Serial Entrepreneur (2 exits) & Growth Advisor • Founded AllPaws (Sold to PetSmart) • Co-Founded Saturday App & Snap Interactive (100m users & $100m revenue)

𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽 𝘁𝗼 𝟭𝟬𝟬𝗠 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀 & $𝟭𝟬𝟬𝗠 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 • 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿 𝘄/ 𝟮 𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘁𝘀 • 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽, 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁, 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴.

Serial tech entrepreneur, business operator, and strategic advisor with deep experience starting and growing consumer-digital businesses. 

As a growth and product-driven startup founder, I have a proven track record of building and growing innovative products used by millions. I have achieved successful exits while overseeing multiple C-Level executive roles for publicly traded, growth stage, and venture-backed startups. I have a bias for action and a passion for solving big problems. Proven ability to innovate and deliver rapid revenue and user growth. 

At the intersection of my passion for pets and online dating expertise, I co-founded AllPaws. This innovative, online dating-style pet adoption platform quickly gained millions of users and was acquired by the pet industry leader, PetSmart. 

Before that, as co-founder I helped build and lead publicly traded SNAP Interactive from inception to rank as the 36th fastest growing technology company in North America with 4,400% revenue growth over 5 years, $20 million+ in annual revenue, and over 100 million users of our online dating apps and social products. 

Today, I advise businesses and startups on optimizing their digital and product growth strategies. Additionally, I coach entrepreneurs and business leaders on building high-income personal brands, and advise top influencers, models, and creators on growing and monetizing their audiences.

I continue to work on new projects, explore new opportunities, and advise. 

Been featured in ABC News, Bloomberg, Good Morning America, TechCrunch, Fox 5 News,  Huffington Post, Mashable, Forbes, Fast Company, Business Insider, and many other top tier publications. 

SPECIALTIES: Growth, Optimization, Digital Strategy, Product Strategy, Personal Branding 

Start-ups | Digital Strategy | General Management | Product Strategy and Development |  Rapid Revenue Growth | Strategic Vision | User Growth & User Acquisition | Marketplaces | Business Strategy | Business Operator | Problem-Solving | Business Operations (CEO, COO, GM) | Product Management | Conversion Optimization | A/B Testing | Web and Mobile Analytics | Mobile Applications | Mobile Growth | iTunes App Store Optimization | e-Commerce | Social Media Marketing & Strategy | M&A Process | Pet Industry | Online Dating Apps

Darrell Lerner

The key to growing a startup in 3 steps.

Test → Learn → Iterate

Then double down on what’s working.

Tight feedback cycles let you gather data and make progress as quickly as possible.

(Quick clip from a podcast I did with Adam Metwally on growth + why virality is harder than people think.)

But here’s the part nobody really wants to admit:

You can’t really “engineer” virality.

Everyone thinks they know what will go viral…

until they post something they’re sure will rip, and it flops.

Then they post something random…

and it takes off...

That’s why “going viral” isn’t a strategy.

The right systems are.

You can’t force outcomes.

But you can run enough reps to find them.

That’s how you win in growth when there’s no formula.

The winners don’t predict virality. They build systems that find it.

What’s the most surprising post you’ve ever had take off?

--

If you found this post helpful:

♻️ Repost to share it with your audience

🔔 Follow me Darrell Lerner for more on entrepreneurship, startups, personal branding, and mindset.

2x Exited Founder & Growth Advisor • Built AllPaws (Acquired by PetSmart) • Co-Founded SNAP Interactive (100m users & $100m revenue)

The Mindful Creator | I talk about mindset, creativity, & content writing | Building The Mindful Creation Blueprint

I wasn’t supposed to be here.

Five and a half years ago, my life was going the other way...

I was: 

🔹Drinking every day
🔹Running from myself

And one night alcohol took my right eye in a freak accident

That was my wake-up call.

I had two choices: 

1. Keep spiraling downwards (and potentially die) 
2. Rebuild myself

I chose to rebuild.

I got sober. 

Which forced me to face the sides of myself I’d been running from. 

And in the process, I discovered something most people never realize...

Your identity shapes your whole reality. 

Who you believe you are determines what you're capable of creating. 

That lesson became the foundation of everything I do now.

When I started my consulting business...

I was in college studying audio engineering.

Just a normal guy who had to figure it out from scratch.

Since then... 

I built my consulting business to six figures organically on LinkedIn.

And I've watched my clients break through the same walls I had broken through in my own life.

Today, my mission is simple:

To help established leaders and creatives get to $20K/m by doing the inner work combined with the business work.

Because I know what it feels like to lose everything.

And I also know what it takes to build yourself back stronger.

Darion Rae

Delusional self belief...

That's where it all started for me.

Not everyone is going to support you.

Not everyone is going to believe you can do it.

(Some people might secretly want you to fail).

One of the few things you can control though...

Is betting on yourself.

(Huge shoutout to Kelsey Schaefer for having me on Inspired Idiots. If you haven't seen what she's up to... check her out)

Helping you master → yourself, value creation, & productizing your knowledge

If what you're working on doesn't:

🔹Fire you up
🔹Get you obsessed
🔹Excite you when you wake up

You're headed in the wrong direction. 

You can think it's idealistic for me to say it.

You can even disagree...

But I know one thing for certain:

Life is too short to spend your time doing sh*t you don't care about.

--

🔷 If you love self-mastery, value creation, and productizing your knowledge, follow me Darion Rae

I don’t want an easy life.

I want a meaningful one.

Easy now gets harder as you go.

A meaningful life is the exact opposite.

It’s hard now, but gets easier later. 

That’s the trade most people never consciously choose.

If you’re even thinking about this…

You’re already playing a different game than most people.

People who feel unfulfilled usually aren’t lazy…

They’re misaligned.

They never chased excellence in what they’re meant to do.

(Their life’s task)

So they stay stuck going through the motions.

Working on things they don’t enjoy and aren’t passionate about. 

This is why I’m so committed to chasing mastery in what I love. 

And why I believe we all need to be. 

When you remove distractions and commit to one path long enough…

Meaning and fulfillment come naturally. 

Yes, being a polymath is important.

Yes, having multiple skills is important.

But you need to go deep into 1 or 2 things.

Mastery requires it.

--

🔷 I recently ran a workshop teaching my 6-figure content system & strategy.

If you're struggling to write content that feels aligned with you while still attracting your dream clients on LinkedIn...

Catch the free recording here:

https://lnkd.in/eUqPr7vK

I never mastered my early passions as a kid.

I got above average…

Then moved onto the next thing that excited me.

Every time.

Now that I’m older, I see why.

Magic, breakdancing, basketball, rapping…

They were my training wheels.

Looking back at all those passions I was able to see similarities. 

They were all rooted in:

🔹Self-expression
🔹Technical skill
🔹Performance

And best of all they were permissionless. 

They all led me here to creating value online and productizing my knowledge. 

And now I’m chasing mastery for the first time in my life, and it feels damn good. 

So this is my reminder to you…

Yes, go wide in a bunch of things, follow your curiosity and interests.

They’ll help you realize what you need to go deep in.

--

🔷 If you love self-mastery, value creation, and productizing your knowledge, follow me Darion Rae

In the digital age, nothing is more important than mastering:

🔹 Yourself 
🔹 Value creation
🔹 Productizing your knowledge

Yourself because there's never been more distractions.

Value creation because the internet allows everyone to build their own business. 

Productizing your knowledge because to reach as many people as possible... you need scale.

Tactics don't mean sh*t if you don't become the personal capable of getting the outcome you want.

--

🔷 I recently ran a workshop teaching my 6-figure content system & strategy.

If you're struggling to write content that feels aligned with you while still attracting your dream clients on LinkedIn...

Catch the free recording here:

https://lnkd.in/eUqPr7vK

Ever since I was a kid I was chasing mastery without even knowing it.

My first passion was magic. 

I wanted to be a magician so badly after my uncle did some magic tricks for me and my friends at one of my birthday parties. 

I would practice in front of the mirror for hours every single day after school.

Just me working on my slight of hand and all the angles. 

I even pretended my reflection was the person I was performing for. 

Then I found breakdancing when I was 10. 

It opened a whole new perspective for me on self-expression.

It was creative, technical, and performance based (just like magic).

There was always another move to learn, or another way to do a move that I’d never seen anyone else do. 

It kept me hooked. 

Then a couple years later I found my greatest love…

Basketball.

It consumed me.

And when I say consumed me… I mean I was absolutely obsessed. 

I woke up at 5 AM before school to practice.

I slept with my ball.

I trained at lunch between classes, after school…

Pretty much anytime I wasn’t eating or in class,

I was practicing. 

This has been a trend my whole life.

After basketball it was rapping…

Then 3.5 years ago, I found online entrepreneurship and never looked back. 

Here’s why I’m telling you all this…

---

🔷You can read the full post on my blog here: https://lnkd.in/ewa_Aq4m

Last year something felt off in my business.

Which is strange because the year before in 2024 I:

🔹Hit 6 figures
🔹Thought I was building my dream biz
🔹Helped a lot of people get clients on LinkedIn

So I couldn’t quite put my finger on what didn’t feel right…

All I knew was I wasn’t inspired to write content anymore.

I didn’t get fired up to start work in the morning like I did the year before. 

My obsessiveness over my craft pretty much disappeared. 

And my business took the hit. 

After a lot of self reflection and brutal honesty with myself,

I realized what happened...

🔷You can read the full post called 'Most People Never Discover What They're Meant To Do (How to find your heart's task)' here:

https://lnkd.in/eiATk8Km

Abby struggled with her writing business for 3 years before we started working together.

Before we met she:

🔹Had no strategy or repeatable systems
🔹Offered every type of copy you can think of
🔹Only signed a couple one off ‘project’ clients
🔹Didn’t feel like a business owner who ran an actual business
🔹Was ready to give up because she thought maybe it wasn’t for her

Now in less than 10 months she:

🔹Feels like a real business owner
🔹Is working with 6 clients she’s aligned with
🔹Has a specialized offer built for recurring revenue
🔹Has a system and strategy she can wake up and execute on without guessing
🔹LOVES what she does

So if you’re a leader or creative who wants mastery over 3 key areas:

💎 Yourself
💎 Value creation
💎 Productizing your knowledge

I show you exactly how inside my community here → https://lnkd.in/gnn6TGAe

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The Battle

Darrell Lerner

Darion Rae

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Darrell Lerner's LinkedIn Performance

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