Graeme Thickins

Summary

Building value for innovative tech startups through effective messaging is my love and passion. I’ve helped hundreds ride the wave — get investor ready, launch, grow, become profitable businesses, or exit successfully. I’ve devoted my career to finding and advising winners. Every flavor of tech — software and Internet startups, healthcare, medtech, digital health, biotech, and more. What do you have? I'm also an investor in two early-stage funds, and take equity positions with certain clients in my role as a consultant or advisor. I'm a team player with a positive, can-do attitude. I help founders refine their pitch and messaging for investors and their target markets, make key connections, develop their brand & content strategy, launch in the market, get buzz, execute growth strategies, build their valuation, and move toward a successful exit. My experience spans branding/naming, comms strategy, writing/editing, messaging, launch strategy & execution, bus dev, community engagement, PR and media relations, social marketing, events, and more -- first at two Fortune 500 firms (one IT, one medtech), after which I devoted my career to tech startups. I'm a widely read blogger and writer with a large online following. I founded a marketing consultancy that's helped hundreds of early-stage tech firms succeed, many from the concept stage. Some notable clients: - C-level strategy consulting firm (branding, messaging, website) - ecommerce SaaS startup that achieved 100% YoY growth multiple times (acquired 2021) - leading mobile app platform developer (acquired 2016) - cloud computing management tools startup (acquired 2013) - promising medtech startup with patented tech in the diagnostics space - helped launch a healthcare startup incubator & innovation center Previously served in interim roles: VP-Mktg for a software firm (acquired '08), and for a mobile app platform company founded by an early Google employee in '08 (acquired '16); interim Director of Mktg for an IT managed svcs firm (acquired '04); interim Director of Content for launch of BestBuy.com ('99-'00), which quickly became a top-50 Internet site. For many years, I reported on major tech conferences via my blog and various media outlets. I’m a published writer with many bylines: Grit Daily, StartingUpNorth, MinneInno, ProgrammableWeb, The Angel Journal, ReadWriteWeb, Chief Executive Officer, CIO.com, eContent, many more. I was an early blogger and was ranked multiple times in the "Top 100 Analyst Blogs."​ I joined LinkedIn in August 2003: I was #18,805 of what is now more than 1 billion.