David Mandeno is Chief Operating Officer and co-founder of Revving, a London-based fintech pioneering the use of Transactional-Based Funding, designed specifically for AdTech and the digital economy. He has spent the past two decades working at the intersection of technology and corporate finance.
New Digital Age asked Mandeno to name the person who has most inspired him in his professional life…
Who is your digital hero?
My digital hero is Tom Triscari, founder of Lemonade Projects, an advisory firm focused on programmatic consulting, research, and investment.
What sets Tom apart is the breadth of what he’s built under that umbrella. Through initiatives like the Quo Vadis newsletter and the Advertising Economic Forum events, he’s created spaces where the industry can step back from day-to-day execution and have more thoughtful, structured conversations about where advertising is actually heading.
In an industry that often moves at breakneck speed, Tom has consistently created room for reflection, and that’s increasingly rare.
What have they done to win hero status in your eyes?
Tom is a genuine thought leader, but not in the superficial sense of simply commenting on trends. What I admire most is his ability to incorporate financial theory into adtech and apply disciplined economic thinking to what can sometimes feel like a chaotic ecosystem.
He has an exceptional ability to spot emerging trends early, articulate why they matter, and explain their second and third-order effects. Whether it’s changes in market structure, incentives, or capital flows, Tom consistently connects dots that others miss.
Equally important is his role as a convener. He doesn’t just publish ideas; he brings the adtech community together to debate them. That combination of insight, structure, and community-building is what elevates him from commentator to catalyst.
How has their heroism helped drive digital?
Tom’s ability to get people collaborating and thinking differently is unparalleled.
A great example was “The Last Media Dollar Live” event we recently sponsored in London. Rather than running a traditional panel, Tom designed and coded a decision-based game around media spend. Senior leaders from across adtech were put into scenarios that forced them to make trade-offs based on real market pressures.
The result was incredibly revealing. Through gameplay, Tom surfaced how different stakeholders view industry trends, risk, and value creation, often in ways that wouldn’t come out in a standard discussion. Watching a room full of experienced executives become genuinely engaged, challenged, and reflective was impressive. Now Tom is running the same format in NYC on February 25. It’s definitely an experience worth checking out.
That ability to make complex issues tangible, and even fun, is a big reason his work drives meaningful progress in digital.
What are the biggest challenges in digital that we need another hero to solve?
One of the most fundamental and least discussed challenges in digital is payments and cash flow across the ecosystem.
Despite the sophistication of adtech, much of the industry still operates on outdated payment terms that slow growth and increase risk. It’s not uncommon for companies to wait months to be paid, effectively acting as involuntary lenders to much larger counterparties. For a sector that prides itself on innovation, payments can feel closer to carrier pigeons than real-time infrastructure.
This friction stifles growth, limits reinvestment, and disproportionately impacts smaller and scaling businesses. We launched Revving to solve exactly this problem, modernising how capital flows through digital advertising so companies can grow based on performance, not patience.
What is your most heroic personal achievement so far in digital?
My most heroic achievement so far in digital would definitely be launching Revving.
As any founder knows, building and scaling a technology platform is incredibly challenging. Doing so while tackling a deeply entrenched industry problem adds another layer entirely. What makes it meaningful is that Revving is solving a real, systemic pain point in digital advertising, one that directly affects how companies operate, grow, and survive.
I’m proud of how innovative and differentiated our platform is, and even more proud of the role we’re playing in helping adtech businesses unlock the funding they need to scale sustainably.
I’m excited about continuing to grow the business and supporting more companies across the ecosystem. If we can help remove financial friction from digital and give innovation more room to breathe, I’ll feel like that will be a pretty heroic achievement!
