I help startups with marketing. Increasingly by building AI engines that make lean teams dangerous.
Becoming a “serial first growth leader” for ambitious startups
From music to marketing
Before I knew what “go-to-market” meant, I was doing it: convincing bandmates to show up to the same rehearsal with the same vision, booking our own gigs, building a brand for ourselves, and figuring out how to get strangers to care about songs they’d never heard.
While making my own music on the side, I learned marketing fundamentals with an internship at a jazz booking agency. I helped produce performances by Lenny Kravitz and Ariana Grande at the US Open. And I hustled to promote independent artists at a hip hop PR firm.
In-house startup marketer & operator
Broke into tech at the social marketing pioneer Wyng. Rebuilt their B2B demand gen, as I learned the ins and outs of managing a modern martech stack, partnering with sales, and positioning a complex SaaS product. This work landed us on Deloitte’s Fast 500 as the #42 fastest-growing US company of 2015.
Then joined the consumer fintech Ellevest pre-launch as the first marketer. Dialed in our growth strategy and channels, and gradually hired a rockstar team of 13 as we scaled. Grew the platform to managing over $1B in client assets. Drove strategy for a pivot to a membership model that yielded 6x ARPU and 66% lower CAC. Eventually in 2025, larger rival Betterment acquired Ellevest’s roboadvisor business.
Piloting growth across 20+ startups
Knew I liked the “0-1” phase of startup growth. So after going deep as an operator, I started my fractional marketing consultancy, Bowery Growth, to serve a broader range of startups within areas like fintech, SaaS, consumer, and AI. I embedded deeply within teams to build and execute marketing strategies, often from zero.
More “at bats” meant more opportunities to hone my skills across different markets and ICPs. Focused on pre-seed to series-A startups backed by top investors including:
- Stood up marketing function from scratch
- Developed early positioning and messaging with CEO
- Validated key marketing channels, pushing the startup from founder-led sales to scalable GTM
- Traction enabled a $19M Series A eight months into the project; acquired by Amplitude two years later
- Built a differentiated funnel and paid acquisition system
- Stood up high-performing paid, affiliate, and referral channels
- Achieved CAC < 1/3 industry benchmarks in a competitive fintech vertical
- Over 10x growth in members and revenue
Co-founding an AI marketing startup
Spent a year at the bleeding edge of AI in growth marketing. Teamed up with a PhD AI engineer, bootstrapped, gave ourselves a year to find product-market fit.
Built and shipped products, signed paying customers, and validated demand across multiple hypotheses before winding down in early 2026when a platform shift put our core use case out of bounds.
What sets me apart as an operator
“First head of growth” track record
I excel building from zero: the ambiguity, the speed. I’ve done it repeatedly (with results), and that’s the part I love.
An engineering mindset for marketing
I’ve long thrived tinkering with workflows, code, and new marketing tech. AI unleashes this technical curiosity.
Firsthand founder experience
I’ve sat on the other side of the table. I know what it means to be accountable and to make tough choices with a lot at stake.
GTM swiss-army knife
I pride myself on being a generalist. In startup life, we don’t always know what’s around the corner, but I can handle whatever’s next.
People say nice things about my work
“Nate is equal parts analytical, strategic, and creative. He’s a true domain expert in startup growth. I recommend [him] to any company that needs to get its marketing off the ground, fast.”
“Very good at what he does. Our customers were a demographic that was difficult to reach — he found creative ways to target them.”
“Our marketing was at zero, and Nate got us to one … We’ve grown revenue more than 10X … He created a great platform for us to scale up.”
“Nate’s combination of both breadth and depth of knowledge was unexpectedly valuable … If you’re a startup looking for thoughtful growth expertise, working with Nate is a no-brainer.”
“Nate was able to make a huge impact … His ability to think critically, analyze data, and make integral decisions … is a true testament to the daily value he brings.”
“A fantastic marketing executive. Well organized, thoughtful, and offers a fresh perspective. I’d recommend him to anyone considering working with him.”
A few more things to know
Since 2021, helping dozens of accelerator-backed founders lay foundations for growth.
Double major in Economics and Music Composition.
Advanced Growth Strategy program. Analyzed growth models from Airbnb, Pinterest, Dropbox, and Uber, and learned how to apply their frameworks.
Guest lectured at NYU Stern School of Business (2021). Presented at Social Media Strategies Summit (2018), Elite Digital SEM Summit (2018), and others.
Hiker, rock climber, skier, snowboarder, and mountaineer, including summiting Pico de Orizaba (18,491′) and nine other peaks over 14,000′.
Fluent Spanish, once-solid Mandarin Chinese, basic Brazilian Portuguese.
Let’s talk
Don’t be shy. I enjoy meeting forward-thinking founders, investors, and operators.
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