Peter Mertz

Focuces on building consumer-first technology. I spent my career on the world’s biggest brands; now I build for the people using them.

Hermosa Beach, California, United States

About

I build and run consumer businesses, and I've spent my career turning new technology into things that actually work. Most of that career was spent directing digital for some of the world's biggest brands before I went out and built my own companies. I came up through agencies like TBWA\Media Arts Lab, JWT, Team Detroit, Carmichael Lynch, and Zambezi, working on Apple, Ford, Subaru, and U.S. Cellular. At Media Arts Lab I led digital teams across five continents. At Carmichael Lynch I was Director of Digital for the agency, where I turned the group's P&L around by building a nearshore resource model that cut costs roughly in half. (I got there, for what it's worth, by way of a painting degree and a lot of curiosity. Ask me about it sometime.) Then I built my own. I took that nearshore idea and started Stateside, growing it into a 150-person operation across two countries, with headquarters in LA and a development center in Costa Rica, before exiting to my partner. Along the way I founded Offsite, which won Dave & Buster's, and Misfit, where an enterprise arm landed a client a Google Cloud partnership that drove an exit. Other clients included RM Sotheby's, Sephora, and Adidas. Somewhere in there I got tired of watching technology turn against the people using it, harvesting their data and selling it back to them. So now I build for the consumer. I architected and built a custom AI system from the ground up and applied the same architecture across three ventures: - Reformer, an AI-powered growth platform for small businesses - Truecost, consumer healthcare fintech built around price transparency, yield, and lending (currently raising a seed round) - Parfait, a taste-discovery platform built on a vector-based sensory model What I do best is own the P&L, build the team, and find the operating moves other people miss. I understand where AI is genuinely changing consumer search and discovery, and I can tell the difference between what's real and what's hype. If you're building a consumer business and want to talk, reach me at [email protected].

Experience

  • Digital Transformation Lead & AI Systems Builder at Full-time
    Jan 2025 - Present · 1 yr 7 mos

    Build lean, AI-powered growth systems for small businesses, uniting strategy, technology, and execution in a single relationship. Focus on owned infrastructure over platform dependency. Stack: Webflow, Next.js, Supabase, Stripe, Claude API. Clients across specialty food, coffee, wine, and independent media.

  • Digital Strategy & Growth Lead at Misfit Agency
    Jan 2018 - Dec 2024 · 7 yrs

    Led digital strategy and delivery for ~15 clients. Built and ran an enterprise sales/marketing arm that secured a data-migration company its Google Cloud partnership, driving exponential growth and a successful exit.

  • Digital Agency Operator & Nearshore Delivery Lead at Stateside Co.
    Oct 2013 - Jan 2021 · 7 yrs 4 mos

    Scaled a full-service digital agency to $8.5M in book of sales and 150 people across two countries (clients incl. RM Sotheby's, Sephora), built on a purpose-built Costa Rica development center. Exited to business partner.

  • Director of Digital at Zambezi, Inc.
    Nov 2012 - Oct 2013 · 1 yr

  • Head of Digital at Rock Paper Scissors / a52 / Elastic
    May 2012 - Nov 2012 · 7 mos