Jim Breese
Growth Marketing Executive · Founder · AI-Fluent Operator
Summary
I'm a growth marketing executive who came up through 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 product-led growth, and built multiple products to profitable exits. 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.
Superpowers
- Turning Data Into Growth. Spotted the shared-customer overlap across a 20+ app, PE-backed portfolio and turned it into a zero-cost cross-sell engine behind 600% top-line growth.
- Building Systems That Scale. Scaled content and SEO to 90K pages, a compounding channel competitors can't staff by hand.
- Making Channels Work Together. Ran a multi-million-dollar, multi-channel budget at 12.2x average ROAS over two years.
- Rapid Experimentation. Shipped 6 AI-assisted micro-apps as live go-to-market tests, compressing build cycles from quarters to days.
- Full-Funnel Thinking. A customer-acquisition specialist who owns the entire user journey, from acquisition through retention.
Career Highlights
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.
Capital-Efficient Hypergrowth
- Grew revenue 10x ($300K to $3M) with $0 ad spend, purely SEO and content.
- Drove growth on a lean budget inside a PE-backed portfolio under strict capital-efficiency requirements.
- Built a 45K-subscriber audience and six-figure course revenue on under $1K of total ad spend.
Scaling SaaS Through M&A
- Drove 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 and Operator
- Founded a leading Airbnb-host community in the travel / short-term-rental space, then exited my stake to my co-founder.
- 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.
Toolkit
Growth: Product-Led Growth (PLG), Multi-Channel User Acquisition, User-Generated Content (UGC), App Store Optimization (Shopify App Store), LLM / AI Search Visibility (GEO), Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), 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
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.
Education
Bachelor of Arts (BA), Finance, Michigan State University2005–2009