Azat Samatuly

I'm a Growth Engineer based in San Francisco. I build acquisition engines - paid, organic, outbound - that turn spend into pipeline.

Currently scaling to $1M/mo ad spend at Nomad Venture Studio (AI EdTech). Previously drove GTM at Surfaice (Palo Alto, AI Construction Tech), closing $180K ACV and earning a TechCrunch Battlefield 200 invitation. Built growth systems at Digital Garage (early investor in Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn) and product at Adobe.

I study CS & Business at Minerva University (1% acceptance rate, #1 in innovation) with concentrations in AI and Marketing.

azat.samatuly@uni.minerva.edu · LinkedIn · Telegram
Numbers
$1M/mo
Ad spend managed
40%
Blended ROI at scale
$0.87
CPC (Meta + Google)
$180K
ACV closed (B2B)
90/wk
Ad creatives produced
44%
CPL reduction
15M+
Organic views
283%
LinkedIn impression growth
60%
LTV above CAC
Experience
2026 Nomad Venture Studio · Performance Marketing Manager Dubai +

Scaling monthly ad spend to $1M across Meta & Google Ads. Maintaining 40% blended ROI at $0.87 CPC. Producing 90 ad creatives/week. A/B testing hooks and formats to keep LTV above CAC by 60%.

2025-26 Digital Garage · Growth & Sourcing Associate Tokyo +

Led performance marketing for Open Network Lab (Onlab) accelerator - applications hit all-time record, +30% above 3-year average. Co-led marketing for Takeoff Tokyo: 4,500+ signups, 6.2x ROAS, 38% landing page conversion. Promoted Lovable x Supercell Hackathon via email + community campaigns, 240 registrations, 82% show rate.

2025-26 Minerva University · Brand & Marketing Intern San Francisco +

Ran 50+ ad variants across Meta & Google for NACAC National College Fair. $4.10 CPL vs. $7.80 benchmark. SEO/AEO optimization: +35% organic sessions. Contributed to record applicant pool.

2025 Surfaice · Go-to-Market Manager Palo Alto +

Closed $180K ACV (JD Sports). Advanced 50 U.S. retail brands into pilot negotiations. Built 600+ account pipeline engine. Ran investor outreach: 1,000 leads, 25 VC calls, $500K investment. Scaled LinkedIn: +283% impressions, +237% engagements. Top 3 of 485 startups, TechCrunch Battlefield 200.

2025 Y Combinator · AI Startup School San Francisco +

Inaugural AI Startup School. Selected as part of the top 2,500 CS undergrads, grad students and recent graduates in AI to hear from the world's top AI experts and founders in SF. Lectures from Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Jared Kaplan, Andrej Karpathy, and more.

2024-25 Adobe · Product Management Intern San Jose +

Shipped AI gamification + habit loop features on Adobe Life App. 95% user satisfaction. Built Next.js prototype, ran A/B tests + 10 user interviews. 5 Agile sprints across eng/UX/research.

2024 Puzzle Strategy Consulting · Marketing Manager Astana +

$60K revenue in 2 months at 30% conversion. Reduced CPL by 44% over 8-week sprint. Restructured campaigns for 20 clients: +23% avg client revenue. Scaled pipeline to 20K followers / 14K leads / 66% conversion via Instagram + WhatsApp nurture.

2022 Ernst & Young · Employer Brand Intern Astana +

470+ qualified registrations via 22 school / 10 university partnerships. Launched Junior Ambassador Program reaching 3,000+ students.

2021-22 Alibary Agency · Growth Marketing Manager Astana +

TikTok: 0 to 16K followers, 15M+ views, 1.2M engagements. Secured $65K in partnerships, 8 brand partners, +38% avg engagement lift.

Side Projects
2026 Valentine's Day Campaign - WHOOP (spec)
WHOOP Valentine's Day - Add more life to your years together WHOOP Valentine's Day - One wearable built for two WHOOP Valentine's Day - Gift them more time
2026 Content Marketing - Cluely CEO
Marketing Beliefs
01 Optimize for profit per impression, not impressions.
02 Value = (Dream Outcome x Likelihood) / (Time Delay x Effort). Every ad and landing page should move these levers.
03 Volume is the variable. 100 actions a day, 100 days straight, before you call anything "not working."
04 Give away the "what," sell the "how." Free content builds trust. The transaction happens when DIY costs more than paying you.
05 "Price too high" means "value too low." The answer is a better offer, not a discount.
06 Four ways to get leads: warm outreach, cold outreach, content, paid ads. Master the core four.
07 Advertising is inputs and outputs. For every X contacted, you get Y customers. Solve for X.
08 If you can't measure it, you can't scale it. Attribution is the foundation.
09 The best marketing looks like the most helpful thing the prospect has ever seen.
10 Make the offer so good people feel stupid saying no.