About the Founder

Twenty-five years on the front lines of digital growth.

I'm Andrew Shaw — founder of Twenty One Ton, and your senior partner in customer acquisition. Before I ever advised a client, I held the senior seats myself. Here's the record.

Andrew Shaw in vintage 1920s pinstripes — the tactician, in character — The tactician, in character. Every consultant says they'll fight for your business — I dress for it.

Why the back story matters

Anyone can call themselves a consultant.

What validates the title is having carried the accountability — the budgets, the teams, the board reporting, the revenue targets. My career spans the entire arc of the commercial internet: from hand-building the first corporate websites of the dot-com era, to running enterprise digital operations, to architecting AI-driven acquisition systems today.

That range is the point. I've operated at every altitude: writing the strategy in the boardroom, building the funnel in the code, and optimizing the campaign in the ad platform at 7 a.m. When you work with me, you get all three.

25+years of customer acquisition, without a gap

3cities of senior mandates: Toronto, New York, Los Angeles

Career Timeline

The record, in order.

Late 1990s

The Equicom Group

Director, Electronic Media

Canada's leading investor relations and financial communications firm — later acquired by TMX Group, owner of the Toronto Stock Exchange. I led digital communications strategy and web properties for a roster of publicly listed companies, where accuracy and measurable results were regulatory requirements, not aspirations.

Canada's #1 IR firm 120+ public-company clients Acquired by TMX Group
Early 2000s

Infomedica

VP, Information Technology

Executive technology leadership in the first internet economy: platform architecture, development teams, and digital product delivery — the proving ground for translating business strategy into working technology at scale.

Executive seat, dot-com era Platform & product delivery
2000s

ZoomerMedia / Fifty-Plus.Net / CARP

Vice President, Information Systems

At the publicly traded Canadian media company founded by broadcasting legend Moses Znaimer, I created, developed, and managed the organization's entire family of websites — including 50plus.com and the digital properties of CARP, Canada's largest advocacy association for older adults — and led the IT team through major legacy modernizations.

Publicly traded (TSX-V) TV · radio · publishing · digital Full web-portfolio accountability
2010s

CanadaDirect

VP, Digital Marketing

One of Canada's largest direct marketing and customer acquisition companies, serving multinational brands with a 600-person acquisition operation. I was recruited to build the company's digital business unit from the ground up — the in-house digital marketing, paid media, and online acquisition group.

~$150M operation 600+ acquisition specialists Founded the digital division
2001 – Present

Twenty One Ton Inc.

Founder & President

The consultancy: everything above, applied to your business. Over 25 years the practice has delivered hundreds of websites and paid media campaigns, guided multiple startups through growth to successful acquisition, and produced results clients quote in hard numbers.

25 years in operation Startups scaled to acquisition Google Advanced Search certified
Recent Mandates

HubKonnect · 1DS Collective · Razorbraille

Head of Growth / Head of Paid Media

The best consultants never stop operating. Recent senior mandates keep the practice on the leading edge: growth leadership at HubKonnect, an award-winning AI platform for data-driven local store marketing in New York — hands-on experience commercializing AI in marketing before it was fashionable — plus building paid media divisions inside agencies in Los Angeles and Toronto.

AI platform growth leadership Toronto · New York · LA Built two agency media divisions

Also: full member, Canadian delegation — United Nations World Summit of Young Entrepreneurs (UNCTAD, Lyon).

The Through-Line

What this history buys you.

Executive judgment

I've sat in the VP chair at companies with hundreds of employees and public-market accountability. I know what your board, your CFO, and your auditors need — because I've answered to them.

Builder's fluency

From CMS architecture in 1999 to AI acquisition systems in 2026, I've personally built with every generation of the technology. Nothing gets lost between strategy and execution.

Both sides of the table

I've been the in-house executive hiring agencies, and the operator inside agencies serving brands. I know exactly where engagements go wrong — and how to structure ours so it doesn't.