Matt Lerner

SYSTM

At SYSTM (formerly Startup Core Strengths), our mission is to help early-stage startups find their big growth levers (and pull them). We've noticed that great startups don't waste time on small stuff, so we  focus everyone on the most impactful work.

Founder & CEO

TransferGo

During my part-time interim role, our team more than doubled the YoY growth rate of acquisitions while lowering CPAs and improving retention and revenue per transaction. I also sourced their full-time VP Growth, and hired 4 other diverse and talented marketers to the team.

Interim VP of Growth

500 Startups

I led 500 Startups operations in London, investing in 35 seed-stage companies including Storemaven, SimplyCook, ZenJob, AirSorted, Popsa, Settled, Lexoo, Thriva, CharlieHR, HonestBrew, Fy and Second Nature. I also set up and ran the "Distro Dojo" growth marketing program for our portfolio companies in London and Berlin, which I was able to staff with a handful of the most extraordinary growth marketers in Europe.

Partner, London

PayPal

I led business-to-business marketing for PayPal UK, and oversaw the SMB/SME merchant business as a general manager.

Director, SMB

Created and lead PayPal’s first website marketing team, including conversion specialists, web analysts, developers, designers and writers. With a $3.5M budget, I oversee all business-facing areas of PayPal.com, driving over 85% of PayPal’s small business acquisition. The team boosted conversion (visitors to signups) in 2011 by 28%, generating an extra $67M over three years.

Director, On-Site Marketing

Built and managed a team of direct marketers who oversaw all marketing to PayPal’s existing small business customer base including activation, cross-sell and retention, generating $30M in incremental revenue.
+ Led pricing in North America.
+ Oversaw all marketing for the PayPal Debit Card, a $60M business, accelerating growth from 7% to 20% YoY in 12 months.
+ Deployed a propensity model targeting our most promising new customers with a high-touch “welcome” experience, boosting their value by 34% vs. control. The program generated an extra $11M in revenue in the first year and $55M over three years.

Group Manager, Merchant Engagement Marketing

Promoted within the same role, grew the team to 18. Developed processes & metrics around go-to-market. Oversaw the launch of many of PayPal’s most popular small business products.

Group Manager, Product Marketing

Built PayPal’s first outbound Product Marketing team. We oversaw all outbound B2B product marketing, launched a dozen major products and features.

Sr. Manager, Product Marketing

+ Originally hired to oversee developer marketing
+ Managed partner marketing through our shopping cart partners including GoDaddy and Yahoo!
+ Ran PayPal’s first consumer engagement campaigns
+ Launched Website Payments Pro, which currently generates over $100M revenue/year.

Marketing Manager

Macromedia

Brought Fireworks MX 2004 to market. The launch exceeded sales forecast by 20%. Planned subsequent release including researching and writing the MRD.

Product Manager

Visited 36 countries, wrote a book, climbed two 18,000 ft. Himalayan peaks, dove some of the world's best reefs, and learned to "think globally."

International Traveller

+ Led the successful development and launch of two products and discontinued a third product without alienating valuable customers.
+ Led demand generation among designers and developers for four of Macromedia’s largest launches including the flagship Dreamweaver product. Sales consistently beat forecasts. Tactics included print advertising, online media, direct mail (Harte Hanks) and email (Digital Impact) campaigns.

Product & Marketing Manager

Elemental Software

Poppe Tyson

Led B2B online marketing programs for clients including Novell Inc., Edward Jones Inc. and IDG.

Assistant Account Executive

Startup growth strategist, Ex PayPal, 500 Startups VC, Founder @ SYSTM

I founded SYSTM to help startups find their big growth levers - the small actions that can have the biggest impact on their growth. We’ve worked with over 200 companies and earned a 96% founder “likely to recommend” score.

Before founding SYSTM, I was the London-based Partner of 500 Startups, an early-stage VC fund, where I built and ran an accelerator seed-stage growth program for our portfolio companies.

Prior to joining 500 Startups, I worked for many years building and managing growth teams for three  startups (two disasters, one exit), and later at PayPal. 

I approach my work first as a general manager and then as a marketer, product manager or both, as needed. My lens is quantitative, but rooted in deep customer insights and testing, and based on fast iteration. I’m always learning, and I really enjoy teaching and helping those around me to learn and improve. Skip to the references below, you'll see that I'm regarded as a thought leader in many areas of business, and an inspiring people manager who reliably delivers ahead of expectations.

Mike Malloy

Malloy Industries

Malloy Industries creates more time and freedom for you by giving you immediate access to top-tier fractional executive talent. We are a network of 365+ relentlessly generous experts who can start leading a department in days, not months, at a fraction of the cost of a full-time executive.

Founder, CEO, and Trusted Advisor

Georgetown University

Prof Malloy teaches UNXD 4950, 7950, and 7951 (Graduate) Startup Internship Seminar + Graduate Internship and Professional Development courses. Each course teaches real-world skills and encourages whole-person learning through our holistic pedagogy combining formal, experiential, and developmental learning. Students set professional SMART goals at the start of their internship. They complete weekly asynchronous training modules and skills workshops to build core professional skills such as cross-cultural communication, working remotely, networking, emotional intelligence, sales, presentations, navigating bureaucracy, and more. Students share bi-weekly reflection papers to combine their academic studies and internship experience, and to facilitate cross-discipline learning with their classmates from diverse programs. Students design an Individual Career Development Plan to direct their career trajectory after completing the graduate program.

Previously, Prof Malloy taught INAF 283 Social Entrepreneurship for undergraduate students. Through individual assignments, group exercises, guest speakers, discussions, and experiential learning activities, students developed the skills to create businesses that achieve the double bottom line of both profitability and social benefit. Topics covered include the lean startup methodology, business model canvas, customer discovery, sales, marketing, and how to pitch. Experts in the field and successful social entrepreneurs shared successes and lessons learned from failures in panel discussions. 

Students develop an entrepreneurial mindset as students think through the various stages of building a business from ideation to experimentation to optimization. Students formed teams to create new business ideas that incorporated Jesuit values into the DNA. Students learned the importance of “mo margin, mo mission,” because social enterprises require sustainable business models to generate revenue to increase their positive social impact.

Adjunct Professor

The Entrepreneur-in-Residence program is designed to connect Georgetown's campus with the real world of entrepreneurship. 

- Mentor 50+ Georgetown student entrepreneurs
- Moderate discussions between students and Entrepreneurs-in-Residence at weekly Chalk Talks
- Connect students with resources and leaders in the Georgetown, DC, and global entrepreneurial community
- Conduct How to Pitch 101 training for student entrepreneurs to prepare for Startup Hoyas Pitch Competition
- Judge student pitch competitions
- Provide individualized feedback to dozens of student entrepreneurs before and after pitching
- Moderate panel discussions with Halcyon Fellows for various Georgetown classes and student groups
- Guest lecture in a variety of undergrad and MBA courses
- Delivered keynote presentation at Rocket Pitch in 2016
- Launched Yellow House Program for residential student entrepreneur community in 2017
- Serve as Georgetown Summer Launch Mentor for 4 years

Mike also coaches the Georgetown Men's Ultimate Frisbee club team, which qualified for USA Ultimate College National Championships for the first time in 2018.

Entrepreneur-in-Residence

Mindshare Inc.

Mindshare is an exclusive, invitation-only network of CEOs from the most promising emerging and high-growth technology companies in the Washington, DC region. Over 1,100+ CEOs of highly innovative and dynamic technology companies have joined forces through the Mindshare Alumni Network to drive further growth of individuals and companies by establishing a vibrant community that develops long-term trusted business and personal relationships. Mindshare builds a strong peer-to-peer network of CEOs that fosters collaboration and entrepreneurship to nurture high-growth technology companies. Mindshare also increases awareness of our region as a technology innovation hotbed to attract investment capital, develop entrepreneurial talent, and share valuable resources. Mike graduated from Mindshare in 2015 while serving as CEO of Waveborn and now serves on the alumni board.

Alumni Board Member

Halcyon

The Halcyon Incubator equips early-stage social entrepreneurs with the support they need to transform audacious ideas into scalable and sustainable ventures and change the world. 

- Supported Halcyon Incubator ventures in raising $145M+, creating 1,800+ jobs, and positively impacting 2,500,000+ lives
- Nurtured and advised social entrepreneurs throughout each stage of their professional and personal development
- Developed and implemented strategies to build a loyal alumni network by providing strategic ongoing guidance for post-residency Fellows and their ventures
- Cultivated and stewarded relationships with corporate partners and donors to increase stakeholder engagement and funding support for the Halcyon Incubator
- Represented the Halcyon Incubator to local, national, and international ecosystem stakeholders, partners, and potential investors

Program Director

- Engineered application process for 5 cohorts with 40% YoY applicant growth from 167 to 427 global applicants
- Orchestrated day-to-day operations at social entrepreneur incubator 
- Served as community liaison of Halcyon to the broader Washington, DC entrepreneurial ecosystem
- Built relationships with 80+ Fellows from 8 cohorts to identify ways to add value to early-stage social ventures
- Planed, prepared, and executed Halcyon Incubator 5-month program plan
- Wrote core methodology documentation for Halcyon Incubator Program
- Leveraged existing Deloitte, Georgetown, and DC entrepreneurial ecosystem relationships to elevate those around me
- Conducted intake interviews, check-ins, and post-residency surveys to analyze responses for program improvements
- Recruited, interviewed, hired, onboarded, trained, and managed a diverse team of interns
- Strengthened tactical networking skills at 1+ event each week to acquire 3+ new business cards
- Created content and delivered weekly Friday evening Halcyon Happenings newsletter to 100+ Fellows and staff

Program Manager

- Executed 5-hour international Zoom meetings for Pitch Day with 20+ participants
- Secured guest speakers on topics including Media Training, Customer Discovery, How to Build Your Team, Sales, Funding for Social Ventures, How to Build a Tech Company, and Successful Entrepreneurs’ Journeys
- Created content for Entrepreneurial Mindset 90-minute presentation to Fellows
- Received bi-weekly leadership coaching for personal development
- Represented Halcyon Incubator at networking events and SXSW to recruit social entrepreneur applicants
- Facilitated 3-5 weekly introductions between entrepreneurs and advisors
- Developed 30-minute tour guide presentation to give to Halcyon guests while touring 30,000 sq. ft. mansion
- Performed choregraphed dance to Queen medley at Halcyon Awards Gala

Program Coordinator

Waveborn

Waveborn changed how people see the world by selling high-quality Italian sunglasses and funding life-changing cataract surgeries around the globe.

- Led company operations and served as linchpin for global supply chain logistics
- Directed successful crowdfunding campaign to raise $10,000 in < 36 hours on April 23, 2013
- Pitched to family, friends, and angel investors at MAVA TechBUZZ, Tech.Co Celebrate Conference, K St Capital, UMD Angels, Maryland Venture Fund, Funding Post events in NYC and TX, and SXSW
- Raised $500K+ from angel investors and friends to fund multiple growth stages for the business from 2012-2016
- Provided quarterly and annual updates to investors
- Forecasted cash flow and income statement projections
- Proposed, negotiated, and executed spokesperson deal with Super Bowl MVP
- Developed press features with American Airlines, Men’s Health, Washington Post, Tech.Co, Bisnow, and FOX
- Recruited, interviewed, trained, and managed 50+ seasonal team members
- Managed weekly sales team meetings with sales reps in 5+ different markets
- Implemented multiple iterations of project management systems with Asana, Podio, Google Docs, and email
- Leveraged RACI (Responsible | Accountable | Consulted | Informed) project management hierarchy for all tasks
- Addressed crisis communication to customer email list after hacker attack in January 2015
- Communicated transparently and honestly with investors about the decision to close the business in 2016

- Gained expertise in buying, selling, and shipping physical products to distributors, retailers, sales reps, and customers
- Negotiated sales presentations at Vision Expo West, Surf Expo, Action Expo, and PGA Golf trade shows
- Created strategic partnerships with retailers, surf shops, eye doctors, sales reps, and other distribution channel partners
- Implemented multiple iterations of CRM systems and sales pipelines with Contactually and Google Docs
- Curated social media presence with 2,479 Facebook likes, 1,618 Instagram followers, and 1,316 Twitter followers
- Gained extensive experience with SEO, web design, email newsletters, and online marketing best practices
- Authored my first book, Becoming So Good They Can’t Ignore You, which highlights my first 4.5 years of professional experience and teaches you how to find work you love by adopting the Craftsman Mindset

Director of Business Development

Enstitute

Enstitute is a non-profit that places talented Millennials in full-time paid Apprenticeships where they learn by doing at the fasting growing companies. We work together to build a community for the Apprentices, attend monthly board meetings, provide mentorship and connections, and grow the entire program in DC.

Board Member

PunchRock

- Created co-working space and collaborative community for social entrepreneurs in Adams Morgan neighborhood
- Managed relationships with 20+ entrepreneurs, freelancers, and non-profit members
- Planned, communicated, and implemented event programming for members and guests
- Arrived early to open the office and stayed late to close the office after the last member left
- Mentored aspiring social entrepreneurs and helped set short-term and long-term goals
- Fostered a culture of “give before you get” to encourage members to play nice in the sandbox and help one another

Partner

Deloitte Consulting

- Provided data extraction and migration efforts at failed bank sites for large federal insurance agency
- Coordinated data load, quality assurance checks, and independent testing activities for failed bank data
- Produced in-depth weekly status reports and distributed to project leadership
- Onboarded and trained 30+ new team members
- Served as site lead for several volunteer events at the VA hospital
- Led on-campus recruiting events at the University of Maryland, Johns Hopkins University, and Boston College
- Provided guidance and support to more than ten formal and informal buddies/mentees within the firm

Senior Consultant

Buying CEOs more time by giving their undesirable hats to trusted fractional executives

I started at the #1 place to launch your career in 2008, Deloitte, which helped me earn my M.S. in computer science and play ultimate frisbee at Georgetown. I took the atypical career path to become a traveling sunglasses salesman and social enterprise CEO at Waveborn Sunglasses. After 5 years, lots of lessons learned, and $500,000+ raised from 27 investors, I filed for business and personal bankruptcy.

I bounced back as the Program Director for 5 years at the Halcyon Incubator advising, coaching, and making connections for the next generation of social enterprise CEOs. Then, during a small global pandemic you may have heard about, I migrated to the beach in DE with my wife. We added a Chief Cuteness Office to our team and have no plans to leave the beach.

4 companies that I advised pitched on Shark Tank. 3 got a deal. The 4th is worth more than $500M.

Full-time employees are not the solution anymore. You make smarter investments by contracting 100% of an expert’s skill set for the time you need, NOT recruiting, interviewing, hiring, and paying a full-time salary with benefits. That's why we built Malloy Industries with 200+ fractional executives to help B2B SaaS CEOs scale their business from $2M to $20M. Our 75+ clients have collaborated with vetted fractional executives to achieve business objectives, reach investor milestones, and save their only non-renewable resource: TIME.

I serve as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence and Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University, where I received the 2022 Outstanding Entrepreneurship Faculty Award for leading the Georgetown Startup Interns (GSI) program and teaching undergrad and grad students how to not suck as interns. I have 100+ students looking for internships year-round...

I love dad jokes and tell at least one joke in every meeting because our core values are to be enthusiastically fun, relentlessly generous, vulnerable trustworthy, independently productive, and flexibly learning. I started a daily dad joke email newsletter, so let me know if you share my sense of corny dad joke humor :)

If you need help saving time and growing your business, email me at mike@malloyindustries.com.

Vice President

Malloy Industries Consulting Group is your trusted team to scale. Malloy Industries Consulting Group connects growth-stage companies with vetted, trustworthy independent contractors and service providers to achieve business objectives, reach investor milestones, and regain valuable time.

You don't have time to recruit, interview, vet, hire, onboard, and train full-time employees.

Malloy Industries Consulting Group provides fractional executives in each business function, offering 5-20 hours/week with trusted consultants in marketing, sales, HR, fundraising, strategy, operations, technology, finance, and coaching. You get the help and expertise you need to build remote teams and regain time while scaling your business. 

Find the help you need at https://linktr.ee/malloyindustries

As you gather with family and friends, I want you to know how grateful I am to have you as a part of my network. 

In our fast-paced society, we hardly ever slow down to tell people how much they are appreciated.

On this day of gratitude, I want you all to know, I am honored to be connected to you.

I hope your day is filled with laughs, fun, and of course, good food.

Mike Malloy 😎

Gives relentlessly generous fractional executives to CEOs leading growth-stage companies

Operations is becoming the hottest role in the fractional world right now.

And the surge is real.

We have seen a big jump in founders asking for Fractional Operations Managers. 

❗Not someday. Not eventually. Right now!

Teams are saying things like:

🗣️ “We are growing, but the back end is falling apart.”

🗣️ “We need someone who can put real systems in place.”

🗣️ “We cannot scale without operational leadership.”

💪 Strong operators are in demand because they create clarity and reduce chaos. 

They turn scattered teams into aligned teams. They help founders breathe again.

Scaling businesses are realizing they need expert operational oversight, but the traditional full-time C-suite hire doesn't always fit their current stage or budget. 

They need someone who can streamline processes, optimize workflows, and build systems that actually work without waiting months through a lengthy hiring process.

A skilled Fractional Operations Manager brings executive-level expertise with the flexibility growing companies need. 

They can assess your operations, implement proven frameworks, and create sustainable systems. 

↕️ Then scale their involvement up or down as your business evolves.

🔗 Are you an operations manager looking for a change in pace or looking to make an impact by keeping companies from falling apart? If this is you, becoming a Fractional Operations Manager may be for you. Click the link in the comments to apply.

🏷️ Tag someone in your network who would excel as a Fractional Operations Manager. They might not even realize this opportunity exists.

♻️ There might be someone with strong operational experience who's looking to leverage their expertise across multiple companies, so please share this post to your network.

Know an amazing Fractional CFO? We want to meet them.

Malloy Industries is seeing a big uptick in requests for Fractional CFOs from growth-stage B2B CEOs ($1M–$50M in revenue), and we’re expanding our vetted executive network.

We’re looking for experienced CFOs who:
✅ Have led finance for B2B companies (SaaS, services, or tech-enabled)
✅ Are comfortable owning cash flow, forecasting, and board-ready reporting
✅ Can build scalable finance systems, not just close the books
✅ Enjoy working 10–20 hours/week across 1–3 clients instead of one full-time role

If someone comes to mind:
👉 Tag them in the comments so we can connect.
👉 Or share this post with your network.

If YOU are a Fractional CFO (or want to be):
🔗 Check the link in the comments to apply to join the Malloy Industries executive network.

We’ve helped 100+ companies scale with vetted fractional executives, and demand for great CFOs is always high.

Our fractional executives are so good that clients refuse to let them stay fractional. 

That’s what happened with Bayto Pools.

They brought in a fractional sales leader from the Malloy Industries network because their pipeline wasn’t where it needed to be. 

🧱They had the product. They had the vision. But they needed help building momentum.

🗓️Over just two months, their sales pipeline started to grow. 

📈Conversations increased. Opportunities moved. They finally had a leader owning sales.

And then Bayto Pools made a decision: They hired that fractional executive full-time.

❌Not because everything was perfect yet.

❌Not because revenue had already exploded.

✅But because they saw enough progress, leadership, and potential to say: “We want you on our team permanently.”

🥳We celebrate that.

Because our goal isn’t to “keep” fractional executives forever. 

🎯Our goal is to create the right matches that are so good that sometimes the best outcome is a full-time offer.

🦸Bayto Pools is the hero of this story. 

They invested early, trusted the process, and backed their conviction by bringing that leader in-house.

👥We were the matchmaker.

🌉If you’re not ready for a full-time hire, but you know you need senior leadership now, a fractional executive can be the bridge.

🏠Sometimes that bridge becomes the long-term home.

💬Have you ever had an opportunity that went from fractional to full-time or even as a contract employee to a full-time employee? Tell us your story in the comments.

🔭If you want to explore what that could look like for your company, schedule a discovery call with us (link in comments).

#FractionalExecutive #Leadership #Scaling #B2B #SalesLeadership

You're a fractional executive. You know the value you bring. But finding the right fit? That's the hard part.

What if you didn't have to search alone?

Here at Malloy Industries, we’re building a community of vetted fractional COOs, CFOs, CMOs, and Sales and Operations leaders who are growing companies and their own impact.

Join us for our Exploring Collaborations Roundtable on Wednesday, December 4, at 4 pm ET.

It's not a sales pitch. It's real conversations with founders and leaders navigating the same challenges you are. 

This isn't a sales pitch. 

It's real conversations with founders and leaders navigating the same chaos you are. 

Strategic partnerships happen here. 

Referrals flow naturally. 

And you'll walk away with insights that actually move the needle.

Whether you're between engagements, exploring new opportunities, or just want to stay sharp with peers who understand fractional work, this is your space.

We're actively building our network of fractional COOs, CFOs, CMOs, and Operations leaders.

If you're ready to help companies scale (and your own impact), let's talk.

Join our next Exploring Collaborations Roundtable (link in comments).

Let us know in the comments if you have any questions about being a fractional executive.

#FractionalExecutive #Leadership #Scaling #B2B

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Matt Lerner

Mike Malloy

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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);}Mike Malloy's LinkedIn Performance

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