Adrian Fagerlund Built an Ad Network During COVID (Then Signed 10,000 Brands) - #08

Legends of Scale · May 20, 2026 · 59m

Today we chat with Adrian Fagerlund. Founder and CEO of Linkby.

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00:00 Meet Adrian Fagerlund

00:15 Launching a marketplace during COVID

00:57 The chicken-or-egg problem, getting the first brands and publishers

2:31 "We had to hire 15 people at once"

4:51 How he decided which roles to hire for

6:49 Going 100mph but slowing down for hiring

8:35 "The structure hasn't really changed," what he got right early

9:09 Why he doesn't use recruiters or AI…