Right Side Up Talent Spotlight: Dan Zook

The Right Side Up Talent Spotlight series highlights the incredible talent within our team, from full-time employees to growth marketing consultants in our collective. This month, we’re excited to introduce Dan Zook, one of our standout project strategists.

Dan Zook’s path to becoming a project strategist at Right Side Up has been anything but linear. 

After studying sociology at UC Santa Barbara, he spent nearly a decade marketing to farmers in the agtech world before earning his MBA and joining Lyft to help scale its bikeshare programs in major U.S. cities. 

Along the way, he partnered with RSU, first on the client side and then as a consultant. These experiences convinced him that the team’s down-to-earth, hardworking culture was where he wanted to be. 

Today, Dan is a full-time employee on our project strategy team, balancing strategy and execution for clients from his San Francisco home office, usually with his handsome dachshund Henry snoozing at his feet.

Let’s get to know Dan—his love of surf fishing, dim sum, and the delightfully quirky British show Taskmaster—and hear his take on where growth marketing is headed.

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Where do you call home and what is your work environment like?

I’m a few blocks from the most often foggy Ocean Beach in San Francisco, CA. 

From 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. every work day, you’ll likely find my long-haired mini dachshund (Henry) sleeping in an extremely awkward position in his dog bed at the foot of my desk.

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Tell us a little more about your role and time at Right Side Up.

I’ve been with Right Side Up as a Project Strategist for just under two years, applying my expertise in lifecycle marketing and product-led growth to help clients drive meaningful results. 

Before that, I worked with RSU in different capacities, first managing consultants in an in-house role, and later as a consultant myself delivering value directly to clients. 

After those experiences, I saw firsthand that the leadership team is made up of down-to-earth, bright, hardworking people, exactly the kind of colleagues I wanted to work with every day, which is what ultimately led me to join the team full-time.

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Could you dive into your professional background and any achievements you’re proud of or notable brands you’ve worked with?

I studied sociology at UCSB and minored in tech company management. Over the years, I’ve learned to love my sociology background because I’ve found that being an effective marketer requires truly understanding your target audience, knowing the product inside and out, identifying customer pain points, and solving real problems. 

I spent eight years marketing to farmers in the agriculture technology space for companies like The Climate Corporation and Farmers Business Network. 

Following that, while completing my MBA with a concentration in Marketing Data Analytics, I landed a growth marketing role with Lyft through Right Side Up. There, I built and deployed strategies to grow their national bikeshare program (Citi Bike in NYC, Bay Wheels in SF, Divvy in Chicago, and more). 

I enjoy working with new companies because it allows me to dig deep into a new audience and uncover their specific challenges and needs. 

But what I’m most passionate about is working closely with startup founders and mission-driven leaders, where I can play a hybrid strategic and tactical role, rapidly experiment, and see tangible business and personal growth every day.

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Give us your take on growth marketing today: What excites you, how have things changed since you got started, and where do you think it’s headed?

What excites me about growth marketing is its constant evolution. Early on during my career, the focus was heavily on acquisition tactics like ads on Meta, SEO and content strategy, and referral loops, but today it’s just as much about retention, product-led growth, and lifecycle marketing. 

Every year brings new platforms, tools, and ways to connect with people, which keeps the work fresh and continually challenges me to adapt in order to be successful.

Looking ahead, I see growth marketing becoming even more holistic and accountable for the entire customer journey—not just top-of-funnel acquisition, but also retention, advocacy, and everything in between. 

The rise of privacy regulations and the decline of third-party cookies will continue to push companies toward building and safeguarding first-party data, enabling personalization that feels both tailored and respectful of customer privacy. 

At the same time, users are gravitating toward smaller, trusted communities where recommendations and content feel authentic rather than ad-driven. The pace of experimentation will also accelerate, with AI and no-code tools making it possible to test and iterate in days instead of months. 

In this environment, marketers will act as orchestrators, blending strategy, data fluency, and execution while leveraging AI to unlock new levels of creativity and efficiency. As a result, the demand for hybrid talent that can move seamlessly between strategy and execution will only continue to grow.

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What has the flexibility of Right Side Up’s remote-first model allowed you to do outside of work?

Working at RSU has given me the flexibility to make better use of my time outside of work. Our team is spread across the country and it’s great to get the chance to reconnect at retreats every six months, but day to day, the remote model has allowed me to trade commuting hours for healthier routines, new hobbies (crab fishing!), and more time with friends and family. 

Since joining, I’ve saved over 500 hours of commuting—time I’ve been able to put toward my well-being and relationships.

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A few fun questions to conclude:

First, what do you like to do for fun where you live?

I love trying out new dim sum and pho restaurants across the city. And I’ve recently taken up surf fishing from Ocean Beach in San Francisco.

What’s a TV show, podcast, book, video game, recipe, etc. that you’re loving right now?

Task Master is a hidden gem for all of us in the USA. I’ve been laughing my way through all of the seasons (free on YouTube).

Lastly, what quotes do you live by? 

I’m a Stoic at heart, and I’ve held on to a couple of the classics over the years: 

• “Don’t explain your philosophy. Embody it.” - Epictetus
• “We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.” - Seneca

‍Looking to hire full-time or fractional marketing talent? Drop us a line. Are you interested in joining the Right Side Up team? Reach out at talent@rightsideup.co.