ben aratame

three non-negotiables: having fun (i never do anything i don't enjoy), working extremely hard out of passion (not for status, money, or fame), and experiencing everything this world has to offer with people i enjoy working with. i spent two years obsessed with early-stage consumer growth, now learning design and product. i started methods which grew to 400,000+ users, #26 app store in 3mo, 2b+ views. first startup was airchat with naval ravikant in april 2024. ive hit #1 on the app store 5+ times. previously growth at ideogram, cluely, airchat, arcade.ai, cal ai, retro, coconote, turbo & more. at 15, i founded a discord marketplace for high ranked accounts on valorant and overwatch (hit rank #8 on ow & top 500 on val) which had 50k+ users and $200k+ revenue. on the side: consulting, x ghostwriting, angel investing, micro grants (aratame.org), content (350k+ followers, 1b+ views), bodybuilding.

[ blog ] [ notes ]

find me elsewhere: x | instagram | tiktok | youtube | linkedin | famous birthdays

reach out: ben@aratame.me

a few things i've done

companies

methods — co-founder & cmo, instinct©

ugc marketplace. $3m arr in 30 days, 400k+ users, #26 ios business apps in 3 months — bootstrapped with 2 people.

[ methods ] [ app store ] [ hq ]

rankexchange — founder at 15

largest account marketplace discord for competitive fps games. 50k+ users, $200k+ in transactions.

launches

ideogram

text-to-image models, raised nearly $100m.

cluely

0 → 1b+ views, $15m series a (a16z).

arcade

50m+ views on $10k/mo spend, $42m raised.

turbo

#1 ai note-taker, 8m+ users.

retro

#1 photo app in 6 countries, $9.1m raised.

coconote

2m+ users, acquired by quizlet.

cal ai

$1m+ in sales, acquired by myfitnesspal.

airchat

100k users in month one, with naval ravikant.

creator programs

ugc campaigns

ran ugc for 20+ venture-backed startups — 2b+ views total, clients valued $3b–$22b.

launch amplification

coordinated press, creators, and social to maximize launch-day reach for product & fundraise launches.

x ghostwriting

grown founder accounts — @kevinxu (5k → 110k+), and more.

influencer marketing

built automated influencer systems at cluely, arcade, cal & retro — 1b+ views lifetime, sub-$1 cpm.

side projects

consumer app (stealth)

early-stage consumer app, currently $22k+ mrr.

benny

a discord bot that spins up everything you need to run a ugc campaign inside a discord server with a single command.

[ bensbot.com ]

growth hack articles

writing on consumer growth tactics. latest: launching & scaling generational ugc programs.

[ read ]

aratame fund

microgrants for ambitious people starting from zero. $100–$1,000/month.

[ aratame.org ]

chopped vc™ — founding partner

early-stage investing in ai & consumer. $6.7m aum.

content

350k+ followers across tiktok, instagram, x, and linkedin. 1b+ views.

competitive gaming

rank 8 dps in na overwatch (out of 200m+ players), radiant in valorant (top 500), apex predator.