Chris Cunningham graduated from Virginia Tech with a double major in Business Management and Global Business. He started his tech career at Cvent, where he became one of their youngest managers and helped them grow as they went public (NYSE). Currently, he’s Vice President of Business Development at Elevator Studio and runs massive influencer marketing campaigns for Dan Blitzerian’s Ignite, LYFT, 1st Phorm, and many more!
Chris Cunningham began his tech career at Cvent, where he became one of the youngest managers and helped them grow as they went public (NYSE). He moved on to help start ClickUp in San Francisco and head Business Development there. Now he’s Vice President of Business Development at Elevator Studio and runs massive influencer marketing campaigns for Dan Blitzerian’s Ignite, LYFT, and 1st Phorm.
Chris Cunningham is the Vice President of Business Development at Elevator Studio and runs massive influencer marketing campaigns for Dan Blitzerian’s Ignite, LYFT, 1st Phorm, and more. Growing up in a small town in Vermont, Cunningham went on to graduate from Virginia Tech with a double major in Business Management and Global Business. He started ClickUp in San Francisco and helped grow Cvent as they went public (NYSE).
What made you realize social media was so valuable as a marketing tool?
I really realized it when I pretended to win the lottery in 2012 and gained an unreal amount of followers from it. Long story short, my friends and I photoshopped a lottery ticket to make it look like we’d won part of the $640 million Mega Million jackpot. It went viral on Twitter and got a ton of press coverage. That taught me how important having a social media presence was, and made me want to learn as much about it as I could to be able to help others.
What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made professionally?
My biggest mistake was my ego. When I was young and first making money, I lost some of my drive. I became arrogant and thought I couldn’t make mistakes. Luckily for us all, life has beautiful ways of putting us in check when this happens. And that DEFINITELY happened to me multiple times. I’m a lot more humble than I started out, which has made me a better team player and improved my business success all around.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
Learn all you can about the internet and meet as many people as possible. And, stay in touch with all of them.
