he was You know, he was getting beat on by a priest and punched him in the face.
00:04:47
Jason Damata
then later, later grew up and ran a bunch restaurants and used to teach me never owe anybody any money and kind of the basics of, you know, depression era integrity, you know, just do what you're going to do say you're going to do and do it and don't owe anybody money and then you don't have weight.
00:04:59
Jeremy Bloom
Yep.
00:05:03
Jeremy Bloom
Yep.
00:05:22
Jason Damata
Okay.
00:05:23
Jeremy Bloom
How so? How so?
00:05:27
Jason Damata
Well, I mean, when I met him, I was like, I had started a restaurant, I was bartending, but I loved politics and had a chance to meet him. cornered him and just talked to Ziroff and he gave me an opportunity. And then realized...
00:05:42
Jason Damata
when I was working at C-SPAN, i ended up getting a job at C-SPAN and I would come in like really early and he was there. and so I spent a lot of time with him. you know, Brian was more, what I love about Brian and i I've tried to emulate this is he didn't give me advice.
00:05:58
Jason Damata
He was really good at asking questions to help me understand what I thought. And I always thought that was a really, really great quality. And I think, you know, and and mentorship is an interesting thing because it's like,
00:06:11
Jason Damata
you We all mentor each other in different ways. It's like we're all social creatures. and We're all learning our way. We're all finding our way. And you can you know you profound moments can give you a nudge in the right direction. and and And it's like micro mentors, but then there's macro mentors. People like Brian, who I, a very dear friend of mine to this day, who's modeled the way and I think what he did as it became clear to me, the integrity stood for, I think was something that, you know, I often find myself asking like, what would Brian do here? Like, a fair-minded person who's constantly curious.
00:06:49
Jeremy Bloom
I really appreciate the the phrasing of micro mentors and macro mentors, because all of us every single day, we're picking up tidbits and crumbs of knowledge from multiple people in every
00:07:00
Jason Damata
Totally.
The Role of Mentorship in Growth
00:07:02
Jeremy Bloom
every in-person coffee meeting, every Zoom or or Google Meet that we're having, every just social interaction. And then when it comes to just having a a real set of whether it's of a fractional mentor, whether it's on one hand, two hands, three hands, if people that we just go to, because we know that we're gonna be able to They're going to help us think about something in a different light that we might not be able to necessarily think about those questions by ourselves, or they're going to help us expound those questions in a quicker, more succinct way.
00:07:36
Jeremy Bloom
So that's really interesting. As you have built teams throughout your career and as as you have built agencies and created a ton of content, help us understand just how you go and cultivate your teams, how you hire people, how you create culture.
00:07:54
Jason Damata
Yeah, sure. I mean, I think we've been fortunate and that we we invest in long-term and in the growth, really like in the marketing and comms.
00:08:04
Jason Damata
My notion of it is
Building a Business with Soul
00:08:05
Jason Damata
that I learned this when I started my own business. Like I started Fabric, started actually as a magazine, like in the nineties, bringing together like poetry and art and all these people in college.
00:08:12
Jeremy Bloom
Yeah.
00:08:15
Jason Damata
and And then we later became a restaurant. Anyway, I realized early on that, like when you start a business like, Oh, hello, or we're doing architecture, like they really do have a spirit of their own.
00:08:26
Jason Damata
You know, and you start to realize, wait, I'm not working for myself.
00:08:27
Jeremy Bloom
yeah
00:08:28
Jason Damata
I'm working for this idea to make this idea come true. and And one of the things that I love about what I do is that we really get to get to know the soul of a business, get to know the soul of our for our clients.
00:08:43
Jason Damata
What's at the heart of what they're trying to do? What's the why? What's the value that gets produced? And once you develop an intimate relationship with the earlier the soul of the business, then you can get to work on like bringing that to life.
00:08:55
Jason Damata
And I think that when it comes to like the bringing people, you know, within the fabrics consortium model, we've worked like 54 people last year and then a full-time staff.
00:09:06
Jason Damata
And I think it's, it's, the we have long-term relationships with everybody because I think they enjoy that process, right? It's not, this transactional thing where you're just like, give me money, we're gonna charge you for hours.
00:09:17
Jason Damata
It's like, how can we help this thing grow there?
00:09:18
Jeremy Bloom
Yeah, tell me
00:09:22
Jason Damata
and And, and you kind of rip out the frameworks, sort of the normal frameworks that would maybe blind your thinking. and And I think that process is good.
00:09:33
Jason Damata
The other piece is just authenticity and kind of being human, you know, like I'm not, not trying to
00:09:39
Jeremy Bloom
yeah and more
00:09:42
Jason Damata
You know, I, I openly have like lots of, lots of, I make lots of mistakes. I make the most mistakes of anybody and just kind of celebrate them a little bit, you know, and I think that.
00:09:52
Jeremy Bloom
get Get a little deeper on that.
00:09:52
Jason Damata
Yeah. like
00:09:54
Jeremy Bloom
I talk about being authentic, being raw, being real. i've I've been like this for many, many years. to me, it's not a
Challenges of Authenticity
00:10:02
Jeremy Bloom
trend. It seems like it's a trend for some people.
00:10:05
Jason Damata
yeah
00:10:06
Jeremy Bloom
Don't you agree?
00:10:07
Jason Damata
Yeah, totally. Totally.
00:10:09
Jason Damata
Authenticity is not like a garage band that like we heard our first.
00:10:09
Jeremy Bloom
so
00:10:13
Jeremy Bloom
Correct.
00:10:14
Jeremy Bloom
Very well said.
00:10:15
Jason Damata
but I, I think to see the me was like, I just can't control myself.
00:10:19
Jason Damata
I have to, I just say what I think and I deal with the consequences and I learned it early on cause I get trouble in school and stuff.
00:10:22
Jeremy Bloom
for good or bad. Yep.
00:10:26
Jason Damata
And i was like, well, but if I have good intentions and you have right intentions, then whatever comes out, is probably going to be, at least people may not agree with it, but at least they'll know it's authentic.
00:10:26
Jeremy Bloom
Me too.
00:10:37
Jason Damata
And I think it served me really well it served Fabric really well. And that when we work with people, they know we're being authentic. We're telling but exactly what but we believe, not what you want to hear.
00:10:49
Jason Damata
And I think that that's that's at the heart of that. It can be difficult though. you know I think everybody fears judgment and and you know it's not, it's easier said than done, but
00:10:59
Jeremy Bloom
Totally.
Networking and Strategic Partnerships
00:11:01
Jeremy Bloom
And you've told me about a myriad of different partners that you've worked with across the spectrum of of of Fabric, TV Rev. and When it comes to strategic relationships, when it comes to networking, when it comes to mentorship, what are some elements that are just really important to you?
00:11:21
Jeremy Bloom
that help you intrinsically grow and help your your clients grow of what you're offering and also just how that is going to, just being a mentor on Ovalo, just how the impact that that you're excited to make externally to all the different teams and people that we're going to be working together with.
00:11:38
Jason Damata
Totally. you know Part of that scene of the soul of the business, it's really important that it's it's going to make a positive impact for us. It's really hard to hook into a business. And like the only customers you really ever lost or not ended up working out with, it was their, the internal motivation was just money.
00:11:59
Jason Damata
And it wasn't like improving a system bring, you know, we work work a lot in measurement because we love because it's fundamentally, it's bringing truth to the marketplace, you know, so you
00:12:07
Jeremy Bloom
Totally. Measurement is truth.
00:12:10
Jason Damata
Yeah. And so I think in mentorship, there's a, there's a higher purpose there. And I think when you, there's a magnetism to like a higher purpose too, right? Where a lot of times marketing can get stuck in all the, all the buzzwords and all the, look at the garbage around it, but, and I'll,
00:12:26
Jason Damata
fundamentally, if what you're trying to do is positive, like at Oh Hello, there's a natural gravitational pull towards that because people genuinely want a place where they feel like they're having an authentic experience, where it comes from a good place, where it's going nourish them. And I think that carries into mentorship as well.
00:12:41
Jason Damata
That, you know, when they understand it's a good thing, they're willing to give, they're willing to receive, and it keeps people open.
00:12:47
Jeremy Bloom
Really well said, yeah, when it comes to both.
Closing Remarks and Friendship
00:12:50
Jeremy Bloom
measurement, mentorship, truth, accountability, and just being your authentic self, just being raw, being real, being real with your people, being real with your partners, wanting to make a edge profound impact on the people that you're dealing with, both on micro and a micro mentorship way and a macro mentorship way. Jason, this has been an awesome conversation.
00:13:13
Jeremy Bloom
Really appreciate our buddy friendship and appreciate you jumping on the hello pod.
00:13:18
Jason Damata
Yeah, thank you. I appreciate it. i can go in for hours.
00:13:20
Jeremy Bloom
Cool.
00:13:20
Jason Damata
This is great. Oh, it's great talking appreciate you.
00:13:22
Jeremy Bloom
Awesome. Thanks, Jason.
00:13:24
Jason Damata
Thank you. Take care.
00:13:25
Jeremy Bloom
you too.