About
Tim Naughton
Startup Founder & Venture Studio Operator. Builder of repeatable systems. Based in the US, working with operators across the globe. Open to consulting, advisory, and pro bono help to worthy causes. Founder & Principal of FoundersRise, where I provide free marketing & growth systems advice to startup founders & small business owners from underrepresented backgrounds.
Roles · Most recent first
What I've done.
2026 — Present
ScrappyOS — Founder
Content and marketing automation OS for SMB teams and agencies. Currently in active development with a 14-day free trial. Built in public.
2022 — Present
Naughton Ventures — Founder
Revenue architecture, growth systems, and fractional advisory for startups and scale-ups. Portfolio operating bets include ScrappyOS and Silver Tsunami Partners.
2024 — Present
FoundersRise — Founder & Principal
Free marketing & growth systems advice for startup founders and small business owners from underrepresented backgrounds. Pro bono advisory, resource library, and referral network. No invoice, ever.
2021 — Present
Heady & HeadyOS — Founder
AI marketing agency built specifically for cannabis operators navigating 70–80% effective tax rates. Constraint-based marketing in the hardest margin environment in America. Built and runs the content + automation stack.
2021 – 2022 (CoFounder Emeritus)
Founder (D2C in Regulated Space)
Raised $600K for a D2C brand in a tightly regulated space. Helped design the product, created the pitch deck from scratch, raised the funds, and recruited the C-suite (COO, General Counsel) that are still operating the company.
2018 – 2021
1st Business-side Hire: GM and Head of New Businesses
First non-Founder non-Engineer brought on board to an ecommerce company in a tightly regulated space. Company raised a $100M Series C at a $600M peak valuation. I built the sales script for the core product and launched multiple new revenue lines: analytics, ads, & “Where to Buy” tools for CPG brands.
2016 – 2017
1st Business-side Hire
Helped build MyFinance from a lifestyle business to the pre-eminent website monetization partner for personal finance publishers. 8-figure exit to Red Ventures / Bankrate. I was the 1st non-Engineer hire.
Earlier
CFO / Financial Analyst (CFA track)
Formerly CFO. Formerly a financial analyst on the CFA track. Bring the finance lens to every operating engagement — unit economics, capital structure, and exit mechanics are native thinking, not bolt-ons.
The connective tissue
One lesson, across every sector.
The thread across all of it: every business I've walked into was running on the founder's willpower instead of on a system. I've done it myself. I've fixed it — for myself and for clients. The exit, the raise, the Series C, the agency serving struggling operators — different sectors, same lesson.
I didn't get here through credentials. I got here through failure early enough to learn from it, and success early enough that the lessons were worth something by the time I started sharing them.
That's what this site is about. The newsletter, the essays, the book — all of it is the operating manual I wish had existed when I was starting out.
If you just want to build something great and the usual doors are closed to you, FoundersRise is where I give back — free marketing & growth systems advice for founders and small business owners from underrepresented backgrounds. No invoice, ever.
If you're thinking about working together commercially, the right door depends on where you are: naughtonventures.com if you're building a company, silvertsunamipartners.com if you're thinking about an exit, scrappyos.com if you want to automate your marketing stack yourself. If you want hands-on help, the 90-Day Systems Install is the direct path.