Social Media Marketing Expert and CEO of Ripl. Ripl enables small businesses to create professional-looking animated videos, collages, slideshows, and layered static image posts in minutes, as well as schedule or post instantly to Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube. All with simple-to-use mobile and desktop browser apps.

Can you tell us about Ripl, what it's all about and what makes it stand out?  
Simply put,  Ripl  is the small business Social media success expert. We are the Swiss Army Knife of social marketing content creation and scheduling. Our objective at Ripl is to give busy small business owners the tools they need to quickly and affordably create polished, professional social media marketing. 

 

We empower small business users to create dynamic social media profiles in a fraction of the time, and with a fraction of the budget it took in the past. Small businesses often can’t afford a social media manager, or don’t have team members with the knowledge, time, and skills to execute skilled social media content creation. With Ripl’s innovative technology, anybody can easily manage the social media presence of a business – engaging customers, growing followers and driving sales. 

 

We stand out from competitors because of our superior content. Ripl provides thousands of customizable ready-made social media templates, more than 500,000 high quality images and 90,000 videos to share across social media channels. The time savings and simplicity of use the tool provides are other areas we also lead the pack. Our software allows users to quickly create trackable professional grade content and schedule it to be shared across multiple social platforms in just minutes. 

 

Ripl has become a popular social media app, can tell us how you grew your audience and users to this point and how it makes you money?  

In the early 2000s I was the founder of one of the first social media agencies in the nation, Spring Creek. This was the early days of social media marketing. Brands were trying to figure out if it was a smart use of marketing funds and if it could it be tracked and measured. I was fortunate to work with some of the nation’s most prominent brands at that time informing their social media strategy. 

 

Ultimately, I sold the agency because I wanted to take some of those same principles and approaches and templatize and streamline them for small businesses that could not afford an advertising agency to handle marketing and social media. Fast forward to today, and that’s exactly what I’m doing at Ripl. It has proven to be the right move with our sales, user engagement and online following growing rapidly over the past several years. This is in part due to our simple and affordable SaaS model. 

 

For about the same price as a Netflix subscription or a lunchtime sandwich per month, any small business or entrepreneur can start creating great content at a fraction of the cost and time it took in the past. 

 

Ripl is really a culmination of my two passions: social media and being a small business owner. I understand both of these worlds and know how hard it can be to standout. The owner, who doesn’t have a marketing person on staff and can’t afford a Spring Creek, can now spend an hour a week and have a truly world-class social media presence. 

 

Which business professionals do you look up to and why?  

Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, immediately comes to mind. He's shown the rare combination of core principles, customer understanding and appreciation, and business values to build a global brand that does good business while doing good around the world. 

 

Thelma Golden, Director of The Studio Museum in Harlem, is another individual I greatly admire. She championed overlooked artists of color for decades and charted a bold course for herself, her work and the arts institutions she served. She has been unflinching, outspoken, and true to her own instincts and point-of-view throughout her career. 

 

I also look up to every single Ripl customer because they all have taken personal and professional risk to choose their own entrepreneurial path for themselves. 

 

What goals do you have and where do you see yourself in the future?  
I want to keep growing and expanding the Ripl service and business. Our mission is to help every independent business owner succeed by doing a great job with their digital marketing - and I personally think this is a mission that has real worth in our society because it can have a positive impact on the small businesses that help our communities thrive. I want to keep having the temerity to take career risks along the way and to make sure I don't get lazy or comfortable in my own professional growth and challenges. 

 

I also want to keep building a reputation for integrity. I'd like the majority of the people I work with now and throughout the rest of my career to feel that I did what I committed to do. I want to be a kind father and an empathetic and supportive partner throughout all of this. In the longest run, I want to spend a meaningful part of the end stage of my career on a combination of advisory support to entrepreneurs and non-profit board service. 

 

What's the best advice you could give to any aspiring entrepreneur?  
Be curious, not judgmental . Yes, I freely admit I have stolen this from the scriptwriters of "Ted Lasso.” Apply this especially and rigorously in every interaction with your customers. 

 

Can you share a particularly difficult business experience you have faced and how you adapted to overcome it?  

Sure. I'm engaged in one right now! It is tough being a CEO of a startup where tens of thousands of customers are depending on your service every day, every hour, every minute! And by the way, in case no one else running a software company out there is willing to admit it, allow me to share that software is an extremely competitive market. The pace of innovation and customer expectations is incredibly fast. 

 

I'm trying to adapt to meet these challenges by being open to feedback, by being reflective and self-critical, and by reminding myself to ask for help whenever I realize I need it. This is an everyday process, and I hope I never stop adapting my style because the business environment and my teams certainly never stop changing. 

 

Which business, marketing or self-help books do you recommend and why?  

I love Goldratt's "The Goal.” I read it in grad school and never forgot the core lessons. I continue to find ways the underlying principles apply to all aspects of business. I would recommend the recently published "Working Backwards," by Bill Carr and Colin Bryar, two Amazon vets who were kind enough to clearly communicate what they learned while working there.  

 

A bit more broadly, seek out "A Monkey Could Do Your Job," by Frazer Buntin. Full disclosure, Frazer's my brother-in-law as well. But this book is equal parts memoir, business lessons and personal career coaching, and as such, it's one of the only and most concise books of its type I've ever found. 

 

Edward Tufte's "Envisioning Information" and "Beautiful Evidence" are both gifts I regularly give colleagues and team members, regardless of their roles. For more than half of the people in the world, pictures do a better job transmitting information than words. Tufte unlocks and illustrates the best practices for this. 

 

Lastly, "The Art of Looking Sideways," by Alan Fletcher, literally changed how my mind is wired, how I view the world at large, and therefore my life. 

 

What do you do to unwind or recharge when you are not focused on growing Ripl?  

I'm a regular bike rider. I ride both for my commute during non-quarantine times, and for pleasure. I need to be in motion to get into flow state, and riding is the full monty because it's good for my brain, good for my emotional state, and good for my heart. 

 

When I can really check out for a few days or more, I usually prioritize fly-fishing or travelling in new countries to experience various cultures with my family. I have found since I met my wife that I really enjoy both the process and the product of home cooking, also. I'm in charge of family pizza night almost every Friday which we've made an informal shabbat tradition at my home. So, I've come to really look forward to assembling, cooking, and handing over everyone's custom pizzas in my family pretty much every week. 

Can you tell us about Ripl, what it's all about and what makes it stand out?  
Simply put,  Ripl  is the small business social media success expert. We are the Swiss Army Knife of social marketing content creation and scheduling. Our objective at Ripl is to give busy small business owners the tools they need to quickly and affordably create polished, professional social media marketing. 

 

We empower small business users to create dynamic social media profiles in a fraction of the time, and with a fraction of the budget it took in the past. Small businesses often can’t afford a social media manager, or don’t have team members with the knowledge, time, and skills to execute skilled social media content creation. With Ripl’s innovative technology, anybody can easily manage the social media presence of a business – engaging customers, growing followers and driving sales. 

 

We stand out from competitors because of our superior content. Ripl provides thousands of customizable ready-made social media templates, more than 500,000 high quality images and 90,000 videos to share across social media channels. The time savings and simplicity of use the tool provides are other areas we also lead the pack. Our software allows users to quickly create trackable professional grade content and schedule it to be shared across multiple social platforms in just minutes. 

 

Ripl has become a popular social media app, can tell us how you grew your audience and users to this point and how it makes you money?  

In the early 2000s I was the founder of one of the first social media agencies in the nation, Spring Creek. This was the early days of social media marketing. Brands were trying to figure out if it was a smart use of marketing funds and if it could it be tracked and measured. I was fortunate to work with some of the nation’s most prominent brands at that time informing their social media strategy. 

 

Ultimately, I sold the agency because I wanted to take some of those same principles and approaches and templatize and streamline them for small businesses that could not afford an advertising agency to handle marketing and social media. Fast forward to today, and that’s exactly what I’m doing at Ripl. It has proven to be the right move with our sales, user engagement and online following growing rapidly over the past several years. This is in part due to our simple and affordable SaaS model. 

 

For about the same price as a Netflix subscription or a lunchtime sandwich per month, any small business or entrepreneur can start creating great content at a fraction of the cost and time it took in the past. 

 

Ripl is really a culmination of my two passions: social media and being a small business owner. I understand both of these worlds and know how hard it can be to standout. The owner, who doesn’t have a marketing person on staff and can’t afford a Spring Creek, can now spend an hour a week and have a truly world-class social media presence. 

 

Which business professionals do you look up to and why?  

Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, immediately comes to mind. He's shown the rare combination of core principles, customer understanding and appreciation, and business values to build a global brand that does good business while doing good around the world. 

 

Thelma Golden, Director of The Studio Museum in Harlem, is another individual I greatly admire. She championed overlooked artists of color for decades and charted a bold course for herself, her work and the arts institutions she served. She has been unflinching, outspoken, and true to her own instincts and point-of-view throughout her career. 

 

I also look up to every single Ripl customer because they all have taken personal and professional risk to choose their own entrepreneurial path for themselves. 

 

What goals do you have and where do you see yourself in the future?  
I want to keep growing and expanding the Ripl service and business. Our mission is to help every independent business owner succeed by doing a great job with their digital marketing - and I personally think this is a mission that has real worth in our society because it can have a positive impact on the small businesses that help our communities thrive. I want to keep having the temerity to take career risks along the way and to make sure I don't get lazy or comfortable in my own professional growth and challenges. 

 

I also want to keep building a reputation for integrity. I'd like the majority of the people I work with now and throughout the rest of my career to feel that I did what I committed to do. I want to be a kind father and an empathetic and supportive partner throughout all of this. In the longest run, I want to spend a meaningful part of the end stage of my career on a combination of advisory support to entrepreneurs and non-profit board service. 

 

What's the best advice you could give to any aspiring entrepreneur?  
Be curious, not judgmental . Yes, I freely admit I have stolen this from the scriptwriters of "Ted Lasso.” Apply this especially and rigorously in every interaction with your customers. 

 

Can you share a particularly difficult business experience you have faced and how you adapted to overcome it?  

Sure. I'm engaged in one right now! It is tough being a CEO of a startup where tens of thousands of customers are depending on your service every day, every hour, every minute! And by the way, in case no one else running a software company out there is willing to admit it, allow me to share that software is an extremely competitive market. The pace of innovation and customer expectations is incredibly fast. 

 

I'm trying to adapt to meet these challenges by being open to feedback, by being reflective and self-critical, and by reminding myself to ask for help whenever I realize I need it. This is an everyday process, and I hope I never stop adapting my style because the business environment and my teams certainly never stop changing. 

 

Which business, marketing or self-help books do you recommend and why?  

I love Goldratt's "The Goal.” I read it in grad school and never forgot the core lessons. I continue to find ways the underlying principles apply to all aspects of business. I would recommend the recently published "Working Backwards," by Bill Carr and Colin Bryar, two Amazon vets who were kind enough to clearly communicate what they learned while working there.  

 

A bit more broadly, seek out "A Monkey Could Do Your Job," by Frazer Buntin. Full disclosure, Frazer's my brother-in-law as well. But this book is equal parts memoir, business lessons and personal career coaching, and as such, it's one of the only and most concise books of its type I've ever found. 

 

Edward Tufte's "Envisioning Information" and "Beautiful Evidence" are both gifts I regularly give colleagues and team members, regardless of their roles. For more than half of the people in the world, pictures do a better job transmitting information than words. Tufte unlocks and illustrates the best practices for this. 

 

Lastly, "The Art of Looking Sideways," by Alan Fletcher, literally changed how my mind is wired, how I view the world at large, and therefore my life. 

 

What do you do to unwind or recharge when you are not focused on growing Ripl?  

I'm a regular bike rider. I ride both for my commute during non-quarantine times, and for pleasure. I need to be in motion to get into flow state, and riding is the full monty because it's good for my brain, good for my emotional state, and good for my heart. 

 

When I can really check out for a few days or more, I usually prioritize fly-fishing or travelling in new countries to experience various cultures with my family. I have found since I met my wife that I really enjoy both the process and the product of home cooking, also. I'm in charge of family pizza night almost every Friday which we've made an informal shabbat tradition at my home. So, I've come to really look forward to assembling, cooking, and handing over everyone's custom pizzas in my family pretty much every week.