Matt Ceran is a business tactician & strategist with 10 years expertise in the emerging fields of Data Science, Customer Acquisition and Digital Entrepreneurship.

Matt gained experience early in his career as an analyst at a Clean Tech Startup, a Private Equity fund, a Venture Capital firm and ultimately helped manage a sizable Customer Acquisition effort at Silicon Beach staple & subscription e-commerce grandfather, Shoedazzle.com.

Opening its doors in 2013, Matt Ceran & Max Sloan’s firm, 565 Media, has been a key contributor in helping cost-effectively scale 150+ companies including well-known venture-backed startups Robinhood, Indiegogo, TheBlackTux & MakeSpace via its Internet Marketing & Customer Acquisition services.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Matt went on to receive his BS from Stanford University in the field of Earth Systems where he was a 4-year letter earner & captain of the Stanford Men’s Volleyball Team.

What are you passionate about?

It would definitely be collaborating with driven founders and their products in leveraging the latest technology & marketing tactics in an effort to solve complex business problems and supercharge their growth. This is a key challenge virtually all startups face, and it’s beyond exciting and rewarding when we have the good fortune to be a key part of their success.

 What one piece of advice would you give to an early stage startup regarding your area of expertise?

A lot of founders are approaching digital marketing and startups with out-dated approaches to scaling and monitoring the growth of their business. To further complicate matters, there are a lot of deceptive sales pitches going on by vendors of all shades. I would advise early stage founders to beware of any hype that sounds too good to be true and to instead use a tried & trusted guru to help cut through the chaos and find the key pieces that will lead to the sort of KPIs the business needs to succeed.

What do you like best about mentoring at the Preccelerator?

There are so many facets of the program that are enjoyable, however, I would say first and foremost that having the opportunity to hangout with so many genuinely well-intentioned, passionate & driven founders has to be #1. The founders consistently impress me with their vision, drive and persistence and their ability to weather the storm and bring a healthy dose of humor into the mix. Also, hats off to the amazing staff/team that supports the Preccelerator. These folks bring their A game everyday and inspire me as a mentor to consistently go the extra mile and bring the sort of enthusiasm and strategic thought to push forward the Santa Monica & greater Los Angeles startup community.