About

Michael Preuss, MBA

Marketing and growth executive for AI infrastructure, developer platforms, and complex B2B products, focused on customer adoption and revenue.

AI infrastructureGrowth and revenue marketingProduct marketingBrand is demandSource-code-level to board-level

michael.preuss.mba@gmail.com Connect with me on LinkedIn ↗View my GitHub ↗

Signature wins

+46% paid-ad conversions

At Blaxel, increased paid-ad conversions 46% while reducing spend 36% and cost per conversion 56% versus the prior 30 days. Over the same period, overall product signups increased 37% and workspace-created activity increased 41%.

Seven-figure ARR doubled twice

Contributed at Blaxel by connecting acquisition, technical proof, market intelligence, AEO, and a rebrand into one growth system. Authored seven technical customer stories with working GitHub cookbooks.

+$12M net-new ARR in 120 days

At VRIFY, connected product marketing, rebrand, demand generation, and enablement to 65% more demo requests, 30% higher brand recognition, and 60% higher share of voice quarter over quarter.

+40% trial to paid

At GitLab, increased trial conversion 40% and account signups 22%, alongside 20% higher year-over-year site traffic and 30% more site sessions.

Operating ontology

How I turn product truth into growth and revenue

Choose the problem in front of us. The same pattern runs through my work: understand the product deeply, decide what matters, make its value tangible, and measure whether it changes customer behaviour or revenue. Explore the beliefs, decision rules, execution patterns, and proof behind each operating mode.

belief

Brand is demand

Brand is a commercial system that shapes attention, trust, preference, and the efficiency of every motion that follows.

Belief
In fast-moving technical markets, brand creates memory and trust when feature advantages compress.
Decision rule
Treat brand direction as a demand decision, not a cosmetic layer added after strategy.
Execution pattern
Build positioning, contrast, identity, product proof, and market activation as one connected commercial system.
Proof
Led successful rebrands at VRIFY and Blaxel; at VRIFY, brand recognition increased 30% and share of voice increased 60% quarter over quarter.

Related evidence

VRIFY How to Tell Your Differentiation Is About to Become a Release Note

belief

AI multiplies execution

AI expands an operator's range and speed, but it does not replace judgment, taste, or accountability.

Belief
AI should reduce execution drag without eroding decision quality.
Decision rule
Automate repeatable research, production, analysis, and monitoring while keeping consequential judgment human-led.
Execution pattern
Build evidence-linked agents and workflows that shorten the path from signal to asset, launch, measurement, and learning.
Proof
Built hands-on systems for paid optimization, market intelligence, AEO citation analysis, content, dashboards, and knowledge management.

Related evidence

Agentic Traffic and AEO: Where Websites Fit in 2026 You Don’t Need Better Prompts. You Need a Knowledge Graph.When Execution Gets Cheap, Judgment Wins

decision

Strong opinions, weakly held

Decisions are explicit bets: commit with conviction, expose the assumptions, and update quickly as better evidence arrives.

Belief
Velocity and truth-finding can coexist if assumptions are visible.
Decision rule
Commit with conviction, then revise quickly when evidence shifts.
Execution pattern
Run short hypothesis loops and document expectation vs. outcome.
Proof
Used short operating cycles across growth, product, brand, and commercial teams to turn market and customer evidence into better decisions.

decision

Protect the product truth

What is technically valuable should survive every handoff from Engineering to Marketing, Sales, the customer, and the board.

Belief
Technical audiences engage when the message respects how the product works and why it matters.
Decision rule
Understand the product at source before simplifying it for the market.
Execution pattern
Work directly with Engineering, Product, customers, and Sales to carry one evidence-backed value story through every touchpoint.
Proof
Ten years of front-end engineering applied to technical product marketing, developer experiences, customer stories, demos, and commercial decisions.

Related evidence

GitLab VRIFY

execution

Cadence compounds

A dependable rhythm of decisions, shipped work, measurement, and learning turns isolated wins into a growth system.

Belief
Consistent operating rhythm beats sporadic bursts of effort.
Decision rule
Pick a weekly cycle and guard it from noise.
Execution pattern
Run one weekly loop from market signal to priority, owner, shipped work, measured outcome, and reusable learning.
Proof
Improved delivery speed 25% at GitLab, increased content velocity 50%, and built recurring decision systems across Blaxel and VRIFY.

Related evidence

GitLab lululemon How Small Teams Win Against Giants

execution

Make the proof inspectable

For technical products, the strongest marketing does more than make a claim. It gives people something useful they can examine, test, and trust.

Belief
Credibility grows when the evidence is concrete enough for a practitioner to inspect.
Decision rule
Pair important claims with product behaviour, customer evidence, a working example, or a measurable outcome.
Execution pattern
Build technical customer stories, GitHub cookbooks, demonstrations, proof-led experiences, and evidence-linked content.
Proof
At Blaxel, authored seven technical customer stories with working GitHub cookbooks that helped prospects understand and use the product faster.

Related evidence

VRIFY You Don’t Need Better Prompts. You Need a Knowledge Graph.

proof

GitLab: conversion at scale

Unified fragmented product-led and sales-assisted journeys into measurable conversion systems operating at public-company scale.

Belief
Growth improves when teams optimize the customer journey rather than isolated channels.
Decision rule
Prioritize the conversion points with the clearest downstream value and shared ownership.
Execution pattern
Align web, content, lifecycle, experimentation, Product, Engineering, Analytics, and Marketing around one measurable journey.
Proof
Increased trial conversion 40%, account signups 22%, year-over-year site traffic 20%, site sessions 30%, and content velocity 50%.

Related evidence

GitLab

proof

VRIFY: brand to revenue

Connected product marketing, brand direction, category framing, demand generation, and enablement to measurable commercial outcomes.

Belief
Brand and product marketing create demand when they sharpen product truth and make the value easier to trust.
Decision rule
Build the market promise and the revenue motion together, with shared evidence and measures.
Execution pattern
Led the rebrand, product marketing, category work, ABM, event activation, customer proof, and commercial enablement as one launch system.
Proof
Generated 65% more demo requests and +$12M net-new ARR in 120 days while increasing brand recognition 30% and share of voice 60% quarter over quarter.

Related evidence

VRIFY

proof

Blaxel: usage to revenue

Joined Blaxel as its first marketing hire and built the function across acquisition, product activity, technical proof, brand, and revenue.

Belief
In usage-based infrastructure, marketing must connect market attention to meaningful product activity and commercial value.
Decision rule
Measure paid performance and overall product activity separately, then use both to improve the full growth system.
Execution pattern
Integrated paid acquisition, technical customer proof, market intelligence, AEO, product signals, and brand under one operating cadence.
Proof
Delivered 46% more paid-ad conversions with 36% less spend and 56% lower cost per conversion. In the same period, overall product signups rose 37% and workspace-created activity rose 41%. Contributed to two successive doublings of seven-figure ARR.

decision

Protect the product truth

What is technically valuable should survive every handoff from Engineering to Marketing, Sales, the customer, and the board.

Belief
Technical audiences engage when the message respects how the product works and why it matters.
Decision rule
Understand the product at source before simplifying it for the market.
Execution pattern
Work directly with Engineering, Product, customers, and Sales to carry one evidence-backed value story through every touchpoint.
Proof
Ten years of front-end engineering applied to technical product marketing, developer experiences, customer stories, demos, and commercial decisions.

Related evidence

GitLab VRIFY

Background

I'm Michael Preuss (pronounced Proyce, rhymes with Rolls Royce). I spent 10 years in front-end engineering, then six years building and running a digital product business before moving through product design into growth and executive marketing leadership.

That path is still active in how I work. I can get close enough to the product to earn trust with Engineering, then carry the same truth through positioning, brand, adoption, Sales, and board-level decisions without losing the thread.

Today, I'm Head of Growth & Marketing at Blaxel.

I'm West Coast born, based in North Vancouver, a husband and father, and happiest when I'm building with great people. Off the clock, I recharge on cycling, NBA, and time with family.

Books I return to most: Thinking, Fast and Slow, Play Bigger, The Effective Executive, Empowered, and Trillion Dollar Coach.

Working with me

I lead positioning and brand as core drivers of demand. I set the direction and get the growth programs working, hands-on or with the existing team, then hire people to run and scale what we’ve proven.

I coach by default. When the stakes are high, I get close to the work, then step back once ownership is clear and the rhythm is stable.

Data over opinion. If it isn't measurable, I treat it as a hypothesis.
Strong opinions, weakly held.
Trust equals consistency over time.
Outcomes over optics.
Psychological safety plus high standards.

Execution style: listen first, then move. Solo draft, group refine. Coach by default, direct when stakes require it. Ship, learn, and ship again.

Communication style: candid and considerate. I synthesize quickly, but I want the evidence visible enough for people to challenge the conclusion. Debate-friendly and direct, with signal over noise.

One-on-ones: your agenda, my ears. We usually start weekly at 25 minutes, then shift to every other week when the operating rhythm is healthy. Bring wins, blockers, decisions, and support needed.

How to get the best from me: grant autonomy, define success early, show the scoreboard, challenge me with stretch goals, and give direct feedback quickly.

Blind spots I actively manage: moving too fast when goals are vague, under-specifying instructions for people who need more structure, and over-owning outcomes unless decision rights are explicit.

Life is short. Standards matter, and I want the work to be both meaningful and enjoyable.

FAQ

01Who is Michael Preuss?

Michael Preuss is a marketing and growth executive for technical B2B companies, focused on customer adoption and revenue. He leads positioning and brand as core drivers of demand, combining strategy with hands-on technical execution. He is Head of Growth & Marketing at Blaxel, a Y Combinator-backed AI infrastructure company.

02What does Michael Preuss do?

Michael Preuss leads growth for technical B2B companies, with positioning and brand as core drivers of demand. He establishes and proves growth programs, independently or with existing teams, before hiring people to run and scale them. At Blaxel, he connects developer-led adoption and product usage to commercial outcomes. He works across Engineering, Product, Sales, and executive teams, carrying product truth from source-code-level understanding to board-level commercial decisions.

03What makes Michael Preuss different from other marketing executives?

Michael Preuss combines commercial judgment with hands-on technical execution: he can set the direction, get growth programs working, and prove what works before hiring people to run and scale them. His background includes 10 years of front-end engineering, six years as a founder-operator, an MBA, and executive marketing and growth leadership. That range lets him connect technical product understanding, positioning, brand, demand, and revenue from source-code-level to board-level.

04What companies and roles are the best fit for Michael Preuss?

Michael Preuss is best suited to CMO, VP Growth & Marketing, VP Marketing, and executive-scope Head of Growth & Marketing roles at AI infrastructure, developer-platform, and complex technical B2B companies. He is strongest where the remit connects customers, product usage, brand, product marketing, acquisition, lifecycle, Sales, and revenue.

05How does Michael Preuss use AI in marketing and growth?

Michael Preuss uses AI as an execution multiplier across research, market intelligence, paid-media optimization, AEO citation analysis, technical content, measurement, and knowledge systems. He builds agent workflows that shorten the cycle from signal to asset, launch, measurement, and learning while keeping positioning, tradeoffs, taste, and commercial judgment human-led.

06What marketing and growth results has Michael Preuss delivered?

At Blaxel, Michael Preuss delivered 46% more paid-ad conversions with 36% less spend and 56% lower cost per conversion. Separately, over the same period, overall product signups rose 37% and workspace-created activity rose 41%; he also contributed to two successive doublings of seven-figure ARR. At VRIFY, he drove 65% more demo requests and +$12M net-new ARR in 120 days. At GitLab, he increased trial conversion 40% and account signups 22%.