Camille Ricketts

Current role at XYZ Venture Capital

Camille Ricketts is a Partner and Head of Marketing at XYZ Venture Capital. A podcast page published in August 2024 describes her work there as investing in product-led growth companies, creator tools and related areas. XYZ describes itself on its own site as a team of investors with deep domain expertise in company building, positioned as an extension of early-stage teams that helps them move faster toward their next milestones.^[1][6]

She had left Notion by September 2023, when an interview series introduced her as a former Head of Marketing there. In that conversation she said she also advises startups, including enterprise-focused ones, which suggests the move into venture was an extension of work she was already doing as an operator.^[2]

Early career: journalism and communications

Ricketts studied history in college and began as a long-form feature journalist. A profile of her Notion work lists her time at The Wall Street Journal as starting in 2006 and her communications work at Tesla as starting in 2010. She has also said she worked on digital services for the White House.^[2][3]

Looking back, she has described storytelling as the through-line of her career: knowing how stories are constructed, she said, has shown up in every role she has held. The progression from reporter to communications lead to marketing leader fits that description.^[2]

First Round Review

In the summer of 2013 First Round Capital hired Ricketts, then a former journalist working as a content strategist at a nonprofit, to run its blog. She began as a freelancer and handled the interviews, writing and story ideas herself. The result was First Round Review, a publication of long-form operating advice drawn from the experience of admired founders and operators rather than from investors' views of the market.^[4]

One of her editorial choices was to publish pieces without bylines so readers would feel they were hearing directly from the person being profiled. In February 2015 the site was reorganized into nine topic magazines, including management and fundraising, instead of relying on tags. At the time of a September 2015 report it published roughly two stories a week and averaged more than 250,000 unique viewers a month over the prior three months, and Ricketts said the content had helped the firm win deals. A second editor joined in June 2015.^[4]

She later became head of content and marketing at First Round, and has said that while the Review was aimed at prospective founders, many subscribers were employees of large technology companies curious about startups.^[2][3]

Building marketing at Notion

Ricketts was the first marketing hire at Notion, where she helped build the company's global brand, strategy and marketing team. Public conversations about her tenure center on community-led growth: Notion ran an ambassador program and a champions program for its most loyal users, and it supported creators who earn money with the product.^[1][3]

She has also described Notion's decision to invest in student users, which was initially questioned because of churn but proved worthwhile because of students' enthusiasm for the product. A January 2024 podcast episode covers how the company seeds itself out to students, startups and channel partners and why the product is free for students and educators.^[2][5]

On measurement and brand, she has said Notion tracked a metric for sign-ups that followed readers viewing content, and that it kept brand guidelines short so that influencers could express themselves within a few firm rules. She pointed to influencer marketing manager Lexi Barnhorn as an early example of the creator-style marketing role she expects to grow.^[2]

Why she matters in marketing

Ricketts is notable for having built the content engine at a venture firm and then the community-led marketing engine at one of the best-known product-led software companies. Her public advice favors long-form substance, loyal-user programs and creators over conventional paid campaigns.^[2][3][4]

She names Figma, Duolingo, The Browser Company and A24 as brands she admires, a list that tilts toward products with strong identities and devoted audiences.^[2]

What is not public

The firm's own team page lists her but gives no biography.^[6][1]

On The Executive List

Camille Ricketts is ranked No. 41 on The Executive List (October 2026) in the Chief Marketing Officers discipline. She was listed as Chief Marketing Officer at Notion; sources now describe her as a Partner and Head of Marketing at XYZ Venture Capital. The ranking reflects The Executive Review's own editorial Trending Score; it is not an outside award, and placement on the list is never sold. View the October 2026 edition.