StubGroup CEO John Horn on Leadership, Google Ads, and Learning to “Count It All Joy”

In this episode of Braving Business, we sit down with John Horn, CEO of StubGroup, a top-tier Google Premier Partner agency that manages digital ad campaigns for clients around the globe. But John isn’t your typical tech CEO—he didn’t start in Silicon Valley, and he didn’t have a blueprint. He built his leadership style in real time, often the hard way, with a deep belief in values-first decision-making, transparency, and good old-fashioned grit.

John was StubGroup’s first employee, eventually becoming its CEO just months before the pandemic hit. What followed? A massive drop in client ad spend, an existential business threat, and a defining leadership moment. Instead of hiding behind closed doors, John chose candor and connection, rallying his team through open-bo ...