Our people are our strongest asset. Learn more about the senior leadership team at Fluent.
Meet Dan Hall, CTO at Fluent
We are so excited to welcome Dan Hall to the Fluent team. As Chief Technology Officer, Dan Hall helps Fluent build infrastructure to support scale and rapid growth. He is dedicated to crafting and leading high-performance technical teams that drive innovation and create efficiencies across the company at large.
Joining Fluent from a previous position as CTO of Infogroup, Dan has over 20 years of experience in marketing technology and analytics. In his new role, Dan supports Fluent’s continued focus on diversification of its products and driving best in class services for its clients.
We sat down with Dan for an inside look into navigating the ever-changing tech landscape.
Who or what has had the biggest influence in your career?
Two sides of the same coin had the biggest influence on my career – really great managers and a few really bad managers. Having some bad managers early in my career illuminated the impact that management can have on a team and organization. Toxic managers are incredibly damaging to an organization and the careers of those they manage. Learning what not to do is very valuable.
I’ve also been fortunate to have a diverse group of talented people and managers that I’ve worked for. I’ve been able to learn from their approach and example. One of the biggest learnings was that as a manager you work for your team. I really took that to heart and do my best to practice it daily.
What has been one of your biggest career challenges and how did you overcome it?
Learning to be comfortable with conflict. My family growing up was very conflict averse which was great for home but isn’t always effective in business. It took a while to understand that it’s essential in business and typically leads to better outcomes. It required a change in thinking on my part to welcome this tension as part of the path to solving problems.
Is there any advice you would give to your younger self, knowing what you know now?
I would say to take the following Richard Branson quote to heart: “If somebody offers you an amazing opportunity but you are not sure you can do it, say yes – then learn how to do it later!”
Too often your own worries can hold you back.
What does it take to succeed as a CTO in a digital company?
It takes a great team to be successful as CTO. Complex environments require talented employees, contractors, partners, and vendors. Focus on getting your team in place, functioning effectively, and then listen to them.
What is your top cyber security best practice tip?
Use multi-factor authentication everywhere possible. Google just did a study showing that even simple 2-factor authentication is highly effective protection for common scenarios.
What excites you most about Fluent?
Fluent feels like a startup environment at scale. Really bright people all working to make our company and our customers successful. Many companies lose that drive and get comfortable as they scale up. I like that Fluent continually pushes past its comfort zone.
