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Thenuka Karunaratne
CEO at daydream
Thenuka Karunaratne is an accomplished entrepreneur and business leader with a diverse background in technology, marketing, and finance. He is currently the CEO and Co-Founder of daydream, a company focused on automating programmatic SEO.13
Career Highlights
Thenuka's professional journey includes several notable positions:
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CEO and Co-Founder at daydream (September 2023 - Present): Leading a company that automates programmatic SEO from end-to-end.23
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Founder and CEO at Flixed (June 2020 - Present): Bootstrapped Flixed to achieve 400K+ monthly visitors and millions in revenue using programmatic SEO.23
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Entrepreneur in Residence at Hustle Fund (June 2022 - May 2023): Worked on special projects across the organization.2
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Chief of Staff to the COO at Pango (May 2019 - June 2020): Involved in various operational roles at a company generating $100M+ in annual revenue.2
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Founder and CEO at AdMark Technologies Ltd. (September 2015 - April 2020): Built and operated digital brands in hyper-growth verticals.2
Education
Thenuka has a strong educational background in finance and commerce:
- Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) from The University of British Columbia.12
- Participated in international exchange programs at The London School of Economics, National University of Singapore, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.12
Expertise and Interests
Thenuka is known for his expertise in:
- Programmatic SEO
- Performance marketing
- Growth strategy
- Entrepreneurship
Outside of work, Thenuka enjoys learning Chinese, interviewing people with unconventional life paths, and writing on his personal website, thenuka.io.3
Philosophy
Thenuka values working on projects he enjoys with people he likes. He finds fulfillment in his work through interactions with great team members, customers, and employees.3 His approach to entrepreneurship is influenced by Buddhist principles, emphasizing mindfulness and detachment to maintain perspective in the face of challenges.4
Thenuka Karunaratne's LinkedIn username is thenukakarunaratne.2
Highlights
We're starting a content series on GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) that launches TODAY! 🦾
We'll start with the basics — what GEO is and how to ensure your website is optimized for each of the major generative engines — and then move on to frontier topics like optimizing content for better visibility in generative engines, playbooks for improving visibility, etc.
In post #1, we discuss all the new terms for AI SEO -- AEO, GEO, LLMO, AIO — why do we have all these terms, and which one will become the consensus definition for optimizing around search platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, etc.?
In this post, we also publish our argument for why GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) will be the correct term for the industry. In short:
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GEO is universal -- While terms like “large language models” (LLMs) and “answer engines” typically refer to text-based applications, the word generative encompasses a broader range of media. That includes generating text, images, audio, video, and other formats. As search evolves, AI will shape how all types of content are created and discovered.
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The other terms are subsets of GEO -- LLMs are the foundational models that power text-based generative engines. Answer engines like Perplexity build on top of LLMs and focus on specific tasks, such as responding to queries or summarizing information. GEO, by contrast, covers the full strategy required to optimize for all types of AI-generated content across different platforms and use cases.
Link to the full piece in the comments below!

I was talking to candidates from some of the top startups.
But none felt like the right fit for our Head of GTM role.
As an early-stage company, we needed more than just experience - we needed founder DNA, sales hustle, and operational excellence.
Enter @jayleejanet, our new Head of GTM, who embodies all of these things:
• Founder DNA: Janet is the founder of @startdoingwell, a personal finance coaching business (which I’m a happy customer of)
• Sales Hustle: Before even joining, she referred $125K in ARR to @withdaydreamco
• Operational Excellence: Janet has experience managing operations at early-stage startups like @seriesfinancial
I already knew she was the perfect match, but to seal the deal, I got this text from @jslishi, who worked with her previously at Series.
Welcome to daydream Janet! We’re so happy to have you!

