Jonathan Howard

Cofounder and CTO

2021 - Current

Big Head creates strange and marvelous NFTs that stand the test of time. Examples include Stoner Cats, the first TV show green-lit by its viewers; Ghostbusters, the first NFTs that "haunt" wallets and must be trapped; and Oni Ronin, an experiment in mechanisms that make collectors feel fear and bravery that matches the world-building/narrative of the art

Co-Organizer

2018

Fundraising can be hard, emotionally draining, and isolating even for a 2nd or 3rd-time founder. The Pitch Crew is a community of founders in similar stages, giving each other pitch feedback and ongoing support, as they raise & grow their companies.

Founder, Fractional CMO

2018

In customer development interviews, I heard Seed and Series A founders saying their #1 goal is growth, but interestingly, heard VC's saying the #1 mistake founders make is hiring the wrong growth leader. But there's no need to take on this step-function increase in cost, time, and risk of full-time hires. We see this solved with part-time CFOs, HR, and legal. It’s time we bring that concept to marketing and growth. Hence the name, Step Function. We guide founders through that period via research and experimentation in a low-risk Part-Time CMO model. As channel-specific work grows, we hire world-class experts to take over part-time, similar to agency engagements. Unlike agencies, we choose from the world's best in your niche, not just who happens to be our employee. And when it makes sense to hire, Step Function switches to a recruiting fee model, so incentives stay aligned. Our goals are your goals: hit your milestones, raise your next round, and hire your full-time team.

Growth Mentor

2017

Growth Mentor

2018

Growth Mentor

2018

Growth Advisor

2016

Advisory board of Habitu8.io, UseBounce.com, Hypercube.video, SohoTokenLabs.com, FaithX.net I also run 1-2 day growth workshops with exec & product teams to improve existing funnels, or brainstorm new growth initiatives. Typical result is a 2+ month growth experiment roadmap, to hit the company's goals and long-term strategy and stand out, without sacrificing user experience. Occasional longer-term engagements to help implement that roadmap plan. Examples include: - Advising an NYC startup in detail on product-market fit - Fundraising strategy and intros - Advising Highly.co on customer development and onboarding - Pitched, and led Kaliber Labs through, a pivot that helped get them acquired - Designed the first sales process for NexTravel with their exec team and marketer, so they could hire and scale to next phase of growth. Built the Salesforce integration from scratch, including automated lead qualification & assignment

Head of Product -> CTO -> Technical Advisor

2017 - 2019

Oct-Jan: Technical Advisor * With the MVP and product management in a good place, transitioning to advisor role to return to contract work Feb-Oct: Promoted to CTO * Coordinating MVP launch with 5 other engineers, in node, react, electron and postgres * Wrote white paper, helped craft fundraising pitch & deck Dec-Feb: Head of Product * Advised exec team on strategic decisions on product direction, growth strategy, and pitch deck * Defined consensus on MVP with existing team of 8 remote volunteers

Interim COO

2017 - 2017

Growth consulting workshop resulted in a major company pivot, and a more involved role as Interim COO to help execute that pivot. In ~6 weeks, working with exec team, built new strategy & financial projections, and new positioning/pitch deck/marketing copy to reflect that. Also designed & coded new homepage, and set up company's first B2B sales pipeline ready for CEO to take over. Now Advisor to CEO after smooth handoff.

Director of Growth

2016 - 2016

Joined as Dir of Growth when Primer acquired Emissary. Lead our team and reported to the CEO on a number of areas: Lead customer development, plus prototyping, events, and growth planning for a major company pivot. Contributed to go-to-market strategy, positioning, and a new homepage.