Jacob Canfield
Hands-On Angel Investor · Ecom · Crypto · SaaS

Sergeant at 19. Doctor at 24. Built it, lost it, building it back.

I'm Jacob Canfield, a hands-on angel investor in ecom, crypto, and SaaS. Nine companies built or bought. Four exits. A #1 world ranking. A 750,000-follower audience built on rented land that taught me to own my own distribution. Everything I know about marketing, money, and health was paid for, not theorized. Today I run BNGR, a performance creative agency shipping 1,000+ ads a month for DTC brands — and I write here every day about what failure taught me that success never could.

Jacob Canfield
Grand Rapids, Michigan
9
Companies built & bought
$10M+
Ad spend managed
1,000+
Creatives / month
2
Army Commendation Medals
01 / Expertise

Three arenas. One rule: receipts.

I only speak on what I've built, lost, or rebuilt with my own hands. Everything below has a scar attached to it.

Marketing

Marketing Expert

Building agencies since 2011 — the first one out of my clinic’s basement. Today: BNGR, shipping 1,000+ ad creatives a month across $10M+ in tracked spend for 20+ DTC brands. Grew audiences of 750,000+ organically, and learned firsthand why every follower now gets routed to channels I own.

Criteria: verifiable spend · shipped volume · owned audiences
Technology & Finance

Technology & Finance Expert

Investing since 16, starting with my grandmother’s money — and in 2008, with a newborn at home, I watched all of it go to near zero. I rebuilt by mastering the market that broke me: became the #1-ranked Bitcoin analyst on TradingView. Co-founded a software company that has shipped 800+ digital products, and a trading education community used by thousands. Interviewed Sam Bankman-Fried in 2019 — and learned the hard way what diligence really means.

Criteria: skin in the game · systems over signals · lessons priced in
Wellness

Wellness Expert

Doctor of Chiropractic. B.S. in Biomedical Sciences & Biology, 3.9 GPA, math minor. Built a practice from an empty room to a thriving clinic and exited in 2017. Founded a clinical-grade supplement company. I treat health the way I treat business: as a system you either run, or it runs you.

Criteria: clinical training · built & exited · practiced daily
02 / Timeline

The short version

Every chapter taught me something the next one needed. The long version — including the mistakes — is on the About page.

2001 — 2006

U.S. Army — Communications & Intelligence

Enlisted at 17, sergeant by 19. Deployed to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003–2005) in communications and intelligence. Two Army Commendation Medals. Learned that systems, discipline, and calm under fire beat talent every time.

2006 — 2010

Science, then medicine

B.S. in Biomedical Sciences & Biology (math minor, 3.9 GPA) at Western Michigan, then a Doctor of Chiropractic degree at Life University. In 2008 — right after my first child was born — the crash took every dollar I’d invested since 16 to near zero. I started studying markets like my family depended on it, because it did.

2011 — 2017

First businesses

Built Simple Truth Chiropractic into a practice I sold in 2017. Co-founded Grand Apps — a mobile agency started in the basement of my clinic — exited in 2021, plus FireEye Design, ClinicVitamins, and StopFidgeting, an Amazon sensory toy brand for autistic children that I exited in 2013.

2016 — 2022

The crypto years

Became one of the most-followed technical analysts on TradingView and crypto Twitter, co-founded Signal Profits, hosted the Crypto Trader Podcast (including a 2019 interview with a then-unknown Sam Bankman-Fried). Made real calls, real money, and real mistakes — I've written honestly about all three.

2023 — Now

BNGR

A performance creative agency for DTC e-commerce brands. We ship over 1,000 statics, UGC, and AI-animation ads a month, judged on one thing: verifiable performance.

03 / Writing

Latest articles

Daily writing in five buckets: Crypto, Marketing, Business, Scams & Security, and Life.

All articles
Scams & Security

The Coinbase Scam Call That Almost Got Me

A spoofed text, three support calls, and an email with a real 2FA code. The playbook, and the 3-second check that beats it.

Read →
Marketing

What Shipping 1,000 Ads a Month Taught Us About Hooks

The patterns that survive $10M in tracked spend — and the "best practices" that don't.

Read →
Crypto

The Risk Management Blueprint I Taught Thousands of Traders

The 1-2% rule, the position size formula, and why not losing beats winning. The math of survival.

Read →
04 / Newsletter

One email a week. No fluff.

The best of the daily articles, plus what we're seeing across 20+ DTC ad accounts. The only channel no platform can take away.