hi 👋 it’s lindsay and james

We founded SWIM to help early-stage tech companies get their sh*t together. If you choose SWIM, you’ll work directly with one or both of us. We occasionally pull in trusted partners, but you’ll always sign off on that first.

Wanna know more? 👇👇👇

meet lindsay

  • Lindsay is a creative at heart, but loves a tidy biz and thrives on continuous learning, so she has carved her niche as a generalist.

    Lindsay has 13+ years of experience leading companies from startups through high-growth stages and beyond, taking a systems-driven and people-first approach.

    As a 3X founding member of successful tech companies and a 2X employee #1, she has handheld some of the most visionary leaders through countless difficult decisions.

    She played a key role in growing Zeta Global to over 1,000 employees by leveraging data-driven cloud technology that took them to a recent IPO at a 1.27b valuation.

    In 2017, after more than a year at sea working on medical aid and oceanic research projects, Lindsay helped to found and grow EarthToday, a Netherlands-based mass-scale nature protection engine.

    She also helped produce this Weather Channel documentary and this Discovery docuseries about the Arctic ice melt in the Northwest Passage.

    In 2020, Lindsay led Playground through a successful $2.3M raise, then joined the team full-time to launch a scaling web 3 social platform.

    For Lindsay, it’s all about building technology that allows more of our differences to create more joy and less tragedy. She does that by growing for-purpose companies with impactful technology, starting with building strong teams poised to accelerate in strategic markets.

  • Lindsay lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband and their daughter.

    🏴‍☠️ She spent more than a year at sea on a (good) pirate-like ship.

    🐋 🧑‍🚀 She has swum with astronauts and humpback whales. At the same time.

    🚐 She once spent a summer retrofitting an old bus whilst crisscrossing the US.

    🔥 She recently retired from her 8-year BM run as a 5X camp lead.

    🤿 She scubas, loves trampoline parks, and never gave up on snow blades (short skis).

    🎨 Sometimes she makes art.

    🌈 She loves bold color combos (can you tell?)

meet james

  • James has 17+ years of leadership experience spanning facilities and real estate, people operations, recruiting, IT and accounting, professional services, and food and beverage.

    He has led operations for Primer AI since 2016, playing a key role in building a groundbreaking machine learning business. James helped close Series B funding in 2018 and continues to expand and scale the company.

    James then led operations for Lightform, an SF-based hardware company building hardware that transforms spaces and experiences using projection mapping.

    Following the success of his own business, Zeal Wine Imports, James played a valuable role in guiding several other entrepreneurs by providing insights across operational viability, risk management, and scalability, including Berkeley Research Group and Kiwi Landing Pad.

  • 🏊🏻‍♂️ James swims year round in Lake Wakatipu without a wetsuit (46°F in winter).

    🚣‍♀️ He represented New Zealand Universities in rowing.

    🐾 He loves his beautiful Bernese Mountain dog named George.

    👯‍♀️ He’s the proud father of two girls, Elise and Sonja, ages 6 & 7, and husband to his wife, Becca.

    🌉 James is NZ-born, but lived in San Francisco Bay Area for 18 years.

    🌈 He may or may not find Lindsay’s website color choices wildly offensive, but he’s too kind to comment either way, so, here we are.