Jim Breese
Growth Marketing Executive · Founder · AI-Fluent Operator
Summary
I started in corporate finance and never lost the analytical edge. I lead with critical thinking and an eye for the nuance most marketers skip. Across 15 years I've grown a CPA firm from $300K to $3M, scaled a B2B SaaS portfolio 600% through nine acquisitions, and built multiple products to profitable exits, usually on little or no ad budget. I thrive under pressure, including the capital-efficiency demands of private-equity-backed companies. My specialty is customer acquisition and the full user journey: I bring an entrepreneur's growth-hacking instincts to find untapped channels, then build the system that compounds them. Modern AI tools just let me move faster, shipping the apps, content, and demand engine myself.
Career Highlights
Capital-Efficient Hypergrowth
- GreenGrowth CPAs: grew revenue 10x ($300K to $3M) with $0 ad spend, purely SEO and content.
- Clearer.io: PE-backed with strict capital-efficiency requirements; drove growth on a lean budget.
Scaling SaaS Through M&A
- Clearer.io: 600% top-line growth across 9 acquisitions; supported a $155M raise.
- Identified target-audience overlap across a 20+ app B2B SaaS portfolio, unlocking high-impact cross-selling that drove zero-cost growth.
- Integrated and led a 16-person cross-functional team across multiple continents.
Founder & Operator: 0 to 1, to Exit
- LearnAirbnb: founded a leading Airbnb-host community in the travel / short-term-rental space (45K subscribers, six-figure course revenue on under $1K of ad spend); exited my stake to my co-founder.
- Yopki: co-founded a funded travel-tech startup; own product, engineering, design, marketing, and finance.
- Entrepreneur-in-Residence who incubated a venture and stepped in as its CEO.
Modern Growth Engineering
- Shipped 6 micro-apps as live go-to-market vehicles, using AI to compress build cycles from quarters to days.
- Scaled content and SEO to 90K pages, turning a channel competitors can't staff manually into a moat.
- 12.2x average ROAS over 2 years (peaks >20x); 400+ videos driving hundreds of watch hours.
Experience
Co-Founder, Yopki2025–Present
- Co-founded Yopki, a funded travel-tech startup; own product, engineering, design, marketing, and finance.
- Led a team of developers and a designer through sprint cycles and delivery.
- Built 6 AI-assisted micro-apps and a multi-channel GTM that acquired thousands of users.
Entrepreneur in Residence → CEO, Cometary Ventures2025–Present
- Generated and validated new venture concepts through market research and feasibility analysis.
- Recruited and assembled founding teams for the most promising concepts.
- Stepped into the CEO role for one incubated venture.
Director of Marketing, Clearer.io (fka AppHub)2023–2025
- Led go-to-market for 6 ecommerce SaaS products, driving new monthly recurring revenue.
- Integrated and led a 16+ person cross-functional team spanning multiple continents.
- Managed a multi-million-dollar performance budget across SEM, SEO, paid, and content.
Director of Growth, Clearer.io (fka AppHub)2022–2023
- Drove 600% top-line growth across nine acquisitions while sustaining double-digit organic MRR growth.
- Built product-led growth programs hitting revenue targets across a 20+ app B2B SaaS portfolio.
- Ran marketing due diligence for acquisition targets supporting a $155M raise.
Chief Marketing Officer, GreenGrowth CPAs2019–2020
- Grew revenue 10x ($300K to $3M) with zero ad spend via SEO and content.
- Launched new service lines including Fractional CFO and public audits.
- Built a 10K-subscriber YouTube channel and a 30K-contact email list organically.
Growth Marketing Consultant, ExaVault, OEM Audio Plus, Everbooked2017–2022
- ExaVault: built a YouTube SEO engine driving six figures in recurring revenue; acquired by Files.com.
- OEM Audio Plus: managed Google/YouTube ads at 12.2x average ROAS over two years.
- Everbooked: optimized onboarding and product; contributed to acquisition by Evolve.
Founder, LearnAirbnb.com2014–2017
- Built a leading Airbnb-host community through high-value content and organic SEO.
- Grew a 45K-subscriber email list and six-figure course revenue on under $1K of ads.
- Exited my stake to my co-founder.
Brand Manager, Panda Restaurant Group2012–2013
- Launched food and branding promotions across 2,000+ locations nationwide.
- Identified opportunities to lift transaction counts and average check size.
- Directed cross-functional teams to execute brand initiatives.
Financial Analyst, Panda Restaurant Group2011–2012
- Led annual sales and marketing planning for 1,800+ restaurants.
- Analyzed sales, transaction, and check-size data to surface business opportunities.
- Evaluated marketing ROI, pricing, and break-even across major initiatives.
Toolkit
Growth: Product-Led Growth (PLG), Multi-Channel User Acquisition, User-Generated Content (UGC), App Store Optimization (Shopify App Store), A/B Testing & Experimentation
AI: Claude, Gemini, OpenAI, Fal.ai, Nano Banana, HeyGen, ElevenLabs, Descript
Core: Google Ads, YouTube & SEO, Reddit, Meta, Customer.io, ActiveCampaign, Intercom, PostHog, GA4, Looker Studio, Mixpanel, Adobe CS
Education
Bachelor of Arts (BA), Finance, Michigan State University2005–2009
- Studied financial management, accounting, small business development, and business strategy.
- Worked full-time throughout my entire college career.