Justin Winter Growth Executive & Founder
Founder of 3 companies. Growth, ops, and product across 11. 150+ advisory engagements. From a bootstrapped $50M+ brand to a $1B+ unicorn.
I don’t have one playbook. I have the judgment to know which one the problem calls for.
Who is Justin Winter
Justin Winter is a growth executive and founder who co-founded Diamond Candles (a $50M+ home-fragrance brand) and Boostopia (a customer-support software platform), and has led growth, operations, and product across 11 companies and 7 industries. He is currently VP of Growth at A Pup Above.
Most operators run one playbook their whole career. I’ve run the same four disciplines across 11 companies and 7 industries: acquisition, retention, product, and operations. Long enough to learn the part that isn’t on any slide. Which growth levers are universal, and which only work in the room where you first found them. The patterns transfer. The nuance is the part I’ve already paid for, so you don’t have to.
Justin Winter
Worked on projects with growth and ops teams at
Every logo has a story — hover over onetap one for the details.
Outcomes, not a résumé
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VP of Growth
Leading digital commerce, full-funnel DTC growth, Amazon, and subscription strategy for a premium dog nutrition brand distributed nationally at retail.
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VP of Growth
Led GTM and demand generation for a retail-media SaaS platform valued at $1B+, powering grocery retail ecosystems.
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Head of Cloud
Owned product strategy and cloud infrastructure for a consumer media preservation platform managing 2.9PB of customer content used by over one million families.
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Interim COO
Doubled revenue in under 90 days by rebuilding digital funnels, ad performance, and growth systems across a five-location outdoor recreation company.
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Head of Marketing
Second full-time hire at a venture-backed beauty ecommerce spinout of Deliverr, acquired by Shopify. Led growth strategy through product-market fit phase.
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Pendleton Places
Founder & CEO
Built a short-term rental management company to 40+ properties and $2M+ in annual revenue using a shared-operations hotel model in the Raleigh-Durham market. Self-taught interior designer across the portfolio.
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Co-founder & CEO
Built a VC-backed B2B SaaS platform for DTC customer support operations. Scaled to $25K MRR and 100+ customers including Allbirds, Bombas, Reformation, Peter Millar, and Supergoop. Angel-backed by Jason Calacanis via LAUNCH.
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Co-founder & CEO
Bootstrapped the largest online home fragrance brand in the world to $50M+ in lifetime revenue with a team of 50+.
Selected roles. Full history on LinkedIn.
What people say
100+ consulting calls with founders, operators, and growth leaders. A selection of what they said.
“Justin was awesome to speak with in a number of areas relating to ecommerce & marketing. It’s a given he is brilliant with marketing, social media, etc., having grown Diamond Candles so quickly. However, he also has a very strategic approach and gave great insights into product marketing channel fit. One of my best calls on Clarity.”
“Best call I’ve had on Clarity (and I’ve had some good ones — never given that superlative before). Very ethical marketer standing up for what he believes in, with a terrific mind and real enthusiasm.”
“Any early-stage venture is inherently risky and challenging. It takes serious intellectual horsepower. Justin has the stamina to work through key strategic issues. I’ve talked with a lot of really smart people on Clarity — the call with Justin was one of the best.”
“If there was such a thing as a sorcerer in residence for e-commerce problems, Justin would be it. There’s a lot of noisy data in e-commerce, and Justin cuts right to the heart of your problem and figures out the best way to attack it.”
More from short consulting engagements
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“Best call on Clarity ever. Justin is an e-commerce rock star and I wish I had his advice years ago. He reviewed our site beforehand and had a plan so our time was 100% productive.”
Amy Rodbell -
“This was BY FAR the best phone call I have EVER had! Justin is the most knowledgeable individual I have talked with about my business. I HIGHLY recommend speaking with him.”
Griffin ThallPura Vida Bracelets -
“Justin was super sharp and gave us very actionable advice. Great guy and incredibly helpful.”
Justin Maresco-author of Traction -
“Excellent call. I wish I had talked to Justin 6 months earlier. Actual actionable strategic steps that needed to be implemented immediately.”
Murali Sajja -
“Friendly, helpful, and an expert in his field. Very refreshing to speak with someone of his caliber. My notes looked like the sticky-note monster threw up all over my office.”
Mark Stuart Brown -
“Justin quickly understood our primary challenges and shared thoughtful, relevant insights with an actionable game plan. He adapted fast to new hypotheticals so we could explore the opportunity set.”
Scott Barnett -
“So incredibly helpful — I cannot say enough great things about our call. He gave me plenty of inspiration I really wasn’t expecting. He’s the real deal.”
Allen WaltonSpyGuy -
“Absolutely awesome. You can tell within seconds that Justin really knows his stuff. He took the time to understand my business, then gave extremely specific and actionable insights.”
Mark PatchettGrowth Gurus
- “Dude is legit.”Paul Jarrett · Bulu Box
- “I always finish my calls with him with a to-do list and a feeling of… Clarity.”Richard Hopen
- “Justin is an idea generator extraordinaire.”Patrick Casey
- “Brilliant & actionable business strategy.”Shawn Mixan
Advising & investment
Selected relationships across consumer, media, and technology — hover over onetap one for the story.
Open to limited advisory engagements with consumer brands and growth-stage SaaS. Get in touch →
On how the best companies are built
A series on composing specialized, proven primitives across the value chain.
Off the clock
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Save71
Co-founder
Alumni-led advocacy organization pushing for governance and leadership accountability reform at Liberty University.
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Summit Church
Community group leader, Durham, NC — roughly a decade
Hosted a weekly in-home gathering. Mentored newer members and peers through major life transitions: marriages, new parenthood, career pivots, losses. Coordinated community service projects and built long-form, intentional friendships across the chapter.
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Service projects in India
Team lead
Two trips to Madhya Pradesh in support of local non-profits doing community development work. Led the second team: five people, two weeks on the ground.
Frequently asked
Who is Justin Winter?
Justin Winter is a growth executive and founder. He co-founded Diamond Candles ($50M+ lifetime revenue) and Boostopia (a customer-support software platform), and currently serves as VP of Growth at A Pup Above.
What companies did Justin Winter found?
He co-founded Diamond Candles (home fragrance), Boostopia (customer-support software / DTC SaaS), Pendleton Places (short-term rental management), and Save71 (alumni advocacy).
What is Justin Winter known for?
Bootstrapping Diamond Candles to $50M+ in lifetime revenue, and, over fifteen years, 150+ advisory engagements across consumer and SaaS.
What does Justin Winter do now?
He is VP of Growth at A Pup Above, a premium dog nutrition brand, and writes The Compositor. He also advises and invests in consumer and technology companies.