Chris Franks

Co-Founder, Clever Funnel

Denver

Chris has spent the past 20 years serving Denver’s startup community as an entrepreneur, marketer, and thought leader. His understanding of the opportunities and challenges faced by early-to-mid-level startups has been instrumental in the growth of many Denver-based companies, including consulting clients and his own ventures.

Chris’s passion for problem-solving on the company level led him to leave his executive position with Sprint to found RealGood Technologies in 2010, where he served as CEO until the company sold in 2014. As a hands-on growth consultant serving some of the fastest growing businesses in the region, Chris developed insights into customer engagement trends that would become influential in Growth Marketing. In 2017, Chris Co-Founded CleverFunnel Digital, a growth marketing agency dedicated to reshaping standard approach to customer acquisition.

Chris co-founded Denver Founders Network, an organization dedicated to creating a place where early-stage entrepreneurs in Colorado could meet and find support from some of the top minds in startups. In 2012, Chris and a group of friends founded Denver Startup Week. The week-long celebration of startups in Colorado has become recognized as the largest free startup event in the world. He currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors with the Cottonwood Institute, a non-profit that helps get kids outside.