About ME

I’ve always been driven by curiosity. It pushed me west to Jackson, WY after college, where I worked a mix of jobs for the sole purpose of keeping my skis on snow. It brought me to New York City for a few years of work hard, play hard in my early twenties.

But arguably the most transformative chapter of my life was the 13 years I spent in Shanghai. I loved that front-row seat, watching society transform at an extraordinary pace. Professionally, it was a period of massive growth, where, among other ventures, I led marketing for Beats by Dre in China. Seven years ago, I came to Boston for a girl (now my wife) and applied that same professional curiosity to building a data product—specifically, a marketing intelligence engine—for the nascent US cannabis industry.

A man with curly hair is sitting on a red leather armchair, with one leg crossed over the other, on a staircase. He is wearing beige shoes with a red logo, white pants, a dark jacket, and a yellow shirt. There is a white informational text box on the wall behind him and the caption at the bottom reads, 'The Jie Fang Shoes of Ben Walters.'

The Work. You will see 17 case studies in this portfolio. My experience is broad by design: I have managed P&Ls for publicly traded companies, and I have bootstrapped two startups from zero.

I am a dual-threat marketer: I bring the data acumen to build complex models and the creative chops to design campaigns that move culture and the business. I’ve led large teams, but I’ve never put down the tools. I am equally comfortable architecting a global roadmap or rolling up my sleeves to execute the work myself.

At risk of sounding trite, I want to thank the colleagues and partners who helped bring these projects to life. We notched some good wins, took some tough beats, and I learned a ton from them along the way.

A vintage Jackson Hole ski pass card from 1997-98 featuring a photo of a man with light-colored hair and a beard, with details including name 'Ben Walters', height 5'10'', eye color blue, and an Alpenhof adult pass.

The Personal. I live in Cambridge, MA, with my wife and our two sons. I love running, cooking, and finishing the day watching the PBS NewsHour while I do the dishes. I miss skiing on the regular. I over-index on jigsaw puzzles, under-index on Rubik’s Cubes. My summertime drink is a Negroni. In the winter, I’ll take a Dewar’s, if you twist my arm.

Marketer Ben Walters with curly salt-and-pepper hair, wearing a teal flannel shirt against a mountain landscape.