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?

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

Accruent

Brought on board to lead marketing strategy, customer communication, market-driven lead generation, and corporate messaging.

The Americas team is responsible for driving new business, delivering outstanding brand experiences and bringing to life the Accruent mission of Unifying the Built Environment.

VP Marketing and Corporate Events

Tektronix

Achieved 15% incremental pipeline in the first 18 months through the combined impact of process improvements, strategic prioritization, and new digital initiatives.

Implemented new cross-functional content development and SEO processes that resulted in a 10% improvement in average search engine ranking with over 70% increase in pipeline value.

Launched an experimentation program that increased the number of experiments by 10X and improved conversion rate by 40bp in 6 months.

Improved customer experience through sustained experimentation program, driving over 10% annualized incremental revenue.

Implemented a return on ad spend (ROAS) optimization approach that delivered 2X more pipeline value in the first quarter of implementation without increasing media budget.

Director Global Digital Marketing and Analytics

Concentra

Developed simplified customer personas and customer journeys to deliver a redesigned web experience that led to +900% lead growth in the first year.

Implemented local marketing tactics that improved review scores from 2.6 to 4.0 in 18 months, driving incremental revenue and improved satisfaction. 

Designed and implemented a new transactional channel that accelerated customer onboarding resulting in 10% of all net new revenue following launch.

Deployed technology and processes to deliver marketing automation capabilities that improved customer retention by 14pts.

Designed and launched a new content development process that improved average search engine ranking by seven positions broadening thought leadership in the space.

Senior Director Digital Marketing

Latin3

Launched / ran regional office for Latin3 to win new marquee customers and deliver incremental bottom line.

Penetrated regional market quickly through structured prospecting; landing recognized brand accounts:  Under Armor, Reebok, Cable & Wireless, Nintendo, and others.

Implemented “revenue first” investment approach, profitably delivering double-digit growth for consecutive years.

Managing Partner

Microsoft

Launched multi-country campaigns using channel to maximize impact while managing spend.

Drove Co-Op fund usage from 50% to over 90% delivering 1.5X ROI on marketing investment.

Regional Marketing Manager - OEM

DELL

Developed weekly media optimization cadence that drove 2X revenue from paid channels. 

Added search marketing to the media mix driving a 50% reduction in cost per order.

Regional Online Marketing Manager

Promoted into the role to drive implementation and adoption of new solution selling processes, business review cadence, and CRM usage. 

Roll out resulted in 10% close rate expansion and 30% growth in opportunity pipeline.

Regional Enterprise & Partner Group Business Manager

Promoted to build the relationship and sell to top-tier finance sector accounts. 

Sold first Microsoft Windows Datacenter in the territory and grew server penetration by 50%.

Major Account Manager Finance Sector

Promoted to drive demand generation and manage inside sales for the SMB segment.

Achieved 100% of quota for two consecutive years and grew customer base by 15%

Small & Medium Business Sales Manger

Recruited after displacing incumbent (IBM) from the largest customer in the territory. 

Achieved 110% of quota and increased server penetration in key accounts by +30%.

Corporate Account Manager

VP Marketing @ Accruent | Ex Microsoft & Dell | 5X Founder

A growth-focused executive with 20+ years of B2B and B2C experience.  I combine creative thinking with data-driven problem-solving to help organizations achieve breakthrough results.

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The Battle

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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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