John Lincoln is Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Ignite Visibility, the San Diego performance-marketing firm he ran as CEO for 13 years before stepping into the chair role in January 2026. A three-time author, filmmaker, and former UC San Diego instructor, he now focuses on long-term strategy and innovation while Krish Coughran serves as CEO.
Thirteen Years Leading Ignite Visibility
Lincoln co-founded Ignite Visibility and led it as CEO for 13 years before the January 2026 leadership evolution that named Krish Coughran CEO and Lincoln Executive Chairman. Ignite's team page says he now supports long-term strategy, innovation, and the leadership team rather than day-to-day CEO operations.
The firm has appeared on the Inc. 5000 six times and expanded through acquisitions including Integrated Digital Strategies in 2023 and Outliant, Rallio, and EverConnect in 2025, with Mountaingate Capital backing the combined group. Lincoln's personal bio lists client programs across brands such as DoorDash, HBO, The Knot Worldwide, Experian, and World Surf League.
Teaching SEO at UC San Diego
Lincoln is the author of Advolution, The Forecaster Method, and Digital Influencer, and he produced and directed SEO The Movie and Social Media Marketing The Movie. For more than a decade he taught web analytics, SEO, and paid media at UC San Diego before dedicating himself fully to Ignite and his family.
His johnelincoln.com bio frames a systems operator who blends creativity with marketing methodologies, citing more than a thousand programs and more than 150 proprietary frameworks developed with the Ignite team. Conference stages have included Web Summit, SMX, and Pubcon.
CertaintyTech and Rallio
Beyond classic agency services, Ignite materials highlight CertaintyTech for forecasting, competitive benchmarking, and media mix modeling, plus Rallio for social, reviews, and AI-assisted local systems. That product layer sits beside SEO, paid media, content, and analytics work Lincoln helped scale as CEO.
Outside work he surfs, trail runs, and supports youth sports and charities including Make-A-Wish, Rady Children's Hospital, and Reality Changers.