Growth operators for consumer marketplaces

Growth operators for consumer marketplaces

We help consumer marketplaces
grow revenue and retention.

We help consumer marketplaces
grow revenue and retention.

Ember is a senior operator team founded by former product and partnership leaders from Hinge, HER, Tinder, Zocdoc, and Olivela. We build the team around your problem, work inside your company to find what's holding growth back, then fix it.

Ember is a senior operator team founded by former product and partnership leaders from Hinge, HER, Tinder, Zocdoc, and Olivela. We build the team around your problem, work inside your company to find what's holding growth back, then fix it.

Where we've built

Hinge

HER

VICE

Zocdoc

Olivela

Match Group

Where to start

Start with a
Diagnostic Sprint.

In four weeks, we find the one constraint holding your growth back and give you a plan to fix it. 4 weeks · Scoped to your business · Clear deliverables. Not ready for that? Book a 30-minute call: bring one metric you need to move, and leave with a diagnosis, whether or not you hire us.

01

A diagnosis

Your biggest growth constraint, identified and backed by your data and user research.

02

A 90-day plan

What to change across product, marketing, partnerships, and events, in order of impact.

03

A clear next step

A recommendation on what to do next, whether or not that includes us.

What can we solve?

Start with the problem.
We'll bring the tools.

User growth

Acquisition is stalling or getting expensive. We use growth marketing, referral loops, partnerships, events, and onboarding.

User retention

Users join, then drift. We use engagement features, lifecycle marketing, community, and events.

Monetization

Revenue lags the audience. We use pricing and subscriptions, premium features, brand partnerships, and in-app ad products.

Partnerships

Deals feel random or add no user value. We use partner strategy, in-product integrations, co-branded campaigns, and introductions.

Brand recognition

The market doesn't know you or misreads you. We use positioning, brand campaigns, PR, creators, and cultural moments.

IRL & events

Community only lives in the app. We use live and virtual events, partner-funded activations, and app-to-IRL loops.

Investor readiness

A raise or exit is coming. We build the narrative, metrics, operating rigor, and data room.

Senior support

You need a leader before you can hire one. We provide fractional product or commercial leadership and board advisory.

What we do

Every lever. One plan.

We pick the tools after we understand the problem. Most outcomes need more than one.

Product

Features, activation, engagement, retention, subscriptions, pricing, and the in-product formats that carry partnerships. We’ve led product at dating, health, and marketplace companies from seed to acquisition.

Marketing & Brand

Positioning, lifecycle, campaigns, social, creators, and PR. We make sure the story the market hears matches what the product delivers.

Partnerships

Brand, platform, creator, and mission partnerships that create user value and revenue. We’ve built partnership businesses with 20+ global brands across film, streaming, travel, fashion, and health.

IRL & Events

Live and virtual events that build community and feed back into the product, designed to be repeatable rather than one-off.

Meet the operators behind Ember.

Meet the operators behind Ember.

Darshy Narine

Darshy Narine

Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer

CPO at HER through its acquisition by Match Group. Led core experience at Hinge as revenue doubled in two years. VP of Product at Olivela from seed to Series A. Led provider products at Zocdoc.

Angie Gola-Ebue

Angie Gola-Ebue

Co-Founder & Chief Commercial Officer

Global Head of Advertising and Partnerships at HER, building a partnership business with 20+ global brands across film, streaming, travel, fashion, and health. Commercial roles at Tinder and VICE.

Contact

Tell us what you need to move.

Tell us what you need to move.

We work with a few companies at a time. Book a 30-minute call directly, or tell us about your business and we'll reply within two business days.

We work with a few companies at a time. Book a 30-minute call directly, or tell us about your business and we'll reply within two business days.