Co-Founder & CEO - Buzz (Stealth Mode)

Join hillock. as Co-Founder & CEO of Buzz (just the internal code name), building the leading programmatic influencer marketing platform. We're solving the problem preventing brands from scaling influencer marketing: nano influencers deliver 3x the ROI of macro influencers, but brands can't manage hundreds of small creators without massive coordination teams.

The insight is simple but powerful—when you aggregate hundreds of nano creators, you stop caring which specific ones post. You just care that enough of them do. Send briefs to 500 creators, 200 respond, 150 deliver approved content, campaigns launch automatically. It's the laws of big numbers applied to influencer marketing.

The global influencer marketing industry hit $32.55 billion in 2025 with 35.63% year-over-year growth. Nano influencers (1K-10K followers) now represent 75.9% of Instagram's creator base, with spending on nano creators increasing 11% while macro spending decreased 10%.

The ROI difference is stark: nano influencers charge $50 per post but generate over $1,000 in return—a 20x ROI. Macro influencers command $1,000+ but only deliver $6,000 back—a 6x ROI. Research from MIT Sloan confirms nano influencers achieve 7% conversion rates versus just 3% for macro influencers.

Intelligent Matching: Deep content analysis including full audio/video transcripts and engagement patterns identifies creators whose audiences align with campaign objectives before they hit mainstream pricing.

Automated Creator Orchestration: AI sends briefs to hundreds of matched creators simultaneously. Those who respond and deliver approved content get paid through automated global payment systems. No relationship management, just statistical outcomes at scale.

Creative Control + Automated Reviews: Following the SNL model, creators maintain creative control while staying within brand safety guidelines. This preserves authentic voice and delivers the higher engagement rates that make nano creators effective. AI allows for scale-able reviews without a one-size-fits-all campaign format.

Real-Time Performance Optimization: Integrated analytics from platform APIs, link tracking, and conversion data enable effective monitoring, attribution and instant budget reallocation toward highest-performing creator segments.

Global Payment Infrastructure: Built-in FinTech solutions solve the cross-border payment challenges that exclude 68% of international creators from campaigns. Automated tax compliance, multi-currency support, and instant settlements eliminate 30-day payment delays.

The Platform: Create systems that analyze millions of creators, predict campaign outcomes, and manage thousands of simultaneous partnerships without human intervention. Brands send briefs and watch results flow from "the network."

AI-Powered Automation: Lead development of the intelligence layer that handles creator selection, negotiations, content review, brand safety, and performance optimization autonomously.

Global Infrastructure: Build payment and compliance systems that enable instant creator onboarding across 60+ countries, solving the FinTech challenges that currently limit campaign scale.

Business Model: Define pricing and go-to-market strategy for a new category that transforms influencer marketing from relationship-heavy services into scalable, data-driven growth channels.

Team & Culture: Build a world-class team across engineering, business development, and operations with full venture studio support and resources.

Leadership: Perfect for both first-time founders and seasoned executives looking for their next significant opportunity. The market opportunity and venture studio support create ideal conditions for either path.

Technical Understanding: Grasp AI/ML concepts, API integrations, and platform architecture to guide technical decisions. Coding experience is valuable but not required—we provide technical support and can help build those skills.

Marketing Intuition: Understanding of digital marketing, social media dynamics, or creator economy trends. Experience with programmatic advertising or marketing automation platforms valuable but not essential.

Data-Driven Decision Making: Comfort with analytics, A/B testing, and using performance data to drive product decisions. The platform generates massive amounts of creator performance data that requires strategic interpretation and action.

Strategic Vision: See how AI will reshape influencer marketing while executing tactical steps to capture market share. Comfort with both B2B SaaS and marketplace business models.

We've completed extensive customer discovery with design partners lined up to validate product-market fit and provide real-world feedback during development. Current platforms like Upfluence and AspireIQ focus on campaign management but lack true automation—no solution offers end-to-end programmatic influencer marketing with AI-driven matching and autonomous execution.

The shift toward nano creators isn't theoretical. LaCroix built millennial brand dominance by finding creators who already mentioned them, engaging authentically, and scaling through volume rather than celebrity partnerships. They earned the #1 spot on Newsweek's most trusted brands list using exactly this approach.

Growth marketers send briefs and watch posts, impressions, and clicks flow from "the network." Launch 1,000-creator campaigns as simply as setting up Google Ads. Transform influencer marketing from relationship-heavy services into scalable, data-driven growth channels that deliver authentic engagement without operational complexity.

Founder Support: Full coaching and operational guidance with experienced mentorship across strategy, product development, fundraising, go-to-market (this is kind of our thing) and team building. You get the resources of a seasoned team without giving up founder control.

Technical Resources: Access to AI/ML expertise, engineering talent, and infrastructure to build sophisticated automation from day one.

Market Access: Direct connections to enterprise customers, strategic partners, and follow-on investors to accelerate growth and market penetration.

Proven Playbook: Leverage our experience building successful AI-first companies to avoid common pitfalls and accelerate time to market.

The convergence of AI advancement, creator economy growth, and brand demand for authentic marketing creates a once-in-a-decade opportunity. We're looking for a visionary founder who can see the future of programmatic influencer marketing and has the leadership skills to make it reality.

This role offers significant equity as founding CEO of a venture studio-backed startup positioned to capture a $32+ billion market opportunity through AI innovation and programmatic automation.