Newsletter platform Paved adds executives from Outbrain and OpenWeb

Paved announced two executive appointments on October 30, 2025, bringing veteran advertising technology professionals into leadership positions as the newsletter sponsorship platform expands its marketplace operations. Victor Charpin joined as VP of Publishers while Phil Reich took the role of VP of Sales.

The platform connects over 8,000 newsletter creators with advertisers, reaching 253 million newsletter subscribers across 2,000 publishers. These include major media brands such as The New York Times, NBC, Bloomberg, and TechCrunch. The leadership additions arrive as Paved operates within the Redbrick portfolio, which acquired the company in March 2025.

Charpin brings experience from Outbrain, where he served as VP of Programmatic Supply & Partnerships. During his tenure at the content discovery platform, he developed strategic partnership agreements with supply-side platforms including Microsoft, Google, and Samsung. His work expanded Outbrain's reach across in-app environments, original equipment manufacturers, carriers, newsletters, and emerging digital channels. According to the announcement, Charpin will oversee global publisher partnerships, monetization strategy, and inventory scaling at Paved.

"Publishers have become reliant on third-party platforms for traffic, leaving them vulnerable to sudden algorithm shifts and shifting platform policies, not to mention AI," Charpin stated in the announcement. He described curated newsletters as among the most powerful methods for brands to connect with engaged audiences, emphasizing that Paved provides publishers with tools to regain control through direct audience relationships and first-party data utilization.

Reich arrives with over 13 years of experience across mobile, email, and performance advertising channels. His career began at Jump Ramp Games, a venture capital-backed startup later acquired by Mobilityware. There he worked with brands including Uber, Lyft, Hulu, Electronic Arts, and DraftKings on customer acquisition and brand growth initiatives.

He subsequently joined PowerInbox, later renamed Jeeng, where he helped scale the company's email advertising and monetization operations. Reich collaborated with major publishers and advertisers such as Capital One, Colgate-Palmolive, Wayfair, Fisher Investments, The Atlantic, and Trusted Media Brands. He remained with the business through its $100 million acquisition by OpenWeb in 2023.

At Paved, Reich will direct all advertiser and agency partnerships, lead sales strategy, manage revenue operations, and oversee client success initiatives. His responsibilities include helping brands optimize returns across Paved's Marketplace and Ad Network while expanding relationships among advertisers and agencies.

"I've spent my career helping brands and publishers unlock the potential of emerging digital channels, and I see newsletters as one of the most impactful frontiers in media today," Reich said in the announcement. He characterized Paved as uniquely positioned to simplify advertiser sponsorship purchases while enabling publishers to monetize audiences more sustainably.

John McLaughlin, CEO and Founder of Paved, framed the appointments within broader shifts in digital media consumption patterns. "For millions of people, newsletters have become the first stop online each day," McLaughlin stated. He indicated that Charpin and Reich would help the company respond to this shift by providing publishers with improved tools and offering brands streamlined methods to reach audiences at scale.

The newsletter advertising sector has experienced significant development throughout 2025. Google Ad Manager introduced beta support for newsletter advertising in June 2024, allowing publishers to serve reservation and programmatic guaranteed ads within email content. The feature supports image creatives and includes targeting options, though Apple's Mail Privacy Protection affects location and device targeting accuracy.

Substack announced $100 million in Series C funding on July 17, 2025, valuing the newsletter platform at $1.1 billion while exploring advertising integration after maintaining a subscription-only model. The platform had previously allowed sponsored content unofficially, but creator demand for formal advertising support drove the strategic pivot.

Newsletter monetization research published in February 2025 demonstrated that operators could achieve $10,000 in monthly recurring revenue with approximately 1,000 subscribers through service-based approaches. Advertising performance metrics from the Beehiiv Ad Network showed newsletters generating $1 to $5 per click, with average campaigns achieving $2.50 per click.

Redbrick has pursued an active acquisition strategy in 2025. The company acquired digital media brand Quartz in April and design platform Glorify in July, which integrated with Redbrick portfolio company Leadpages. The Victoria, Canada-based firm focuses on building, acquiring, and supporting digital businesses, with a portfolio that includes Shift, Delivra, and Animoto.

The announcement emphasized Redbrick's role in supporting Paved's strategic growth since the March 2025 acquisition. According to the company, Redbrick has provided resources, expertise, and support to accelerate Paved's advancement in the newsletter advertising space.

Paved operates as a fully distributed global team developing tools to support content creators worldwide. The platform offers both a Marketplace for direct sponsorship discovery and an Ad Network for programmatic native advertising within newsletters. The company markets its platform as providing unprecedented targeting capabilities for sponsorship campaigns connecting newsletter creators with brands.

The appointments reflect consolidation patterns in marketing technology. Companies across the advertising ecosystem have pursued acquisitions and leadership expansions to reduce platform friction and create unified marketing solutions. This trend includes programmatic infrastructure providers seeking to control more of the advertising value chain while publishers search for sustainable monetization alternatives to algorithm-dependent traffic sources.

Charpin's background in non-traditional supply channels aligns with Paved's positioning in the newsletter advertising space. His experience structuring programmatic partnerships and scaling supply across emerging digital environments directly addresses Paved's expansion objectives for publisher relationships and inventory growth.

Reich's track record in email advertising monetization corresponds with Paved's focus on advertiser adoption and revenue growth. His experience working with top-tier publishers and major advertisers through the evolution of email advertising platforms provides relevant expertise for scaling Paved's marketplace and ad network operations.

Newsletter advertising operates within distinct constraints compared to traditional display advertising. Email clients implement privacy protections that affect targeting accuracy. Apple's Mail Privacy Protection, introduced in 2021, obscures recipient location and device information. Publishers must implement unique identifier systems per email recipient to enable proper ad tracking and reporting while avoiding personally identifiable information in ad tags.

The newsletter sector has developed multiple monetization approaches. Direct sponsorships allow creators to maintain control over brand partnerships and negotiate custom rates. Programmatic networks like Paved's Ad Network enable automated advertising at scale. Subscription models provide predictable revenue but limit free content distribution. Hybrid approaches combining these methods have emerged as publishers diversify revenue streams.

Industry data indicates growing advertiser interest in newsletter inventory. Research shows 72 percent of marketers planned to increase programmatic investment in 2025. Connected TV budgets doubled from 14 percent in 2023 to 28 percent in 2025, demonstrating advertiser appetite for premium content environments that newsletters can provide.

Privacy considerations continue shaping newsletter advertising implementation. Regulations under the General Data Protection Regulation in Europe and similar frameworks globally require explicit consent for marketing communications. Email clients cache content for privacy and performance reasons, creating challenges for real-time targeting. Publishers must balance effective monetization with subscriber experience and regulatory compliance.

The competitive landscape includes established email service providers adding monetization features, dedicated newsletter platforms incorporating advertising, and programmatic advertising technology companies entering the email channel. Each approach presents different value propositions for publishers regarding control, revenue potential, implementation complexity, and subscriber experience.

Timeline

• March 2025 – Redbrick acquires Paved, providing resources and expertise to accelerate growth
• April 2025 – Redbrick acquires digital media brand Quartz as second 2025 acquisition
• July 17, 2025 – Substack announces $100 million Series C funding, exploring advertising integration
• July 16, 2025 – Redbrick portfolio company Leadpages acquires design platform Glorify, marking Redbrick's third acquisition of 2025
• August 18, 2025 – Substack enables in-app purchases for iOS users, implementing Apple's payment system
• October 30, 2025 – Paved announces Victor Charpin as VP of Publishers and Phil Reich as VP of Sales

Summary

Who: Newsletter advertising platform Paved appointed two executives: Victor Charpin, formerly VP of Programmatic Supply & Partnerships at Outbrain, as VP of Publishers; and Phil Reich, an advertising technology veteran with over 13 years of experience at companies including Jump Ramp Games, PowerInbox/Jeeng, and OpenWeb, as VP of Sales.

What: The leadership expansion adds experienced executives to drive marketplace growth and advertiser adoption across Paved's platform connecting over 8,000 newsletter creators with brands. Charpin will lead global publisher partnerships, monetization strategy, and inventory scaling, while Reich will oversee advertiser relationships, sales strategy, revenue operations, and client success.

When: The appointments were announced on October 30, 2025, approximately seven months after Redbrick acquired Paved in March 2025.

Where: New York-based Paved operates as a fully distributed global team, serving 253 million newsletter subscribers across 2,000 publishers worldwide, including major media brands such as The New York Times, NBC, Bloomberg, and TechCrunch.

Why: The hires support Paved's expansion strategy as newsletters have become primary destinations for millions of daily internet users. Publishers increasingly seek direct audience relationships and first-party data monetization alternatives to algorithm-dependent traffic from third-party platforms. The newsletter advertising sector has experienced substantial development in 2025, with major platforms including Google Ad Manager and Substack adding or exploring advertising capabilities, creating competitive pressure and growth opportunities for specialized newsletter advertising platforms like Paved.