Currently accepting 2 clients for Q3 2026
See if we are a good fit

From $4/hour Upwork jobs to $100M+ in managed ad spend.

Portrait of Kristijan Arapov

01 - Origin

The opposite of an overnight success.

I did not start as a DTC growth consultant. In 2016, I was working three jobs: waiter, family business, and winery.

  • I had almost no free time.
  • I was living paycheck to paycheck.
  • I was failing university.
  • And I had no real direction.

Then I got my first client on Upwork.

He paid me $4/hour to wake him up in the morning. First client · 2016

Strange job, I know. But that one job changed everything. It introduced me to a different way of thinking about work, freedom, and building skills that could compound.

  • I sent proposals that went nowhere.
  • I took basic data-entry jobs.
  • I begged for work.
  • I tested business ideas that failed.
  • I burned my own money learning what not to do.

Here is what the early years actually looked like:

Field Record 2016 - 2020
2016
51 proposals sent 0 jobs won
2017
91 proposals sent 7 jobs won
2018
214 proposals sent 13 jobs won 100+ products tested $50K+ burned learning
2019
Transitioned into agency work
2020
Went full solo

By 2020, I was no longer just trying to get clients. I was helping them scale.

The same thing that made the early years painful became useful later: I had learned how to test, read signals, find constraints, and keep going when the first answer did not work.

That is still how I work.

02 - Why This Matters to You

If you are stuck around $10K - $100K/month, I know how that feels.

You are doing more work than ever, but the growth is not matching the effort.

  • You see competitors scaling.
  • You have meetings about CAC.
  • You test new creatives.
  • You launch new pages.
  • You hire people. You fire people.
  • You try tools.
  • And still, the business feels harder to grow than it should.

I help you find the constraint, build the testing rhythm, improve the funnel, sharpen the creative strategy, and scale what works.

Not from a book. From real campaigns, real budgets, real failures, and real client results.

03 - What You Get When You Work With Me

Plain operating principles.

01 / Mindset

A performance-first mindset.

I care about profit, CAC, contribution margin, and scale - not vanity dashboards or impression counts.

02 / Transparency

Systems you can understand.

You should know why something works, not just receive a report saying that it worked.

03 / Speed

AI-enabled speed.

I use AI to move faster through research, analysis, ideation, and iteration - without outsourcing the strategic thinking.

04 / Communication

Direct communication.

I will tell you what is working. I will tell you what is not. And I will tell you what I would do next.

  • No dashboard theater.
  • No fancy reports.
  • No pretending a broken system is fine.

04 - From the People Who've Scaled With Me

Plain words from founders and operators who've actually worked with me.

Can he scale spend profitably?

“Kris is a gem. He is an outstanding performance marketer, and incredibly professional and pleasant to work with. We're very grateful for his attention to our strategy, account health, and growth efficiency, which has been critical in helping us scale >500% in spend while maintaining ROAS. We fully trust his expertise and are honored to recommend his work to other brands!”

Anjie Liu - Co-founder, Kiwi Biosciences (YC S21) | Forbes 30 Under 30

Can he grow from early traction to seven figures?

“Kris is a total FB expert and a true professional. We worked with Kris for about 3 years and he grew the brand from basically zero to over 7 figures in revenue. I would recommend him to anyone looking for marketing help.”

Vince Mundy - YC Alum. 2 exits - Boutique Agency that helps VC backed startups grow

Can he work inside a team?

“We've been working with Kris for nearly two years, and he's been nothing short of incredible. As our media buying manager, he's helped scale accounts from low five figures into the mid range, always with a collaborative and highly strategic approach. His knowledge of media buying is unmatched, his communication is clear, and he thrives even in challenging scenarios by diving deep into analysis and problem-solving. Honestly, part of me wants to gatekeep him, but he's a fantastic partner, and I'd recommend him 10/10 to anyone serious about growth.”

Ali Qureshi - Co-Founder @ Adcrate

Can he move fast?

“I hired Kris to run our first ever pilot of Tik Tok for Nuts.com after working with him in a previous role. Kris is extremely knowledgeable, professional, and trustworthy. He was able to hustle and get the campaigns set up quickly for us to meet a deadline for running our incrementality test through our testing partner, LiftLab. Kris was able to seamlessly integrate with our geo-lift testing framework and set up the campaign within the strict parameters to successfully run the geo-lift test with geo hold outs and spend pacing. I would not hesitate to recommend Kris to anyone looking for media buying services on Meta, Google and Tik Tok. I am looking forward to continued partnership with Kris.”

Sonja Sierra - Senior Director, Growth Marketing at Nuts.com

Can he make Meta profitable?

“Kris was super impressive marketer and strategic thinker who was both strong on the tools and the creative ideation. I really enjoyed working with him in scaling our Meta ads channel and would highly recommend him for others looking to make Meta a profitable growth channel for their startup / brand.”

Alex Naoumidis - Co-founder Mindset Health YC S19 ($6.7M raised)

Can he read the account like an operator?

“Kristijan is an absolute legendary mediabuyer. Always has the strongest insights, actions to take, and recommendations based on data + media-buyer gut -- a nuance that's only harder and harder to find these days.”

Sterling Montes - Co-Founder & CMO @ Flakes

Can he stay close to the details?

“We worked with Kris on our Facebook ads. What I liked about his work was to care about all the performance details and manage ads daily. I have been working with many agencies, but most of the time, they only analyze the performance and make weekly changes, saying it is the best practice. While I agree with the argument for some cases, I generally expect to make changes more frequently when we need to. Kris was flexible and professional enough to work with the expectations. Highly recommended!”

Tomohiro Takano - Co-founder Genomelink YC S21 ($8.1M raised)

Can he sharpen the whole team?

“Kris is one of the best media buyers I've worked with. His knowledge and expertise have helped us grow our clients businesses significantly. He's also been a great member of our team and is always willing to help out those who have less experience than him. Couldn't recommend Kris highly enough. Whoever he works with is lucky to have him on their team”

Alex Cooper - Co-Founder @ Adcrate

Can he launch the first winning campaign?

“Kris helped us launch our first successful Meta ad campaign. He narrowed down our target audience and found messaging that actually works and attracts the right people. Leads were coming in consistently for months, and the quality only increased as time went by. Would recommend 100%. Kris is a surgical-level specialist when it comes to Meta ads. He cuts through the fluff and immediately attacks the core problems and issues at the root”

Andrej Andonov - Head of Product @ Hububb

Can he go deep on the details?

“Kris is incredibly detailed and thorough with his work. He is always supportive and helpful and always goes the extra mile. He knows his stuff at a very high level and helped us achieve incredible results almost right away. Top guy also 👍”

Peter Siha - CEO @ hububb.com

Can he teach the system?

“Kris completely transformed how our team approaches media buying. Instead of just thinking inside the ad account, we now start by asking what problem we're solving and how to approach it strategically. His trainings across Meta, Google, and creative strategy have been game-changing for our entire team.”

Milind Gupta - Founder @ Catalys.co

Can he add senior bandwidth?

“Kristijan joined us to provide more bandwidth on key accounts and immediately showed his ability to understand high performance optimization and scaling. He took our processes from The BPM Method and blended it with his own expertise to provide great client results in Ecommerce and Challenge Funnels. Highly recommended.”

Depesh Mandalia - CEO at SM Commerce

Can he tailor strategy to the business?

“Kris played a key role in developing the strategy for our Mother's Day campaign. After working with several agencies and freelancers, it was refreshing to collaborate with someone who brings a grounded, realistic approach tailored to our business needs. He's incredibly knowledgeable, data-driven, and focused on results, exactly what we needed.”

Milo Freitas - Chief Executive at Beyond-Memories

Can he improve funnel and messaging?

“Kris helped us optimize our funnel for conversions and ad campaigns. He leveraged AI tools to capture market insights and angle the messaging which fast-tracked the process and helped getting better results. He moves fast, and communicates well. Overall we really enjoyed working with him.”

Charlotte Boivin - Founder, Meo Health

Can he become the Facebook go-to?

“During my time at Career Karma as Director of Acquisition Marketing, I worked directly with Kristijan on our Facebook ads strategy for 2 years. Kristijan was responsible for all aspects of ad buying and management and over time became my go-to for all things Facebook. Kristijan's knowledge of the Facebook platform and ability to also think strategically and push back where needed makes him a really strong ad buyer. I truly enjoyed working with Kris and I hope to work with him again in the future.”

Sonja Sierra - Director of Acquisition Marketing at Career Karma

Can he see the business like an owner?

“Kris isn't just a skilled media buyer, he's a systems-minded growth architect. He sees patterns before most, balances speed with precision, and has a rare ability to zoom out on strategic direction while staying laser-focused on the operational levers that drive growth. Working with him sharpens your own thinking because he approaches problems like a business owner, not just a marketer. If you want to stay on the edge of what's working in paid social while building long-term efficiency, Kris is one of the best partners you can have”

Aleksandar Pecev - Growth Marketer

Can he stick through hard seasons?

“I really don't got anything negative to share about Kris. I worked with him for 3 years, he was always there when I needed him, through thick & thin he sticks with you. A very intelligent guy who absorbs knowledge very quickly because of his openness to learn new things. Communication was perfect. His work ethics are better then anybody I ever hired for my own office. 10/10 I recommend Kris!”

Tristan Tier - CEO at Double M Affiliate

Can he reshape how marketers think?

“Working with Kris was a complete unlock for me... not just in creative strategy and media buying, but in how I think as a marketer. He completely reshaped the way I interpret ads, analyze psychology, and make decisions. Before, I had surface-level understanding. After, I knew exactly why something worked, or didn't, based on data and clear hypotheses. That shift in thinking has been invaluable. Kris doesn't just teach skills; he transforms the way you see marketing. 10/10, I'd recommend him to anyone who wants to level up their craft and their mindset.”

Paul-Cristian Mureșan - Creative Strategist

Can he produce positive ROI?

“Kris did Media Buying for one of our projects and we've absolutely seen a Positive ROI. He's got solid knowledge of Facebook algorithms and is on point with his tracking which I find very important when it comes to managing and delivering great results. It was a pleasure working with him.”

Nazim Agabekov - Founder of Nazim Consulting

Can he help quietly behind the scenes?

“I worked with Kris for over 2 years on the media buying side, and he is as sharp as they come! If you get a chance to work with him, I highly recommend it.”

Alex McEvoy - Founding Partner @ Opopop

Can he grow local demand?

“I keep a low profile so I won't go public with a testimonial, but I'm truly grateful for all of Kris's help and guidance.”

Anonymous - Founder

Client feedback

“I had the pleasure of working with Kris, I have to say, he's a true marketing pro! He not only understood my gym business but also developed a strategy that helped us grow. Thanks to his efforts, we saw a huge increase in brand awareness and enrollment numbers. He's a master at digital marketing, and driving customers through targeted campaigns. If you're looking to take your marketing to the next level, I highly recommend Kris, he's a valuable asset to any team!”

Gjorgi Vasilev - Co-founder of PulseFit training

05 - The Kind of Brands I Work Best With

An honest fit check before we ever talk.

Strong Fit

I'm probably a good fit if you...

  • are a DTC brand or consumer app.
  • are willing to learn and pivot if needed.
  • are around or past the $20K/month revenue ceiling.
  • are spending enough on ads to have real data.
  • care about profitable scale, not just top-line revenue.
  • want someone who can think strategically and execute practically.

Probably Not a Fit

I'm probably not the right fit if you...

  • want a magic campaign structure.
  • want someone to blindly increase spend.
  • want me to run cost caps or chase strategies you read from a guru online.
  • do not know your numbers.
  • are looking for the cheapest media buyer.
  • want a vendor instead of a growth partner.

06 - Experience

The operator track record behind the consulting.

Native Builders

Co-Founder / CMO

AI-native builder studio - products, the Builders.mk community, and AI growth for SMBs. nativebuilders.ai · 2026 - Ongoing

Signalpost.ai

Founder

LinkedIn GTM SaaS for founders - reverse-engineers the algorithm from your data. signalpost.ai · 2026 - Ongoing

arapovk.com

Founder

arapovk.com · Sep 2023 - Ongoing

ZenithZoneMarketing.com

Founder

ZenithZoneMarketing.com · Jan 2024 - Ongoing

adcrate.co

Account Performance Manager

adcrate.co · Jul 2023 - Jan 2026

CuriousMarketers.co

Co-Founder

CuriousMarketers.co · Jan 2025 - Apr 2025

Regimen

Head of Marketing

Regimen · Jul 2021 - Apr 2022

SM Commerce

Media Buyer

SM Commerce · smcommerce.com · Apr 2021 - Jul 2021

Nazim Agabekov

Media Buyer

Nazim Agabekov · nazimconsulting.com · Oct 2020 - Apr 2021

Sugatan.io

Media Buyer

Sugatan.io · May 2020 - Feb 2021

Hyconic

Influencer Marketing Assistant

Hyconic · Jun 2018 - Jan 2019

Final Word

Ready to break through your plateau?

If scaling now feels harder than getting here, let's find out why.

I will help you identify the bottleneck, clarify the next move, and decide whether we are a good fit to build the system together.