Austin Walker
3x Founder | Product, Strategy, Growth ✨
San Francisco, California
Overview
Work Experience
Co-Founder & CEO
2022 - Current
🧠 Self-reflection, powered by AI. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/perspective-ai-journal/id6446242380
Founder Fellow
2024
Founder
2021
Podcast and media production company focused on the untold stories behind the human journey.
Founder (acquired)
2017
PLAYR.gg was acquired by Surf in November 2020.
CEO
2017 - 2020
PLAYR.gg was a technology platform that enabled enterprise brands to generate, segment, and activate first-party customer data. • Built a team of 23 talented individuals & executives, raised $2.3M venture capital • Scaled platform audience to >1M total users, >130K MAU and 4M unique monthly transactions • Closed enterprise deals with top customers incl. Amazon, Electronic Arts, UFC, Bud Light • Achieved & celebrated profitability with strong MRR growth in 2020 • Successfully sold the company during a global pandemic - many lessons learned :)
Chief Strategy Officer
2020 - 2022
Led product strategy and enterprise sales after Surf acquired PLAYR.gg. In June 2021, I reduced my role to a fractional capacity to continue supporting the team while enjoying a well-deserved sabbatical. • Led the integration of PLAYR.gg into Surf’s existing technology assets • Built the enterprise sales function, and closed major 6-figure renewals with PLAYR.gg’s existing enterprise customers (including Electronic Arts, UFC, Amazon) • Developed the strategic plan for the organization which led to the launch of the Surf chrome extension, the first browser extension that compensates consumers for passively browsing the web • Worked cross functionally with marketing, sales, and product to drive the vision for our unified product leading to a 100% increase in MRR within 6 months of acquisition
Startup Advisor & Fractional CEO
2020 - 2022
Leveraging my experience to support early-stage startups in key areas including: • Early-stage startup infrastructure (corp/ops) • Fundraising strategy (angel/pre-seed/seed) • Storytelling through pitch decks & creative marketing • Brand identity, voice, and community development • Product roadmapping, OKRs, executive alignment • Team building dynamics (co-founders & employees) • Founder burnout, productivity and longevity I'm here to help founders make sense of the unknown and support along the journey of figuring it out.
Partner
2012 - 2022
Executed G FUEL's first major marketing campaign, Mission Gunship, back in 2012 which really launched the brand and solidified G FUEL as a market leader in the energy drink category. Spent the last several years working alongside their executive team on marketing campaigns, building large-scale influencer activations, and attending global trade shows in a close partnership with my former startup, PLAYR.gg.
Founder, Software Engineer
2009 - 2017
CPEX is a parent company developing innovative experience-driven applications to connect people around the world. Since 2009, we've developed several revenue-generating products that have reached millions of users.
Graphic Designer
2009 - 2012