Bio
Andy is a social-impact entrepreneur, advisor, and investor obsessed with helping mission-driven leaders rally support with remarkable brand stories, word of mouth, and fan communities.
Why? Because organizations that earn the respect and recommendation of their customers are more open, honest, and kind. Because companies that make people happy are more successful.
- Community: Andy builds organizations to help people help each other. He created pioneering peer-to-peer communities for mission-driven leaders (in corporate social responsibility, DEI, talent, and healthcare) and cutting-edge tech (in social media, ecommerce, online marketing, word of mouth, and data science).
- Word of Mouth Marketing: He wrote the best-selling book Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking to help you tell the story of your business, art, or cause.
- Brand Strategy: He has advised 100+ companies on creating remarkable cultures, messages, and stories.
He taught word of mouth marketing at Northwestern and internet entrepreneurship at Wharton. (And he’s a rabid purist on the topic of marketing ethics.)
Current Projects
Mostly on sabbatical after selling Board.org, but I’m spending my time…
- Digging into solutions for the loneliness epidemic, which I believe is driving political extremism (and needs to be solved for lots of other reasons).
- Launching a new company to help make it easier to meet in real life (co-founders and CTOs – let’s talk).
- Founding/funding a non-profit to work on the same issues
- Hosting social events, which are also experiments exploring solutions for item #1.
- Helping local journalism find new fundraising models (including a big project for the Texas Tribune).
- Helping Bouldering Project grow their wonderful community.
- Coaching some startups and non-profits.
Founder
- Osage Communications (interactive TV, 1992-1994)
- Association for Interactive Marketing (non-profit, sold, 1994-1998)
- GasPedal 1 (gen 1 incubator/accelerator, 1999-2001)
- GasPedal 2 (email strategy, sold, 2002-2004)
- Word of Mouth Marketing Association (non-profit, sold, 2004-2006)
- SocialMedia.org & SocialMedia.org Health (became Board.org, 2007-2015)
- Board.org: DEI Board, CSR Board, Data Board, Talent Marketing Board (sold, 2015-2021)
- Trash Mountain Ranch – (office and event space, sold, 2014-2022)
- Global Worldwide International (real estate, 2014-present)
- Better Industries (startup studio, 2022-present)
Investor/Advisor
- Data.World
- WP Engine
- FiscalNote
- Kinsa
- Capital Factory
- Cart.com
- Ronawk
- Toss
- BazaarVoice
- Mayo Clinic Social Media Network
- Advisor and/or investor in various startups
- Assorted real estate
- Assorted venture funds
Consultant & Speaker
Hundreds of keynotes and consulting projects focused on tech entrepreneurship, tech innovation, ethics, brand strategy, social media, email, and word of mouth marketing.
Non-profit and Political
- Campaign staff – Mayor, US House, US Senate
- Political direct mail, fundraising, and digital
- Non-profit fundraising
- Lobbyist
Academic
- University of Pennsylvania / Wharton – taught Internet Entrepreneurship
- Northwestern / Medill – taught Word of Mouth Marketing
Personal Interests
- Family time — raising happy, strong nerds
- Bouldering
- Playing with power tools, chainsaws, and making things out of wood
- Funkadelic, Frank Zappa, and The Grateful Dead