Pinnacle CEO Michael Magnusson Plays Five Questions with SCREEN
SCREEN: So you’ve been chosen for the new season of Shark Tank. What are you pitching to the Sharks?
MICHAEL: I am pitching them to invest in a technology that identifies when a human is attentive and engaged in content they are reading online. When the tech identifies them as being attentive, then and only then does it trigger an ad to be served to that human. This would deliver the highest quality impression as it is an impression being served to a human that is engaged. This tech would also virtually eliminate serving impressions to bots.
SCREEN: Your favorite project you’ve ever worked on?
MICHAEL: My favorite project, hands down, was the 2025 WeatherTech Super Bowl spot. We shot a :60 and two :30s in the Pacific Palisades and Malibu California. Our creative team took an idea to another level and just kept pushing it, even at the shoot.
Let’s enjoy the spot right here…
SCREEN: Most famous person you’ve ever met?
MICHAEL: While I was in college, I worked summers at the Brookfield Zoo. At that time, the Zoo produced a large concert series and Loretta Lynn was one of the acts. I was working the concert series and was able to meet her on her tour bus. She was wonderful and so willing to take a few minutes to talk. I asked her to autograph my concert program and she asked me my name. I told her my name was Michael. After she autographed my program, she handed it back to me and when I looked at it, she spelled my name, Mykel. She is a Coal Miner’s Daughter, true and authentic to herself!!
SCREEN: Your go-to karaoke song?
MICHAEL: If I had a single ounce of talent to carry a note, I can and will sing anything Van Halen. Why is it your favorite? I grew up a huge Van Halen fan and know every word to every song of theirs, even the “Van Hagar” years.
Hey Michael… go ahead and JUMP!
SCREEN: Your favorite birthday gift you’ve ever received?
MICHAEL: Hand drawn and written birthday cards from my boys each year. I have every single one in a file and every once in a while, I will pull them out of the file drawer and look at them. It’s the type of birthday gift that stays with you forever
BONUS QUESTIONS!
SCREEN: If you could appoint ANYONE to be the President of the United States, who would it be?
MICHAEL: My good friend, Bob Navarre. He is one of the most brilliant minds I have ever come across. He understands people, is a financial wizard, exercises great judgment and fairness, and when he needs to understand something, he studies it until he’s the expert. He would figure out the right path for our country and do it right, because that’s just who he is.
SCREEN: Best advice you’ve ever been given?
MICHAEL: Everything you do has your signature on it. Make sure everything you do is worthy of your signature
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