HI, I'M JONATHAN
I'm a Fractional CMO and Startup Consultant based in NYC.
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For over 15 years, I've helped early-stage and growth-stage companies achieve traction through sharp strategy, creative storytelling, and go-to-market innovation.
I've launched products that clients & consumers love, helped raise millions in venture funding, exited, and won awards from SXSW, CES, and Time Magazine along the way. I'm a Techstars & HAX/SoSv alum, mentor, and a regular speaker & author on mission-driven employee benefits. And, to keep things grounded, I've crashed and burned too—but that also means I know the traps to avoid and how to move faster toward what works.
Here is a bit of my story...
7/Annum Housing
Redefining Affordable Housing as an Employee Benefit
(Housing, Economic Development, Employee Benefits)
In 2024, I joined Annum as CMO to help redefine access to affordable housing. While the product was fully formed, the company’s route to market relied on one-off client hunting—a model that couldn’t scale to meet the urgency of the housing crisis. My mandate: simplify the story, build a repeatable go-to-market engine, and position Annum as a category-defining solution.
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The Challenge
As housing costs soar, hard-working people—nurses, teachers, firefighters, transit workers—who form the backbone of local economies are being priced out of the neighborhoods they serve every day. Employers struggle to recruit new talent, and the local economy suffers. Annum needed a way to bridge these interests, moving beyond one-off client sales to a model that could scale by geography.
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The Solution
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Pivot to Geography-Based GTM: Reframed distribution around local economies instead of industries, partnering with Community-Based Organizations like Economic Development Districts to represent residents, employers, and businesses collectively.
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Position Housing as a Strategic Asset: Shift the conversation around housing from challenge to catalyst for growth—a magnet to recruit talent and a differentiator for local economies.
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Innovate in Distribution: Create a repeatable campaign that evangelizes economic development districts and community-based organizations in each location.
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Build for Scale on Lean Resources: Created CRMs, outreach playbooks, communications strategies, and multi-channel campaigns end-to-end, leveraging contractors where needed while driving all strategy and execution.
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Drive Utilization through Champions: Developed playbooks and internal communications strategies that activated managers, unions, ERGs, and community groups to ensure adoption at the employee level.
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Key Results
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Watch this space!
6/Empowerly for Employers
From B2C Product to Scalable Employee Benefit
(EdTech, SaaS, Employee Benefits)
In 2023, I joined Empowerly as a fractional Head of Growth to lead their expansion from a direct-to-consumer college counseling platform into the B2B employee benefit space. Starting with no B2B infrastructure, I developed end-to-end strategy and launched a new product to address employer needs while supporting working families.
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The Challenge
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Empowerly had an established consumer product but no presence in the employee benefits market.
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The value proposition, messaging, distribution, and product offering needed to transform to meet the needs of employers vs. individual families.
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The Solution
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Build a Foundation of Data: Published research highlighting impact of college counseling on key pain points for employers
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Reposition the Product: Frame our services as a way to retain talent, boost productivity, enhance financial wellness, increase engagement for families AND employees.
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Build Tiered Offerings: Designed scalable programs from webinars to personalized counseling, fitting diverse employer budgets.
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Created Systems for Growth: Developed a new distribution strategy, sales pipeline, CRM, and all tactical elements for multi-channel marketing.
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Key Results
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Launched a fully operational B2B division with early client wins and scalable systems in under 12 months.
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Positioned Empowerly as a leader in employee benefits, gaining recognition and market traction.
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Set the foundation for sustained growth and adoption with measurable employee engagement metrics.
5/myKLOVR
Pioneering AI for Growth & Impact
(EdTech, AI, Employee Benefits)
​In 2021, the COVID-driven shift to remote learning fast-tracked EdTech growth by decades, while the 'Great Resignation' disrupted the $85B employee benefits industry. Employers scrambled to attract and retain talent in this new landscape.
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The Challenge
Long before AI became mainstream with tools like ChatGPT, myKlovr was an early pioneer, using AI to power virtual college and career counseling. Despite this innovation, the company struggled to gain traction. They needed a clear strategy to stand out and deliver meaningful impact for employers, brokers, and families.​
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The Solution
Recognizing the potential of their tech and opportunity in employee benefits space, ​I joined myKlovr as CMO. I positioned myself as an early thought leader in leveraging AI for workplace solutions and developed a strategy to expand myKlovr’s influence: My approach included:
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Leveraging AI Innovation: Highlighted myKlovr's unique AI capabilities to solve critical challenges for families and employers in the workplace.
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Develop Strategic Distribution: Partnered with national consultants and broker networks to expand reach and secure enterprise clients.
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Reposition the Product: Reframed our product, positioning, and pricing to meet the needs of employers
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Build Scalable Sales Operations: Built lean yet robust systems to support long-term growth.
Key Results
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Positioned myKlovr as a first-mover in AI-powered employee benefits, securing partnerships with major clients like CVS Health/Aetna.
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Achieved validation as TIME magazine 'Best Invention of 2022' and EdTech digest '2023 Trendsetter' awards.
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Pioneered early national conversations around AI technology in education and the workplace with Forbes comparing our tech to Amazon and Netflix.
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By recognizing and leveraging AI's potential early on, I positioned myKlovr as a leader in the benefits space. While its pioneering AI work was eventually eclipsed by tech giants, my efforts laid the groundwork for my next chapter. Partnering with Empowerly to land CVS solidified my role as a fractional growth leader, specializing in scaling innovative solutions and tackling early-stage challenges.
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4/LYNQ TECHNOLOGIES
Build your own wireless network - infrastructure-free
(Hardware, Tech, IoT, Outdoor Industry)
On my journey, I’ve been met with opportunities to create impact in ways I’d never imagine. In October 2015 I joined a team of friends and mentors to become a Co-Founder of Lynq Technologies, a company whose technology extends the edge of connectivity and communication. Lynq gave me first-hand experience building a venture-backed brand from the ground up.
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I eagerly became the inaugural director of e-commerce, leading all aspects of our consumer-facing brand for our award-winning outdoor electronics device: the Lynq Compass. My team and I brought the Lynq Compass from concept to become one of the most successful Indiegogo campaigns of all time, raising $1.7M in 60 days and 1500% of our goal. With a strong transition from crowdfunding to e-comm, Compass was named 2018 Time Magazine Invention of the Year, received Innovation Awards at CES, SXSW and Outdoor Retailer shows and developed into a fully-integrated consumer brand.
The traction of Compass established Lynq Technologies as a market leader and spring-boarded the growth of our company from consumer product into integration, military, and deep tech. Given this pivot, I exited on great terms and spent a few weeks surfing before joining my next company!
3/VERDAY CHLOROPHYLL WATER
The Worlds First Zero Calorie Green Drink
(CPG, Natural Products, Wellness)
I was approached with the idea to develop the Worlds First Chlorophyll Water based on my previous success in the beverage space. Becoming a co-founder of Verday Chlorophyll Water gave me my first opportunity to build a brand and develop a line of CPG products from scratch. I jumped at the opportunity.
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Taking on the role of CMO, my team and I grew Verday from a hip favorite at SoHo yoga studios to national distribution in the natural channel, grocery, and foodservice (including Whole Foods, Wegmans, Sprouts, Giant Eagle, college campuses, gyms, and thousands of independent retailers nationwide) We developed a robust e-comm channel landing 4 SKUs in the Amazon "Top 100 Grocery: Flavored Water" category and building sales on our own site. It was a fast moving hybrid position that kept me on my toes!
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Verday provided me valuable experience ​educating consumers about a new category of product, capturing moments of delight, and building compelling stories that established our brand as a leading voice in the conversation around healthy benefits of chlorophyll and plant based nutrition.
2/MERCY
Have Mercy Not a Hangover
(CPG, Beverage, Nutraceuticals, Bar & Nightlife)
In 2011, I was burned out from my previous career in law and took a leap of faith. I wanted to build a career in marketing but needed more experience. So I tracked down a friend who knew the CEO of Mercy, a hip beverage company that I had seen at events around the city, and offered to work as an intern for 90 days to learn the ropes.
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The position proved to be a rocket ride. I grew from intern to manager to eventually leading the department -- overseeing growth of our product line into highly-profitable nutraceuticals, clinical testing of our healthy benefits and expansion of Mercy from a niche in NYC Nightlife to an national lifestyle brand.
1/NYC
Since arriving to my first loft in 'East Williamsburg' in early 2003, New York City has given me space to grow as an entrepreneur, helped me see myself as more of a creative, and pushed me to grow as an individual. With every street explored and every challenge tackled, I became more of who I was meant to be.
