Draper University

Focused on global business development and partnerships for leading Silicon Valley Venture Network, Founder Residency and Accelerator.

Led major deals to accelerate global entrepreneurship and ecosystem growth for partners ranging from governments to leading blockchains including Jetro Japan, Cyberport Hong Kong, Stellar Development Foundation, and the Cardano Foundation.

VP - Ecosystem Growth

DraperU is a leading pre-accelerator located in Silicon Valley founded by Venture Capitalist Tim Draper. Their entrepreneurship programs have gathered 2100 entrepreneurs from 101 different countries with  US$900m raised in venture capital.

Led major crypto program deals: Algorand, VeChain, NEO, CEEK, etc

Head of Business Development and Partnerships - APAC

Bevy

Helping brands build, grow, and scale their communities. Clients include Slack, Twitch, Atlassian, Asana, Webflow, etc

Investor

LawAdvisor Ventures

Helping leading Legal-tech platform LawAdvisor connect to Startups.
Raised US$5M Million Seed from backers, including Google Maps founder Lars Rasmussen, ex-Barclays Ventures CEO Ben Davey, former Orrick chairman and CEO Ralph Baxter, Microsoft general manager and associate general counsel Jason Barnwell, etc

Investor & Startup Ambassador

SOSV MOX (Mobile Only Accelerator)

Mentor

Startup Grind

Global startup community: 4 million startups in 600 cities and 125 countries worldwide.

Proudly interviewing and sharing the stories of global game changers, from Unicorn founders to Nobel Prize Winners.

Global Podcast Host

Connecting the World's Best Startups with Silicon Valley, Our Global Network, and Partners.

Startup Grind (powered by Google for Entrepreneurs) inspires, educates, and connects 3,500,000+ entrepreneurs, in 600 cities in 125 countries around the world. Local partners include: ASX, Deloitte Private, Salesforce, IBM, MYOB, Zendesk, Airwallex and NAB.

APAC Director

The aim of Startup Grind Australia is to both showcase the best of local startups and help support the progression of online business, in addition to amplifying our voice within the international community.

Startup Grind is an event series and media company designed to help educate, inspire, and connect local entrepreneurs.

Established local and national partnerships with the ASX, NAB, Deloitte, MYOB, Zendesk, 99designs, Holding Redlich, inVision, Xero, Salesforce, and Vinomofo.

General Manager - Australia/New Zealand

DreamPushers

On a mission to build the #1 Crypto Creator Community and Lifestyle Brand™

Founder

Startupbootcamp

Corporate Innovation, Growth Hacking and Program Management for global leading industry-focused
accelerator.
Lead venture builder for the 雀巢 Nestle Accelerator (Beijing, China) - Commercialising
patented technology in personalized nutrition. Venture building and growth hacking for Mars and Asahi.

Managed and trained 5 cohorts of growth hackers redesigning curriculum with the latest in
digital marketing and ethical growth hacking.

Program Director / Venture Builder

Draper Startup House

The Hotels for Entrepreneurs. On a mission is to enable ONE MILLION entrepreneurs by 2030. 
Part of the Global Draper Venture Network and Ecosystem.

Head Of Marketing (International)

Collective Campus

Connecting Melbourne's leading startups with local and global resources. Collective Campus is Melbourne's Leading Enterprise Innovation Hub. It is focused on running corporate accelerator programs for Mills Oakley (LawTech), Village Roadshow (VR/ AR), and Charter Hall (Proptech) and Lemonade Stand - A fun business & entrepreneurship program for kids (Australia & Singapore)

Entrepreneur In Residence

Forbes

Covering startups and entrepreneurship in Australia and New Zealand for Forbes.

Contributing Writer

VP - Ecosystem Growth @ Draper University

With over 11 years of experience in the startup and venture capital space, I am a passionate and proactive leader who helps brands build, grow, and scale their communities, products, and impact. As the VP of Ecosystem Growth at Draper University, I focus on global business development and partnerships for the leading Silicon Valley Venture Network and Pre-Accelerator, connecting entrepreneurs, investors, corporates, and governments across the world.

I am also an active investor and mentor, supporting startups in various domains and stages, such as Bevy, LawAdvisor, SOSV MOX, and Startup Grind. I have a strong track record of building partnerships, launching programs, and growing ecosystems. I leverage my expertise in marketing, innovation, and blockchain to empower and inspire the next generation of changemakers and disruptors. My mission is to push the boundaries of what is possible and create value for society.

Chris Joannou 💎

Coaching Youth Hoops

Founded by Steve Collins (3x State Basketball Champion) and Bill Flitter (17-year coaching veteran), Coaching Youth Hoops has transformed into a leading digital media powerhouse in the youth sports space:

Highlights:

• Drove 200% YOY revenue growth through strategic content.
• Boosted new customer acquisition by 126% via targeted digital marketing and audience segmentation.
• Expanded newsletter subscriber base by 275% with optimized conversion funnels.
• Achieved a 1,500% increase in YOY sponsorship revenue by developing innovative partnership packages and demonstrating continued audience engagement.
• Maintained Top 10 ranking for weekly podcasts by delivering expert insights and compelling storytelling.
• Built multi-platform content ecosystem generating 2M+ impressions through exclusive, behind-the-scenes programming.
• Established a unique media position by capturing on-court moments that resonate with coaches and parents.

Founder, VP of Marketing & Podcast Host

LevelUpBasketball.Training

Our ultimate goal is to witness the continuous rise of women in sports, and at Level Up, we aim to provide a platform where girls are not only inspired to unlock their athletic potential but also encouraged to pursue their dreams and passions through basketball.

→ 3rd through high school girls-only basketball teams guided by innovative "RED DOT" approach developing mental toughness and resilience
→ Immersive girls-only summer camps fostering confidence through smaller class sizes for personalized coaching
→ Pioneered the 3v3 Basketball League for girls in 2017, creating competitive opportunities for middle school players
→ Founded the NorCal Summer Basketball League, a premier platform for high school girls

Founder and Coach

dlvr.it

I am charged with developing the marketing strategy and revenue-related activities for dlvr.it's growth, advising the team on best practices, supporting key team members, and bringing in outside talent as needed. dlvr.it is the industry leader in social media marketing, and I'm thrilled to be able to support its growth with marketing that doesn't rely on Google!

Senior Director of Marketing

Growth Tools

The core areas of responsibility included leading the marketing team, and creating the marketing strategy and operations. My number one goal was the number of sales calls booked per week.

Highlights:

• Beat new customer growth by 17%.
• Reinvigorated overall email marketing strategy. Responsible for email campaign production, campaign creation, targeting and segmentation, email template design, and deployment.
• Define and lead email marketing strategy and planning, including user journeys, campaign briefs, creative needs and requests, and content/campaign calendars.
• Successfully raised pricing by 20% and developed a strategy for new pricing and packaging.
• Overhauled growth marketing initiatives: SEO/email/paid social, developed a new attribution model, and built conversion rate optimization initiatives. Quickly increased conversion rate by 11%.
• Energized customer marketing programs including marketing automation (Hubspot), churn, cross-sell/upsell initiatives.
• Raised landing page conversion by 50% YoY through A/B and multivariable testing and by driving efforts to create unique user experiences for mobile, desktop, and tablet platforms.
• Drove incremental revenue through the creation of flash sales and segmentation of customer base.

Skills: 
 
Management
A/B Testing
Programmatic Buying
Email Marketing
Content Marketing
Content Development
Cross-functional Team Leadership
SEM
SEO
Paid Advertising
New Product and Service Launches
Audience Development 
Email Service Provider platforms 
Lifecycle Marketing
Retention
Sales
HTML/CSS/content design
Web Analytics
Microsoft Office Suite

Director of Marketing

Saint Mary's College of California

The ultimate goal is to increase the number of prospective students to the Graduate Business programs. Responsible for setting the School's overall marketing strategy

Highlights:

• Decreased cost-per-lead by 50% in 12 months.
• Increased total applications by 25% which resulted in boosting the total number of deposited students by 20% - while competing colleges were seeing declines.
• Grew organic search traffic by 90% in 12 months. 
• Boosted total indexed keywords by 118% and page one presence by 153% in 12 months.
• Increased traffic from social media by 110% in 12 months. 
• Implemented new lead generation program that allowed prospects 24/7/365 access to on-demand information sessions. 
• Developed and executed lead nurturing, and email marketing programs that increased engagement across key metrics by 600%
• Defined and tracked KPIs for all online marketing campaigns.
• Closed the largest deal for an executive education client which resulted in new revenue for the college.

Skills: 
 
Management/Leadership
A/B Testing
Business Development
Content Marketing
Copywriting
Marketing Communications
Cross-functional Team Leadership
SEO
Paid Advertising
New Product and Service Launches
Audience Development 
Channel Marketing
Lifecycle Marketing
Retention
Sales
Marketing
Branding
Strategy Development
Competitive Analysis
Funnel Development

Senior Director of Marketing and Outreach, Graduate Business

Carjojo Corp.

Grew organic traffic by over 1,000% in 12 months by developing keyword optimized content marketing, social media and influencer campaigns using data-driven A/B testing approach.

Highlights:

• Grew referring domains by over 300%.
• Increased organic traffic by over 1,000%.
• Boosted the number of organic keywords by 800%.
• Developed content strategy featured on CNN, TechCrunch, Today Show Lifehacker, Washington Post, MSN, Yahoo, Blomberg, & USA Today.
• Planned the company's first widespread use of schema markup across the 3 million vehicles.
• Managed PR and SEO agency relationships and a team of content freelancers.
• Created focused SEO plan that included keyword research, competitor analysis, and site audit.
• Webby Award Nominee for Best Car Websites. 

Skills: 

A/B Testing
Agency Management
SEM
SEO
Audience Development 
Channel Marketing
Web Analytics
Marketing Strategy
Customer Acquisition
Content Development
Landing Page Optimization
Content Marketing
Cross-functional Team Leadership
Editing

Senior Director of Content Marketing and SEO

Grew user base from scratch to over 500K in 24 months using a full stack marketing approach and creating a sound go-to-market strategy.

Highlights:

• Grew revenue 110% YoY with a focused vision around product/marketing fit.
• Grew organic search and website traffic over 200% in 5 months. 
• Grew user base from zero to 500k in 24 months.
• Motivated and lead a team of developers, marketers, finance and admin staff with zero turnover in 5 years. 
• Increased average order size by 2x through funnel management optimization. 
• Implemented customer service program that decreased response time by 24 hours
• Lead PR agency relationships and a team of freelancers.
• Invited to speak at leading industry trade shows and events including the Social Media Strategies Conference, Social Media Marketing World, and Content Marketing Conference.
• Developed and executed lead nurturing, and email marketing programs to increase customer lifetime value.
• Defined and tracked KPIs for all online marketing campaigns.

Skills: 
 
Management
A/B Testing
Programmatic Buying
Native Advertising
Content Marketing
Content Development
Cross-functional Team Leadership
SEM
SEO
Paid Advertising
New Product and Service Launches
Audience Development 
Channel Marketing
Lifecycle Marketing
Retention
Sales
Public Speaking
Product Marketing

Senior Director Product Marketing and Founder

Dlvr.it - Content Marketing Strategies Conference

Created the largest content marketing conference on the West Coast. Set the agenda, recruited speakers and sponsors, and was responsible for event promotions and sales.

Creator, Strategic Partnerships and Event Planning

Pheedo, Inc

Tasked with the day-to-day operations of growing a start-up with a focus on product development, digital marketing, social media, content marketing, public speaking, trade shows, business development, and ad sales.  Pheedo was recognized as "one of the most notable technology vendors in the Bay Area" by The Bay Area Interactive Group.

Highlights:

• Achieved over $5M in sales in the first year. 
• Raised $6M in venture capital.
• Opened the first international office in Tokyo, Japan. Opened and managed sales offices in Chicago, New York, and Portland, OR. 
• Developed relationships and secured clients including New York Times, CNET, Washington Post, Ford, Cisco, P&G, and MSNBC.
• Helped leading digital publishers to grow native ad revenue 300% in 3 months.
• Motivated and lead team of developers, marketers, admin, and 20 internal and outside ad sales executives state-side and abroad.
• Invited to speak at leading industry trade shows and events stateside, Germany, and Japan including the Search Engine Strategies Conference, DMA Days, Digital Hollywood, ClickZ Events, American Marketing Association, Advertising Forum, Ad:Tech, and OMMA. 

Skills: 

Management
Customer Acquisition
Business Development
Sales
Digital Marketing
Content Development
Developing KPIs
Marketing Campaign Management
Partner Marketing
Web Analytics
Product Development/Management
Public Speaking
Product Marketing

Vice President, Marketing and Sales, Founder

Email Shopping Network

Emphasized revenue growth and gross margin maximization. Spearheaded development and execution of customer acquisition marketing programs.

Highlights:

• Increased average order size by over 50% through landing page optimization and funnel management. 
• Raised landing page conversion by 50% YoY through A/B and multivariable testing. 
Increased customer lifetime value by 45% by developing customer lifecycle programs that included high-impact lead nurturing, upsell, cross-sell, and database marketing programs. 
• Grew revenue from zero to $1M in 5 months. 
• Created the single highest converting cost-per-acquisition campaign in the history of ValueClick ($50,000).
• Led the acquisition efforts by News Corp within 18 months of starting the company.

Skills: 

Marketing Strategy
A/B Testing
Customer Acquisition
Online Advertising
Ecommerce
Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Landing Page Optimization
Content Development

Senior Marketing Manager and Founder

Business Strategist & Basketball Coach | Sharing My Playbook for Winning In Business & on the Court

Mission: Positively Influence 1M kids by 2032 through sports 

My journey bridges two worlds: Silicon Valley success and youth sports impact. After building and selling two tech companies, I found my true calling on the basketball court in 2014 when I started coaching my kids' team.

What began as weekend games transformed into a revelation about the untapped potential of youth sports. While growing Level UP Basketball Club, I witnessed how sideline hours created lasting connections between brands, families, and communities.

Key Milestones:

→ Served as Steph Curry's trainer for a TV commercial
→ Coached the U.S.A. Basketball youth team with Chris Mullin during the 2016 Olympics
→ Coached at powerhouse high school programs like De La Salle and Campolindo
→ Launched a 3v3 Basketball League for girls in 2017
→ Founded the Coaching Youth Hoops media company and podcast
→ Established the NorCal Summer Basketball League for high school players
→ Serve on the boards of two local rec organizations, impacting over 1,000 young athletes annually

This unique intersection of business and sports leadership revealed a critical gap: brands struggle to authentically connect with youth sports' 50M+ families despite their 40+ weekly sideline hours.  

Today, I help brands transform these sideline hours into meaningful engagement. Our mission: empower organizations to build sustainable programs that keep kids playing while delivering measurable ROI for brands.

Let’s change the game together!

taplio

The Battle

Chris Joannou 💎

📈 Bill Flitter

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