# Chris Walker

> Chris Walker is the founder of Refine Labs and Passetto, widely recognized as a leading voice in modern B2B go-to-market strategy. An engineer-turned-marketer, he built Refine Labs from his living room into an 8-figure demand generation agency, pioneered the 'dark social' concept in B2B, and hosted the top-ranked B2B Revenue Vitals podcast. He has since exited Refine Labs and shifted focus to ENCODED, a neuroscience-backed human performance company, while leaving behind a generation of marketers who rethought how buyers actually buy.

- **Role:** Founder & CEO at ENCODED
- **Organizations:** ENCODED, Refine Labs (Founder, exited 2025), Passetto (Founder & CEO, 2024)
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BS in Electrical & Computer Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
- **Known for:** Founded Refine Labs and scaled it to 8-figure revenue in under 4 years, Pioneered 'dark social' in B2B demand generation - the idea that most buyer intent is invisible to attribution tools, Hosted B2B Revenue Vitals (formerly State of Demand Gen), one of the most listened-to B2B podcasts

## Career timeline

- **2012** — Graduated WPI; joined Halma Graduate Development Program as Electrical Engineer at BEA, Inc.
- **2013** — Process Improvement Engineer at Sensorex Corporation
- **2013-2014** — Product Manager at Volk Imaging
- **2014-2015** — Product Manager at SunTech Medical
- **2015-2016** — Product Manager at Sensorex
- **2016-2018** — Marketing Manager (Neonatal & Pediatric Care) then Brand Marketing Manager at Vapotherm
- **2018-2019** — Director of Marketing at Eversound
- **2019** — Founded Refine Labs from his living room; launched 'State of Demand Gen' podcast
- **2020-2022** — Scaled Refine Labs to 8-figure revenue; became top B2B marketing voice on LinkedIn
- **2023** — Launched Passetto, a tech-enabled GTM strategy consultancy; rebranded podcast to B2B Revenue Vitals
- **2024** — Passetto grew into a full GTM advisory firm for SaaS CEOs ($10M-$100M+)
- **2025** — Exited Refine Labs after 6 years, selling all remaining shares; launched ENCODED and authored 'The Frequency Era'

## Achievements

- Founded Refine Labs and scaled it to 8-figure revenue in under 4 years
- Pioneered 'dark social' in B2B demand generation - the idea that most buyer intent is invisible to attribution tools
- Hosted B2B Revenue Vitals (formerly State of Demand Gen), one of the most listened-to B2B podcasts
- Ranked #7 overall in Favikon's Marketing & Sales category (top 1% of creators)
- Built a LinkedIn following of 164,000+ highly-targeted B2B professionals
- 97% of Refine Labs revenue in 2023 attributed to dark social channels
- Helped 250+ SaaS companies rethink go-to-market strategy
- Author of 'The Frequency Era'

## Latest updates

- **2025-07** — Exited Refine Labs after 6 years, selling all remaining shares to existing shareholders and a private investment firm.
- **2025** — Launched ENCODED, a neuroscience-backed training system; authored 'The Frequency Era'.
- **2024-01** — Launched Passetto, a bootstrapped GTM strategy consultancy for SaaS CEOs scaling from $10M to $100M+.
- **2024** — B2B Revenue Vitals podcast continued gaining traction; Walker maintained top 1% creator status on LinkedIn.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chriswalker171
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/chriswalker171
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChrisWalker171
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriswalker171/
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@chriswalker171

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/chris-walker
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-04-23