
Walibu
#17 in General Business
Marketing Paradise!
- Founded
- 2015
- HQ
- El Dorado Hills, CA
- Team
- 6-15
Founder
Meet the founder

Ben Paulsen
Founder & CEO
Ben Paulsen founded Walibu in 2007 and runs it as a full-service digital marketing and software company based in El Dorado Hills, California. The founder story on the site is written in the first person and anchored in personal history rather than corporate credentials: Paulsen describes growing up watching his father, a construction industry lifer, lose his job in a corporate restructuring, an experience he says pushed him toward entrepreneurship. He graduated from UC Santa Barbara during the dotcom boom and moved to the Bay Area, where he worked as a web and graphic designer at a startup and attempted a venture of his own. When the bubble burst, he relocated to San Diego and served as Webmaster for NBC San Diego before returning to Northern California, where he took coursework at UCSF and Stanford and built software for the wine, manufacturing, and mortgage industries. Walibu grew out of that mix of design, development, and vertical software experience. The thesis Paulsen articulates is straightforward: small and mid-market operators deserve the same technology stack that larger companies buy piecemeal from multiple vendors, delivered as a single platform with a team attached. The firm leans on proprietary tooling (branded internally with names like SEO Tidal Wave, Social Sand, and Conch Contact) and positions itself as a combined CRM, marketing automation, website, and services provider rather than a channel-specific shop. Beyond the founder narrative, the public site says little about team members or leadership by name, and dedicated team or leadership pages are not published.
Editorial
Editor’s take
Ben continues to drive innovation at Walibu, expanding the Paradise Platform’s capabilities, exploring new AI-driven marketing solutions, and enhancing business automation tools. His work with Software development, AI, local marketing, and franchise marketing signals continued industry disruption and leadership in the digital transformation space. Whether it’s helping businesses grow, building software that enhances operational efficiency, or revolutionizing location-based automation, Ben remains committed to delivering intelligent, scalable solutions that redefine business success in the digital age. — Member-submitted notes for editorial team — Year founded → 2007 HQ → El Dorado Hills, CA Team size → 6-15
What they do
Services
Lead-Converting Websites & CRM
Walibu builds websites on its own platform that are wired into a CRM and automation layer, so form fills, chat, and inbound calls feed directly into lead tracking and follow-up sequences rather than sitting in a static brochure site.
Search Engine Optimization
Delivered as the 'SEO Tidal Wave' program, the engagement is scoped around the client's target geography and competitive set, with content, on-page, and local optimization handled by Walibu's in-house team rather than outsourced.
Marketing Automation
Walibu layers email, SMS, and workflow automation onto its CRM so that franchise operators and local businesses can nurture leads and retain customers without building their own martech stack.
Franchise Marketing
A bundled offering aimed at franchisors and their franchisees, combining brand-consistent websites, local SEO, reputation management, and centralized reporting across multiple locations.
Reputation & Social Media Management
Review generation and monitoring plus scheduled social posting and paid boosts, managed through Walibu's platform so the activity ties back to the same lead and customer records as the rest of the marketing stack.
Custom Software & App Development
An in-house development team builds custom web applications and mobile apps for clients whose needs fall outside standard marketing tooling, a holdover capability from Paulsen's background in vertical software.
