Geo-Experimentation &
$1B Growth Pipeline
Two years as the sole analytics & experimentation function for SVB's Startup Banking division — building measurement infrastructure, designing 130+ experiments, and proving that billboards can be a performance channel.
How I Turned Billboards
Into a Proven Growth Channel
Leadership treated out-of-home advertising as a brand channel — something unmeasurable. I designed a controlled geo-experiment across Austin, Miami, and Seattle to prove otherwise.
Built SVB's first offline-to-online attribution pipeline using QR-enabled billboard tracking tied to CRM. Proved OOH as a measurable acquisition channel. National expansion budget approved based on experimental proof.
The Experiment
Design
OOH drives measurable web traffic and CRM-attributable leads
The hypothesis wasn't just "billboards work" — it was that out-of-home media creates a measurable lift in web traffic, lead generation, and CRM pipeline when compared to a digital-only control market.
Controlled geo-incrementality with matched markets
Austin and Miami received the full media mix: airport displays, highway billboards, taxi wraps, bus stop posters, plus LinkedIn and Twitter. Seattle ran digital only. Markets were matched on startup density, VC activity, and SVB market share.
QR-enabled billboard tracking tied to CRM
Every physical placement had a unique QR code routing to a dedicated landing page. Scans, page visits, and downstream lead events were tracked end-to-end in the CRM. This created SVB's first offline-to-online attribution pipeline.
National expansion budget approved
All three markets showed significant web traffic growth. The incremental lift pattern proved OOH's contribution. Leadership reclassified out-of-home from unmeasurable brand spend to a performance acquisition channel. National expansion was funded based on this proof.
One Campaign,
Three Cities
SVB was a household name in San Francisco, New York, and Boston — but nearly unknown to founders in the emerging hubs of Miami, Austin, and Seattle. Marketing answered with creative built on a local hook (Austin got "keep innovation weird") and city-specific landing pages fronted by local bankers. I designed the test that measured it: out-of-home ran in the test markets while Seattle stayed digital-only as the control — every placement tied back to web traffic and CRM leads.
$1B Pipeline &
Full-Funnel Analytics
Sole analytics function for SVB's entire Startup Banking division — owned both marketing analytics and product analytics end-to-end during the bank's highest-growth phase.
Built the measurement infrastructure that tracked startup acquisition from first touch to funded account. Owned conversion funnel analytics, digital channel performance, and product usage data for a division serving thousands of VC-backed startups. Expanded into 4 new markets: Austin, Miami, Boston, Seattle.
What I Built
at SVB
Full-Funnel Attribution
First-touch to funded-account tracking across all digital channels. Connected marketing spend to actual banking relationships opened.
Looker Dashboard System
Replaced 6 manual reports with 1 unified Looker dashboard. 85% reporting efficiency gain. Self-serve analytics for the marketing team.
NPS & CLV Systems
Built Net Promoter Score and Customer Lifetime Value measurement from scratch. Connected satisfaction data to retention and expansion revenue.
Geo-Experimentation Framework
Offline-to-online attribution pipeline. Trained 50+ marketers on geo-experimentation methodology. Replicable framework for future campaigns.
The Analytics Behind
the Rebrand
The Startup Banking segment — pre-Series A life science and technology founders — was under real pressure: neobanks like Mercury and Brex on one side, the JPMorgan-scale incumbents on the other. Marketing led a full rebrand and nurture program to stand out and sync with sales. The rebrand needed proof it worked. That was my half.
I built the analytics layer that made every initiative accountable — positioning, content, the nurture flows, and the banker-led outreach. If an initiative didn't move a tracked number, we changed it. The rebrand stopped being a matter of taste and became a matter of evidence.
Industry- and stage-specific nurture, A/B-tested to the email
Founders who weren't sales-ready entered a nurture flow segmented by industry and fundraising stage. I ran it as an experiment — five emails, up to ten variants each — teaching founders how to evaluate a startup bank while warming the brand, so they arrived ready instead of cold. I owned the measurement framework, the guardrails, and the read on which flows actually converted.
Banker-amplified, hyper-personalized existing-customer marketing
For existing accounts, the program amplified each account's assigned banker and served customized up-sell and cross-sell offers. I measured the lift end-to-end: a 23% increase in cross-sell conversion, a 7% gain in NPS, and a 5% increase in customer lifetime value.
Experimentation on partner properties (Techstars, YC)
Beyond our own site, I ran experiments on the partner properties where founders first met the brand — testing where our lead capture sat, how our placement compared to competitors', and how to route the highest-intent founders straight into the sales pipeline.
Proof, Not Just
Impressions
The broader startup campaign ran on the same principle: every out-of-home and paid-social unit tied back through QR and geo-tracking to real web and CRM behavior — so I could report exactly what each one moved, not just that it ran.
"Atticus Li stands out as one of the very best. His ability to bridge the gap between analysis and implementation sets him apart as a marketing analyst who delivers measurable results."
Blake Park · Marketing Director, Silicon Valley Bank (Direct Manager)
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See how these same principles scaled at NRG Energy across 5 brands and 7M customers, dig into individual test-level evidence in the Experiments hub, or read weekly breakdowns on Lean Experiments.
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