Nat Kelner

The mouthful

Nat Kelner is Senior Director of Digital at Terra, where he's spent the past six years helping shape the agency's digital strategy and operations.

He built his foundation in entrepreneurship, co-founding companies and advising early-stage ventures around Vermont's startup scene, before joining Columbia University's Startup Lab, where he spent nearly six years supporting founders (including Terra co-founder, Cooper Pickett), rising from Administrative Coordinator to Senior Associate Director of Columbia Entrepreneurship. He also spent time as an adjunct professor in Columbia’s Industrial Engineering and Operations Research department.

During that same stretch, Nat ran his own companies as Managing Partner of MetaMJ and Zero Pivot: MetaMJ built marketing, technology, and business intelligence for cannabis brands and dispensaries, while Zero Pivot delivered marketing and technology work for clients including MASS MoCA, Ellsworth Kelly, and SFFILM.

He joined Terra as a part-time Strategic Advisor in 2020, moved full-time in 2021, and has since grown from Director of Agency Ops to Director of Digital to Senior Director of Digital, shaping how the agency runs its digital work day to day.

Favorite Quote

“At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: “I have to go to work — as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if I’m going to do what I was born for — the things I was brought into the world to do? Or is this what I was created for? To huddle under the blankets and stay warm?” — Marcus Aurelius

How he got here

Terra · Senior Director of Digital

Nat leads digital strategy and agency operations at Terra, a role he's grown into over six years, starting as a part-time Strategic Advisor in 2020, then Director of Agency Ops, Director of Digital, and now Senior Director of Digital.

MetaMJ / Zero Pivot · Managing Partner

Ran two ventures at once: MetaMJ, offering marketing, technology, and business intelligence for cannabis brands and dispensaries, and Zero Pivot, providing marketing and technology work for clients including MASS MoCA, Ellsworth Kelly, and SFFILM.

Columbia University · Columbia Entrepreneurship

Spent nearly six years supporting Columbia's entrepreneurship community, rising from Administrative Coordinator to Assistant Director to Senior Associate Director.

Earlier entrepreneurship

Co-founded the Vermont Venture Foundry, partnering with early-stage companies on business strategy and online presence, and worked as a programmer and advisor at Rocket Listings, which made classifieds sites easier to use.

Education

Middlebury College · B.A., History of Art and Architecture.

Nat also completed the Tuck Bridge Program at Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business, a selective summer program in corporate finance, accounting, and consulting.

The credibility bit

Nat's path runs from entrepreneurship — co-founding companies and advising early-stage ventures — into nearly six years supporting founders at Columbia Entrepreneurship, and into Managing Partner roles at two companies of his own: MetaMJ, working with cannabis brands and dispensaries, and Zero Pivot, whose clients included MASS MoCA, Ellsworth Kelly, and SFFILM.

He joined Terra in 2020 and has spent the years since building out the agency's digital strategy and operations, growing from Strategic Advisor into Senior Director of Digital.