Genway AI

Angel Investor and Advisor

Ari Zelmanow

I help businesses grow by getting in the minds of customers and buyers.

Product and Marketing Strategy Consultant | Consumer Psychologist

Nielsen Norman Group

Guest Instructor

Twilio

Product Strategy and UX Leadership

Gtmhub | For Missions that Matter

I lead analytics, research, and insights for Gtmhub. Our decision-focused team of market researchers, competitive intelligence, product researchers, UX researchers, data scientists, data engineers, and research operations personnel are disrupting the traditional way analytics, research, and insights teams operate.

Our mission is to reduce business risk at Gtmhub by accelerating the velocity of effective, rapid, evidence-based decisions. 

Through the democratization of data and insights, we empower everyone to make effective, risk-mitigated, evidence-based decisions. Our insights shape strategy, help the company focus on what matters most, and build products that deliver real value to our customers and our business.

Vice President of Analytics, Research, and Insights

Senior Director of Analytics, Research, and Insights

Indeed.com

UX Research Manager, Internal Platforms (INTUX)

Panasonic USA

Built, scaled, and led a team of cross-functional market researchers, competitive intelligence analysts, UX researchers, quantitative researchers, data scientists, and research operations managers.

Director of Analytics, Research, and Insights - Smart Mobility

Twitter

Independently developed and managed a domestic and international UX, product, market, and consumer research strategy for the DES organization using quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods approaches.

Conducted competitive intelligence analysis, including performing foundational pricing and packaging work that informed Twitter's data business strategy.

UX and Market Research Lead, Data and Enterprise Solutions

Altria

Consumer researcher and psychologist within the Center of Excellence responsible for consulting, advising, and subject matter expertise for the Altria family of companies on matters surrounding multicultural research, cross-category consumer research/insights, human behavior, customer/user experience, foresight and trends, advanced research methods, strategy, and activation.

Ultimately, I am responsible for amplifying the voice of the consumer and illuminating context to facilitate more informed and intelligent business decisions.

Manager and Qualitative SME, Consumer and Marketplace Insights

St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department

Police Officer and Detective

Helping Product and Marketing teams 10x the value of their research—with the tools and team they already have | Used by Twitter, Indeed, Twilio, Aflac + more

If you think you are indispensable in corporate America, you're dead wrong.

You are just a cog in a machine that would assassinate you in a second to goose up shareholder value.

The exact moment you believe you're irreplaceable is the exact moment you've already been replaced in their spreadsheets and succession plans.

But here's the brutal truth: you can fight back. 

You can declare your independence.

You can take control of your destiny by building a portfolio of micro-businesses so you are no longer a slave to The Man.

The Quiet Quitting movement—where workers do exactly what their job description requires— nothing more, nothing less—is passive resistance to a broken system. And it's not enough. 

You've gotta go a step beyond and take action by Loud Leaving. You've gotta break free of the shackles of corporate America.

Loud Leaving means methodically constructing alternative income streams, developing skills that transcend your current job description, and systematically detaching yourself from the illusion of corporate security (and it is an illusion).

You're not just leaving; you're building a fortress of financial independence that makes your current employer utterly irrelevant to your economic survival.

Your skills, your time, your potential: these are no longer negotiable commodities to be traded for a meager paycheck and false promises of advancement. This isn't rebellion for rebellion's sake; This is a calculated, ruthless optimization of your most valuable asset: yourself.

Don't sell yourself short for these corporate overlords who line their pockets with your blood, sweat, and tears; instead, realize your value so you can Loud Leave and create something of value for yourself.

Need help? DM me and I'll share my journey and plans as I Loud Leave the indentured servitude of corporate America and build something enduring and meaningful for me and my family.

Dr. Ari Zelmanow

I'm in a pickle.

I rented two mall kiosks over the holidays.

And neither of them is performing as well as we projected.

Customers are buying our products.
Customer feedback is positive.
Customers are repurchasing.

But the rent is f*cking ridiculous.
And the labor costs are a killer.
Our prices can't support this.

So I need to get out.
And to do that, I've gotta buy out the lease.

Hence, I'm in a pickle.

So I thought it only fitting to see if I couldn't promote my Dill Pickle Popcorn and see if I can't cover the loss through online sales.

My goal?

10k.

Click the link below to try the popcorn that has people coming back for more.

 And help me get out of this pickle.

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👋 My name is Ari.

I lost my tech job and found kettle corn. Now I make small-batch, craft, gourmet kettle corn to support my family.

You can order a bag (or three) online (see the comments below).

I lost my job—but found kettle corn | Building a portfolio of micro businesses to prove that you can lose your job and still feed your family

To get great reward, you must take risks. 

They need not be careless or stupid or reckless.

But calculated risks.

I’m doing that very thing with Laid Off Dad Kettle Corn. 

I opened a kiosk at Park Meadows Mall.

And today, I’m signing a lease to open up a location at Flatiron Crossing Mall.

Sure, it’s a risk.

But I believe in the product and the brand and customer feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.

If you’ve already ordered a bag for my website, we’re shipping them today and thank you so much for the support.

If you want to order a bag, I’m putting a link to the website in the comments below👇

Will this risk pay off? 

Well, it 100% wouldn’t if I didn’t take it.

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Yesterday was a big day.

Our kettle corn is SO GOOD it has made its way into a Division One NCAA program.

In addition to being sold at a few mall kiosks and online, it will now be sold at University of Colorado basketball and football games.

We created custom color variations and flavors for them (and can do the same for you).

I gotta be honest...

Some days I run this business.
And some days this business runs me.
But it's days like this that definitely keep me going.

And where I am today is nothing like I imagined.

• Earned two advanced degrees working full time.
• Clawed my way into corporate America.
• Led research teams at Twitter, Panasonic, Indeed, etc.
• Got laid off despite being objectively successful.
• Couldn't land a job to save my life.
• Started this business.
• And am grinding every. single. day.

Is every day good? No.
Is every day bad? No.

Would I choose this? I dunno.

But the reality is this isn't a choice between a full-time job and working for myself.

That's a false dichotomy.

This is a choice between doing nothing and being unemployed and at least making an attempt to do something.

Will it work? Who knows.

But maybe—just maybe—I'll be able to support my family doing it.

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👋 My name is Ari.

I lost my tech job and found kettle corn. Now I make small-batch, craft, gourmet kettle corn to support my family.

You can order a bag online (see the comments below).

It's so easy to get hung up on all the 💩 that goes wrong.

So I love to celebrate when something goes right.

It's not every day that a famous MMA fighter stops by, tries some of your kettle corn, grabs a few bags for him and his daughter, and then takes a photo in front of your stand. 

Drew Dober holds the record for most knockouts in the lightweight division (with ten). 

I hope to hold the record for best handcrafted, artisanal, small batch kettle corn on the planet.

Want to see what the buzz is about?

Link to give it a try in the comments below 👇

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👋 Hi, I’m Ari

I lost my job—but found kettle corn 🍿

Now I make small batch, artisanal, kettle corn.

Every bag is proof that you can lose your job and still feed your family.

Starting a new business?

Don't get too hung up on the bad days, and don't over celebrate the good days. 

The reality is starting a small business is hard, and you're gonna have really high mountains and really low valleys. 

On any given weekday, my stands don't even break even. 

But that's the ante that I have to pay to be able to be open on weekends. 

And this time of year, I'm also making a bet that Black Friday through the holidays we're going to do very well. 

And as word gets around that we're selling a high quality product, that we have great service, that our stand is amazing, we will have grown a durable and sustainable year-round business. 

And if you're thinking about ordering some of my delicious kettle corn, do that, also. 

The link is in the comments below 👇

Why'd he have to be so rude?

Spoiler: he didn't

One of my employees—Marquis—was working our kiosk in the mall.

And as people stopped and looked at the kiosk, he'd offer them a sample.

Some dude looked at him, so he asked if he'd like to try a free sample of our delicious kettle corn.

And the turd responded through clenched teeth, "go back to your place."

Now, for those who know my employee Marquis, you know he is one of the nicest people you could meet.

And this hurt his feelings a bit.
(and kindness costs you nothing)

So I think we need more kindness and happiness in the world.

How we do that at Laid Off Dad Kettle Corn is through our colorful, fun, tasty, Unicorn popcorn.

If you buy a few bags, you'll make Marquis happy.

And you'll also be making me happy by helping me dig out of a hole.

Link in the comments below 👇

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👋 My name is Ari.

I lost my tech job and found kettle corn. Now I make small-batch, craft, gourmet kettle corn to support my family.

I made a good decision with a bad outcome.

And I am wallowing in it a bit right now (it sucks).

I projected that one of my kiosks was going to perform way better than it is. 

I ran the numbers, looked at the traffic, visited the site, talked to other vendors—we did it right.

But despite the good decision, the outcome ended up being a different story—the kiosk is bleeding money.

I THOUGHT my business was going to be based on these kiosks.

But now I am left closing one of them at the end of this month—and taking a pretty big loss.

But what I FOUND from this was interesting.

It is that we are better served doing special orders, wholesale, DTC, and <maybe> keeping the other kiosk (we shall see at the end of the month).

Since making this pivot, we landed contracts at the University of Colorado, the Boulder JCC (which we delivered today—that's me with a few of the bags in the picture), and are in talks with others.

We are also making cool new flavors and combinations for sale online and for special order. 

The decision was good; the outcome was bad.

It sucks but it happens.

But you could take the edge off a bit and support us this holiday season.

Try our Hanukkah flavor.

It's called Judah and the Snackabee's.

You can grab a bag in in the comments below.

And support a laid off dad.

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👋 My name is Ari.

I lost my tech job and found kettle corn. Now I make small-batch, craft, gourmet kettle corn to support my family.

You can order a bag online (see the comments below).

I'm looking for a miracle.

And it isn't lost on me that the letters on a dreidel—the little top that is spun on Hanukkah—has the letters Nun, Gimel, Hey, and Shin.

It means "A great miracle happened there."

It refers to the miracle in the Holy Temple, where a single day's worth of oil miraculously lasted for eight days.

My miracle would be not being completely upside down before the holidays.

As many of you know, things went sideways for me at one of my kiosks.

I am bleeding money.

The rent for the kiosk was 7500 for December on a promise of TONS of traffic.

(yesterday, this stand made $67)

What sucks is that the problem isn't the product; it's the expenses and traffic. 

You have to sell A LOT of kettle corn to hit 7500 PLUS labor PLUS expenses. 

The traffic at the mall doesn't come close to that. 

So even the weekends, where it is busier... 
Even Black Friday, where it was crazy busy...
Even whatever... We are just slaves to the mall.

So in honor of needing a miracle, I bring you my Hanukkah kettle corn this year.

𝗝𝘂𝗱𝗮𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗻𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗮𝗯𝗲𝗲'𝘀.

Small‑batch Hanukkah magic in blue and white kettle corn, drizzled with sweet vanilla frosting. Bright, celebratory, and joyfully crunchy—eight nights might not be enough.

If you don't celebrate Hanukkah, no worries. Check out the site for other flavors. My XMAS flavor will drop next week—I am calling it North Pole.

Order from the link in the comments below.

And maybe, just maybe, this will be the miracle I need.

P.S. The outpouring of support here reminds me of my FAVORITE XMAS movie—It's a Wonderful Life. Thank you to everyone who is continuing to support me as I try and right the ship.

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👋 My name is Ari.

I lost my tech job and found kettle corn. Now I make small-batch, craft, gourmet kettle corn to support my family.

You can order a bag online (see the comments below).

My mall kiosks are definitely underperforming.

Yet they are still valuable.

My time as a researcher taught me the importance of REAL customer feedback.

And with these kiosks I get immediate customer feedback from my research and development efforts.

I can make a new product, put it in front of:

• Real customers
• Spending real money
• In real world conditions 
  
And find out if people will actually whip out a credit card and pay for my stuff.

I get to SEE what people value, not what they SAY they value. 

And this has tremendous value.

Kind of like my new caramel apple kettle corn. 

We launched it on Friday and already can’t keep up with demand.

Wanna see what the buzz is about and try a bag? Link in the comments below and I’ll ship it right to you (anywhere in the US).

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👋 My name is Ari.

I lost my tech job and found kettle corn. Now I make small-batch, craft, gourmet kettle corn to support my family.

You can order a bag online (see the comments below).

There are two types of customer feedback.

And one is exponentially more valuable.
(although both are important)

What customers say.
What customers do.

Here's how they work together.

We released a cheesy caramel in the spirit of Chicago's tradition. 

People started asking us for just caramel. 

That alone is a signal, but it's not enough. 

So we put together a little test and made just caramel, and put it out at our stands.  

It has rapidly become a best-seller.

So we listened to what customers said, and then tested it with:

• Real customers 
• Spending real money 
• In real world conditions

That is the best kind of feedback.  

It's not the feedback that has value; it's what you do with it.

And as a small business, you have the ability to act on that kind of feedback really fast.

Want your own bag of Just Caramel? Link in the comments below 👇

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👋 My name is Ari.

I lost my tech job and found kettle corn. Now I make small-batch, craft, gourmet kettle corn to support my family.

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