Jason Shafton on Growth Strategies, Comedy, and Work-Life Balance

Hersh's guest today is Jason Shafton, Founder & CEO of growth, product and marketing firm Winston Francois. His spirited journey spans Google, Headspace, Paramount, dozens of startups...and the comedy world. His hand in life includes incredible ups and downs, losses and blessing, and he generously shares his story with us on the show.

Jason Shafton is a 20+ year veteran in growth, where he built billion-dollar businesses at Google, Paramount, and DaVita and scaled startups like Headspace, Soothe, and Heal (acquired by Humana). At Google, he scaled the Google Ads platform and launched Google Music and Google Play. He also spent time leading marketing at Comedy Central, where he launched new seasons of South Park and The Daily Show as well as new franchises Broad City, Drunk History and Inside Amy Schumer.

After co-founding Heal where he helped thousands of families get access to better health, he ran growth marketing both at Soothe and Headspace, scaling those businesses to millions of global users. Finding himself on speed dial with some of the top tech founders, investors, and CEOs asking for growth marketing support, he now acts as founder of growth consulting firm, Winston Francois (named after his dogs Winston and Frank). Winston Francois works with brands to provide strategic guidance across product, growth, marketing, management, and organizational design to support sustainable value creation. He lives outside of Los Angeles with his wife Alyssa and their two daughters.

(0:00) Introduction with Hersh Rephun and guest Jason Shafton (2:34) Jason Shafton’s background in growth and consulting (6:19) Career highlights at Google and Heal; Winston Francois origin (8:35) Frank Growth podcast and work-life balance (11:58) Professional dynamics when working with a spouse (12:54) Comedy Central experience and corporate culture (17:13) Integrating comedy and improv in the business world (19:31) Strategies for promoting Winston Francois and growth advice