Having vision and discipline in business means having a game plan for acceleration and the patience to see it through. When you have the ambition to start a startup business, establishing clarity is key. According to the Center for American Progress, the number of startups—firms that are under 1 year old—increased by 16 percent between 2019 and 2023, which is more than 2 1/2 times the 2015–2019 growth rate of 6 percent. Importantly, the number did not fall noticeably in 2020 and 2021, so the surge is not simply making up for pandemic-era losses. Jason Shafton is a 20+ year veteran in growth, where he built billion-dollar businesses at Google, Paramount, and DaVita and scaled startups like Headspace, Soothe, and Heal (acquired by Humana). At Google, he scaled the Google Ads platform and launched Google Music and Google Play. He also spent time leading marketing at Comedy Central, where he launched new seasons of South Park and The Daily Show as well as new franchises Broad City, Drunk History and Inside Amy Schumer. After co-founding Heal where he helped thousands of families get access to better health, he ran growth marketing both at Soothe and Headspace, scaling those businesses to millions of global users. Finding himself on speed dial with some of the top tech founders, investors, and CEOs asking for growth marketing support, he now acts as founder of growth consulting firm, Winston Francois (named after his dogs Winston and Frank). Winston Francois works with brands to provide strategic guidance across product, growth, marketing, management, and organizational design to support sustainable value creation. He lives outside of Los Angeles with his wife Alyssa and their two daughters. For more information, please visit https://winstonfrancois.com/.
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