Pip Bingemann found his feet in Adland at Ikon Communications, where he pivoted from PR. He spent four years working on award-winning campaigns before it was time to spread his wings and head up Bohemia Group as strategy director. He pioneered the pro bono division in the agency – an interest that has marked other ventures outside of Adland, such as his time working on a 17th-century farm in England, helping adults with autism and Down syndrome.
He spread his wings some more in 2017 when he made the jump from Australia to San Francisco and from media to creative. Then in 2022, he founded Springboards alongside Amy Tucker, designed as an AI-powered platform to harness creativity in advertising. Springboards has already partnered with 120+ agencies globally.
1. You’ve had a great career from PR / media trader/manager at Ikon and now the Co-Founder of Springboards.ai. If you had to pick only one, what would be your career highlight so far?
Bingemann: Moving to SF and working at Cutwater. Jumping from media to creative and being around minds like Chuck McBride changed how I see ideas. That said, building Springboards is the most fun I’ve ever had in a job.
2. What’s the backstory of the company name, and was it a no-brainer to have AI in the title?
Bingemann: We started as “Trilingual,” and positioned ourselves as an ‘experimentation studio’ which was just a fancy name for two freelancers who had too much time on their hands. One experiment went rogue, Springboards. Amy came up with the name over sushi after someone asked us to build a real product. Springboard.ai was taken, so we slapped an ‘s’ on!
3. You have successfully raised seed money with Blackbird Ventures and, more recently, additional investors. What signals will tell you it’s time to raise a Series A?
Bingemann: Two signs: we see an opportunity to go faster, or we’re about to run out of cash!
4. As a young boy, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Bingemann: No clue. Like most, I fell into advertising by accident. I think it was the best crash course in the world. You become a fake expert in something new every week.
5. You have attracted some incredible talent. How have you been able to hire the calibre of people and retain them?
Bingemann: Product delight + mission. The product makes you laugh, then blows your mind. And from mission standpoint we talk about amplifying creatives, not replacing them. That attracts the right people.
6. As an industry, what’s one thing you would change to make us all better?
Bingemann: Kill head‑hour billing. Stop giving thinking away and undercutting each other. Act like we value the craft. Fall back in love with creativity.
7. What’s keeping your CMO clients awake at night?
Bingemann: I Don’t deal with many anymore!
8. Who have been your mentors, and what’s the best career advice you have been given?
Bingemann: Chris Christofi, Chris Boden, Chuck McBride, Christian Hughes. – I just realised they all start with CH.
Best advice: clients don’t buy ads, they buy hope.
9. What’s one thing that’s not on your LinkedIn profile?
Bingemann: I used to work on a 17th century farm in England helping adults with autism and Down syndrome do life admin and pub runs.
10. Important last question, do your parents know what you do?
Bingemann: They didn’t get ‘advertising strategy’, now I’ve got to explain AI too. When we raised the money they were a little shocked that someone was going to give us millions of dollars to build this thing!
