We're a well-knit digital design studio working with products, brands and (ai-)code. Top founders come to us because we get early-stage like no one else. We help them define, build and scale future unicorns – and so far, they've mostly found us by word of mouth. Our growth strategy has been "do great work and hope people talk about it". It works, which is exactly why nobody has fixed it yet.
We're looking for a Head of Growth: someone hyped to build 0→1. You organise your own time and place of work and deliver the agreed results your way. Nobody here is breathing down your neck about what, when or how you do it. See a better route to the goal? Take it and take the cred.
The team is already asking about you. Don't make them wait, apply!
Your day-to-day
We're looking for someone who builds the engine, not just the campaign.
Today tonik grows on reputation and referrals. It works – but it isn't a system, because it depends on who happens to know or have heard about us. We want a second engine running next to it: visibility among early-stage founders that turns into qualified inbound, and inbound that turns into signed projects.
You'll own that end-to-end – the story, the channels, the numbers. And because you're the first growth hire, you'll be building it and doing it, mostly with your own hands. Nobody here got to the top without spending time in the trenches, and this role is no exception. If that reads like a downgrade, this isn't your role. If it reads like the most interesting brief on the market right now, keep going.
- Owning tonik's positioning and narrative – how we talk to early-stage founders and why they should care
- Building a 12–18 month growth strategy with actual numbers attached (pipeline, qualified inbound, marketing-assisted revenue) – and then executing it yourself
- Running the funnel end-to-end: awareness → inbound inquiry → qualification → working with our sales team to close
- Creating and shipping: content, case studies, newsletter, X and LinkedIn. You're the one publishing, not briefing someone else to publish.
- Turning every good project into proof – case studies, testimonials, showreels
- Making our events and community a system instead of something we do when we remember to
- Building co-marketing with clients and ecosystem partners (Webflow, Framer, AI/dev tools)
- Setting up honest measurement: a handful of metrics you actually trust, reviewed on a rhythm, and decisions made from them
- Deciding where paid makes sense – and where it really doesn't
It’s a match if you’re like this
- You've built a growth or marketing function from scratch, or close to it – first or early marketer somewhere that grew, or ran marketing at a small studio/agency – and you can show what came out of it
- You still execute yourself. You write things that get published, you run channels personally. We'll ask what you shipped in the last 12 months and who else had their hands on it
- You come from B2B or services with relational sales cycles (agency, studio, consulting) – not pure e-commerce or performance
- You mostly get early-stage founders but think of startup environment as buyers: how they think, how they buy, who they trust, where they spend their time
- You think in data: hypotheses, measurement, conclusions, and killing what doesn't work
- You're comfortable being broad – brand, content, demand gen, partnerships, community, distribution. Not all at expert level, but nothing on that list should scare you
- At least C1 English (our clients and most of our audience are US-based)
- Self-organized, ambitious, and you vibe with a high-performance, low-ego, drama-free culture
Bonus points
- AEO/GEO you've actually done – structuring content so ChatGPT, Perplexity and AI Overviews pick it up, getting a brand into the sources models read, and measuring share of answers instead of guessing at it
- A real network in the startup/VC ecosystem (YC, a16z and friends) – and the standing to actually use it
- English-language campaigns built for the US, not translated into it
- Building brands for design/tech companies, or time inside a creative studio
What you get
- A world-class bench around you: high-agency, senior, low-ego. We set the bar high, raise it often, and pull you up with it
- Founders from the Valley's top rosters: a16z Speedrun, YC, HF0 and more. We've partnered with 200+ of them, and every one of those relationships is material you get to work with: proof, stories, testimonials, warm doors
- An AI-native studio to tell the story of. We're rebuilding delivery around it, which hands you something most agencies can only claim, plus a real shot at owning how we show up in AI answers
- A short decision loop. Strong ideas go from concept to live in days, not quarters, because you work directly with the people who decide
- Optional trips to SF when they earn their place: client visits, founder events, the ecosystem you're marketing to. You get the epicenter up close
- Top-tier tooling, AI and growth stack alike (whatever's winning right now), and the access you need to measure what you're actually doing.
- EU-timezone cooperation, overlap only where it genuinely helps: the odd call with a US client or partner
- Unlimited hardware & software budget
- Dinners, retreats and workations
- Unlimited budget for growth
The process
1. You first
Hit that big Apply button and tell us about yourself.
2. Vibe check
Let’s jump on a call, so we can both figure whether it’s a fit.
3. Show off
Join us for a design session, so we can see your wizardry.
4. Join the team
One last interview to talk details and that’s it, you’re on board!
The timeline
The process
Process description
Recruiters
