About Rick Ramos · Fractional CMO, advisor and author
Twenty years of marketing, three 10x runs, and a habit of staying in the work until it ships. Here’s the story behind the fractional CMO.
$0→$M
HealthJoy ARR as founding team member and CMO. Valued at $500M.
$20M→$M
Adknowledge revenue while I ran go-to-market.
$4M→$M
Adiant revenue, built on content syndication.
Companies I’ve led and advised
Featured in
My origin story
For two decades I’ve thrived in the fast-paced world of marketing. As a founding team member and CMO at HealthJoy, I took the company from a pre-seed startup to $50M in ARR and a $500M valuation.
At Adknowledge, which TechCrunch called the 6th most acquisitive company online, I built the go-to-market strategies that took revenue from $20M to $200M. I wasn’t just a witness to growth. I was an architect of it.
My experience goes beyond fast-growing startups. I led marketing at Treeloot, the first CGI-scripted dynamic game, and helped it become the 17th largest website in the world. I also had stints at Matchmaker.com and Date.com, the first online dating properties, and at Adiant, one of the first content discovery platforms, where I wrote my book Content Marketing, a #1 bestseller on Amazon.
“I wasn’t just a witness to growth. I was an architect of it.”
From the early commercial web through adtech, content discovery and health tech, to fractional CMO work today.
Early web
Led marketing at Treeloot, the first CGI-scripted dynamic game, and helped make it the 17th largest website in the world. Two of those campaigns crossed three billion impressions.
Early web
Marketing at the first online dating properties.
2008 to 2011
Built go-to-market for Miva, AdParlor and more at TechCrunch’s 6th most acquisitive company online. Revenue grew from $20M to $200M. Along the way I worked with brands like Netflix, MetLife, Verizon and GlaxoSmithKline and wrote thousands of ads.
2011 to 2015
Grew one of the first content discovery networks from $4M to $40M in revenue. It’s where I wrote Content Marketing (2013), a #1 Amazon bestseller.
2015 to 2023
Led the pivot from consumer to B2B and built the brand, mascot, chatbot scripts and press engine. $0 to $50M ARR, 1,500+ employer clients, valued at $500M.
2023 to today
Strategy and hands-on leadership for a small number of startups and SMBs at a time, plus fixed-price and managed services. Author of Transform Your Marketing.
$M
ARR from zero · 1,500+ employer clients · $500M valuation
Founding team, CMO · 2015 to 2023
Challenge: a pre-seed benefits app selling to consumers when employers held the budget.
What I did: led the pivot to B2B, built the brand, mascot, chatbot scripts and press engine, with coverage in TechCrunch, Forbes and the WSJ.
$M
Revenue, up from $20M
VP of Marketing · 2008 to 2011
Challenge: growth through acquisition, with every new product needing a market fast.
What I did: built go-to-market for Miva, AdParlor and more at TechCrunch’s 6th most acquisitive company online.
$M
Revenue, up from $4M
VP of Marketing · 2011 to 2015
Challenge: an ad tech company behind Adblade, a comScore top 25 ad network, competing for publishers and advertisers against much bigger networks.
What I did: grew one of the first content discovery networks, brought its content-style ads to financial publishers after the IndustryBrains acquisition, and wrote Content Marketing along the way.
Today
The call for a more balanced life got louder, so I traded the corporate suit for my first love: helping startups and SMBs. I run several productized services that help small businesses build and grow their brands.
It’s the right blend for me. I use what I know to help others and still make room for the things I love: writing, working out, cooking (I’m a bit of a foodie), getting lost in a good book, and seeing the world one adventure at a time.
It wasn’t a departure from my marketing roots. I work as a fractional CMO and advisor for a select group of promising startups, which keeps me at the front of the industry with a more flexible way of working.
Looking ahead, I want to keep bridging corporate experience and entrepreneurial speed, and give more businesses the strategies that drive real growth.
How I work with clients →
Tell me where your marketing is today and where you want it to go. I usually reply within one business day.
One fractional CMO slot is open. Thirty minutes on a call tells us both whether it’s a fit. Or start today with a fixed-price report.
