Not many people can say they met their co-founder in the battle royale game PUBG. Jonathon Troughton, CEO of Frameplay, can.

The gaming industry has seen a huge shift since Frameplay was founded in 2018 by Troughton and his gaming enthusiast partner Eric Rossi, who has since moved on from the business. The pandemic reignited a love of gaming and since then brands large and small have been looking for ways to connect with gamers, who are now more diverse than ever. Frameplay, an ad platform for video games, has been helping them do just that, and, more importantly, showing the impact of in-game ads.

In April, Frameplay introduced a new metric to help brands measure the amount of attention ads get in video games. Its Intrinsic Time-in-View measurement, also known as the length of time an ad impression is viewable during game play, was validated by Lumen and Eye Square.

“That was always our name for it internally,” said Troughton, 35. “The fact that the industry has adopted our terminology, and we have been involved in furthering the industry, is so powerful.”

Still, Troughton says that not all brands are fully tapping into the potential scalability and data associated with gaming. But he acknowledges that it might take time to learn the gaming ecosystem.

“Gaming is the future,” Troughton said. “If you want to reach your customer and have data that supports that value, it’s not going away.”

If you could have dinner with one person, alive or dead, who would it be and why?

I would choose to have dinner with Nikola Tesla, who is known for his influence on the modern alternating current electricity supply system. Although some found him to be a bit eccentric, he is one of the most intelligent and influential people the world has ever known.

What are the top two social media sites you use on a regular basis?

I don’t have any traditional social media, unless you count LinkedIn. I do use Discord to chat with other gamers.

What’s currently on your bedside reading list?

I’m reading two things, one is for me, the other is for work. I have a copy of the U.S. Constitution that I’m reading through. I know opinions can vary, and that is totally fine, but I think it’s good to know where you're coming from in a historical sense. 

The other is “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” by Patrick Lencioni. We recently had a team event that focused on making our internal teams better leaders. If we cultivate strong internal leadership, we think that will translate to external work.

What was the last show you binge-watched?

The last show I watched was “Shadow and Bone” on Netflix. But I really love “Billions,” ‘Peaky Blinders” and “The Expanse.”

At what age do you hope to retire?

I haven’t even considered it. I don’t have a mind that can sit still. If I retire, I think I’ll be forced to, rather than wanting to do it.

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CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article said that Frameplay’s measurement was validated by Denstu and Lumen. The measurement was validated by Lumen and Eye Square.