I scale businesses that protect human dignity.
● Product marketing & GTM for HR Tech, Edtech & Health Tech, where the stakes are genuinely human.GTM philosophy
Most positioning today is noise. When every product in a category looks and sounds the same, the problem isn't execution—it's that no one asked the harder question: why this idea?
Order of operations is crucial. Aligning teams around the wrong hypothesis bleeds expenses, builds frustration and drains investor confidence. The one who aligns and validates fastest wins.
Get clear on the real value proposition first. Product development and marketing without rigorous ethnography and market analysis are relying on aspiration rather than probability.
Caring is the source of great execution. Most PMMs effort, but caring—real attunement to market, organization, and systemic realities—generates intelligence that effort alone won’t.
From former bosses
(and teachers ❤️)“His fundamentals are fantastic. He's creative (multiple times clients complimented elements that were his ideas alone) and, importantly in this field, he's super easy to work with. I found I could give feedback and bounce around while feeling totally at ease and objective.”
Devesh Khanal, co-founder Grow & Convert | View all endorsements on LinkedIn ↗Grow & Convert client work:
Wrote for Insider (unicorn 2022): search "CDP marketing" or "360 degree customer view"
#2 ranking for "360 degree customer view" ahead of Zendesk, Total Expert, and Monday.com
#7 ranking for "CDP Marketing" ahead of Twilio, Gartner, SAS, and Microsoft
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“Rayner’s ability to put together a coherent narrative, start-to-finish, for a completely new product going to market is rare: everything from white papers to original research to speaking the actual language of executive HR buyers. Not everybody can do that.” — Rob, Chief Revenue Officer
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“Rayner’s ability to be a great team player was evident in every project he touched. His mindfulness in interactions and diplomatic communication style were instrumental in navigating complex team dynamics and ensuring smooth project progress.
What truly sets Rayner apart is his problem-solving prowess. Even when faced with the most challenging obstacles, he approaches them with calm determination, constantly finding innovative solutions where others might have given up.” - Julia, EdTech Product Manager
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“Rayner has a keen eye for detail and a sophisticated taste level beyond his years. He is tremendously attentive and diligent with an inquisitive mind and a great work ethic. The product experience research on his projects is insightful and always accompanied by impeccable presentation skills.” — Won, Head of UX
Latest Insights
About Rayner
Rayner's work in marketing began in front of an audience. As a record-shattering public speaking champion in one of the most competitive speech districts in the United States, he was already communicating on humanity, health, and belonging before most people pick their major.
Since 2011, Rayner has worked at the intersection of marketing strategy, organizational clarity, and human dignity—first recognized by Melinda French Gates for breakthrough innovations in education marketing, then going on to help Fortune 100 companies 4x their communications productivity and venture-backed startups in HR Tech and wellness 10x their annual revenue as head of strategic narrative and content.
A Duke honors graduate and Harvard presenter of original research on 21st century culture and the human condition, Rayner brings first-principles rigor to every conversation—helping people clarify their message and build an unforgettable value proposition. The approach: discover what's true, say it clearly, and watch the results come naturally.
▸ 1st page Google rankings ahead of Salesforce, Adobe, and Oracle
▸ Essays promoted on national media by 4x NYT Bestselling author
▸ Motivational Speaker & Voice Talent, New York University & Duke
▸ Distributed team leadership across the U.S., Canada, EU, and Africa
“Your brain made the literature that made our company “real!” Literally piecing something together that makes sense and is worth investing in and paying for. It's the damn marketing and sales that is our lifeblood. That is an amazing notch to have in your belt.”
Google alum
2x
inbound leads in 3 months through full-funnel content strategy, trend prediction, and building a distributed marketing team
What I'm Building
Taking a novel educational product, narrative strategy and positioning firm from 0 ►︎ 1.
Telos Admissions
▸ Full zero-to-one: conception, strategic positioning, pricing, packaging, and messaging. Early market validation for a category-defining educational product. Novel GTM approach in a low-trust, high-consideration market. Disproportionate client results with forthcoming editorial case studies.
The Golden Axis Method
Scaling a Performance management product to buyers who want the result but resist the journey.
▸ Earned media: research recognized and promoted by a 4× NYT bestselling author. Produced and launched original podcast series with high-fidelity long-form episodes. Latent demand conversion for buyers who resist the category with recurring revenue and high satisfaction scores (9.8/10 NPS).
Positioning a nascent Healthcare systems Venture making the case for how entities operate post-2020.
Pandemic Integrity
▸ Original research presented at Harvard to build institutional legitimacy and establish foothold and paradigm-level positioning across healthcare, social impact, and education. Using network effects to scale new operations and create new positioning and sales opportunities for new products.
WORK WITH MEShort engagements designed to move you faster.
A focused diagnostic on whether your value proposition is distinctive. Most audits complete in two to three hours. You'll leave knowing exactly what's working, what isn't, and why.
Getting the language right for buyers, investors, and internal alignment. Bring your current materials; we'll find where the signal is breaking down and rebuild from there.
The right moves in the right order. For teams preparing to launch or reposition after a miss. Includes hypothesis pressure-testing before you commit resources.
For founders and GTM leaders who are moving but not fast enough. We'll identify what's creating drag and remove it—without adding process for the sake of process.
Building something in HR Tech, EdTech, or Health Tech, and need someone who actually knows how to scale?
