Nicole Kelner

Nicole Kelner

Business Designer

Philadelphia · Open to relocating · nicolegkelner@gmail.com

Three-time founder with two acquisitions and a decade taking new ventures from concept to market.

3ventures founded
2acquisitions
55Kaudience built from zero

Zero to One

I specialize in taking ideas from zero to one: a product, a venture, a piece of policy nobody has made legible yet. Some of that work has been building things myself, and some of it has been helping clients in complex, regulated industries see their own problem clearly enough to move.

Case 01 Arts and Climate Change The client studio I founded, working with the Department of Energy, Rocky Mountain Institute, Sunrun, and The Guardian. Its flagship deliverable, an illustrated guide to the Inflation Reduction Act, reached 250,000 impressions.
Case 02 Free Time A 0-to-1 consumer venture, built solo, live on the App Store at 4.8 stars. Owned the business model, pricing, and unit economics, then iterated on what the data said.
Case 03 Unplug OS iOS, in beta and launching 2026. A second 0-to-1 venture, specified and prototyped across 24 screens before a line of production code.
Case 04 So You Want to Work in Climate Structuring a field nobody had mapped: an open-source database of climate jobs, funding, and training, 25,000 views in its first six months.
Case 05 The Coding Space A multisided business model, cofounded and grown to 5 markets and $1M in revenue with partnerships including Google and Microsoft, then acquired.
Experience

Past Work

  1. FounderArts and Climate Change, a client-facing studio for climate and energy organizations
  2. FounderMindful Tech Studio · Free Time · Unplug OS
  3. Cofounder and COOThe Coding Space, then Head of Marketing
  4. First Hire and Chief of StaffClimate Finance Solutions, clean energy finance and federal grant programs
  5. Head of OperationsDashboard.Earth, a consumer climate app
  6. Founder and CEOSmartPurse, acquired by Betabrand
By the numbers

Key metrics

  1. 250,000 impressionsMy illustrated guide to the Inflation Reduction Act, adopted by local governments as their explainer for residents.
  2. 61.6% trial to paidFree Time, all-time across 426 days tracked. Download to paid runs 6.8%, and 9.6% over the last 90 days.
  3. $1M in revenueThe Coding Space, the K-12 company I cofounded. One location to five markets, 2,500 students, then acquired.
  4. 2,500 students taughtThe Coding Space, with 50 part-time teachers hired and trained across five markets.
  5. 55,000 followersArts and Climate Change, my studio. Grown from zero, reaching more than 3 million people.
Tools I work in

Most minutes logged

  1. MixpanelInstrumented both apps end to end
  2. RevenueCatSubscription state, joined to activation in one dashboard
  3. Figma and FigJamSpecs, business model canvases, and workshop facilitation
  4. Notion and TrelloBacklogs and delivery, from a 10-person cross-functional team to solo release management
  5. Adobe Creative Suite & ProcreateIllustration and the visual narratives clients act on
Specialties

Business Design

  1. Business model and value proposition designGo-to-market strategy, pricing and monetization, unit economics
  2. Venture concepting and incubationConcept to execution roadmap, 0 to 1 ownership from idea to market
  3. Research and synthesisExpert discovery interviews, qualitative and quantitative synthesis, opportunity framing
  4. Strategic narrative and storytellingMaking technical systems legible, fact-checked with outside experts
  5. Facilitation and stakeholdersClient workshops at Harvard, MIT, NYU, and American University