Nick's journey is a testament to resilience, constant learning, and a driving passion for empowering small businesses. He spent more than two decades in the trenches of retail — building furniture companies, importing from Asia, shipping restaurant apps — before turning everything those years taught him into Pixelocity. Through triumphs and trials, he developed a distinctive approach to digital marketing: economics-trained, finance-sharpened, and learned the hard way, with his own money on the line.
“This chapter of my life is about helping other small business owners master real-world marketing skills to make their own passions thrive.”
Education & certifications →Meet Sean Schimmel, partner →Read Nick's essays ↗
Where it started
An economist first.
In 1997, Nick earned his Economics degree from UC Berkeley — economic theory, quantitative methods, and the discipline of asking whether the numbers actually work. From there, an overseas chapter: International Business studies at Sophia University in Tokyo while serving the California government's trade office.
Twenty-five years later he was still at it, adding a Masters in Finance and Financial Management from Boston University in 2022. That blend — economics, global business, finance — is the lens every Pixelocity campaign gets built through.
1998–2020
The Sofa Company.
In 1998, Nick and his partners Peter Lien and James Hwang set out to redefine comfort, style, and customer experience in furniture. Customization was the cornerstone — customers designed their sofas to exact specification, fabric to frame — and skilled craftsmen brought those visions to life for over two decades.
Nick was the technical and creative engine: the websites, the advertising, the analytics — marketing that had to produce real customers, every month, or the doors didn't stay open. When The Sofa Company closed in 2020, it left a legacy in countless LA homes — and left Nick with a rare education no agency classroom can teach: twenty years of spending his own money on marketing.
The ventures along the way
2001
MisterImporter
One of the first LA furniture operations importing containers of fine furniture from Asia — pioneering globally sourced, one-of-a-kind pieces in the Los Angeles market.
2008
99Apps
Founded with his sister Natalie in the early smartphone days — iPhone apps built for restaurants, at the front edge of an emerging technology.
2014
Recliners.LA
A specialized brand bringing the world's best reclining furniture — Stressless, American Leather, Palliser — to LA, and a leading e-commerce operation in the category.
2020
Pixelocity
Two decades of marketing that had to pay for itself, turned into an agency built for small business owners.
Education
BA, Economics — UC Berkeley
1997
Economic theory, quantitative methods, and business applications — the foundation that still drives how Pixelocity anticipates market trends. Go Bears!
International Business — Sophia University, Tokyo
Post-grad
Studied in Tokyo while serving the California government's trade office — a working education in global economics and cross-cultural business.
Masters in Finance — Boston University
2022
Financial modeling, corporate finance, and investment analysis — the discipline behind budget-optimized, high-return ad strategies.
Certifications
Preferred Advertising Partner — Search, Shopping, Display, Video & Apps Ads
Upwork
Top Rated Plus
CompTIA
A+ Certification
Yelp
Agency Partner
AdRoll
Certified Partner
“Nick excels in pretty much anything he sets his mind to. He is a natural born leader and does not shy away from challenges. He relishes in the journey as much as crossing the finish line.”
MAY 5, 2026
The No Man’s Land Between Idea and Execution
Most ideas don’t die because they were bad. They die because the path from thought to proof costs too much. AI is changing that —…
Read →
MAY 1, 2026
Not everyone sees the game inside the game.
Most people look for a job. Some people look for an opportunity. A small group looks at every job as an opportunity — and can't h…
Read →
APR 29, 2026
The Point Guard
I spent part of today trying to explain to myself what exactly I'm building. Here's what I landed on: I'm building a point guard.
Read →
Free consultation
Want Nick in your corner?
A free consultation with Nick — no pressure, no subscriptions. Just a clear read on where your marketing stands and what to do next. Pick a time below.
You'll meet with Nick Ostroff, Pixelocity founder.
A quick read on where your marketing stands and whether we can help.
Checking live availability…
Prefer to talk now? Call 310-817-0265