# Ryan Hofmann

> Ryan Hofmann is the founder and CEO of Alterra Studio, a design studio for funded startups. He is a self-taught designer based in Seattle, WA.

## Facts
- Name: Ryan Hofmann (handle: TheRyanHofmann)
- Role: Founder and CEO, Alterra Studio (founded 2024)
- Location: Seattle, Washington, United States
- Background: self-taught. Started coding at 10. Designed for esports teams as a teenager (Cyclone Esports, Version1, Minnesota ROKKR). At 19 moved to Florida to join SMOK3, a startup, as creative director, and later also served as its CMO.
- Contact: hello@ryanhofmann.com

## Companies
- [Alterra Studio](https://alterra.studio): design studio for funded tech, SaaS, AI and Web3 startups. Brand identity, websites, product UI and launch films.
- [Auditvia](https://alterra.studio/auditvia): free website audit built by Alterra Studio (accessibility, SEO, AI search visibility, speed and copy).
- [Alterra Editions](https://alterraeditions.com): media company that owns short-form educational brands.
- [Then & Theory](https://thenandtheory.com): Alterra Editions' history brand.

## Selected Alterra Studio results
- iAgent: a launch video with 1.9M+ views across their socials.
- Watt2Trade: a launch film that drove 260,000+ wallet connections.
- TICKIZ ($5M+ raised): a complete brand identity in four weeks.
- Clutch: 5.0 from 3 verified reviews.

## Official profiles
- Website: https://ryanhofmann.com
- Alterra Studio founder page: https://alterra.studio/about/ryan-hofmann
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q133828519
- X: https://x.com/TheRyanHofmann
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theryanhofmann/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theryanhofmann
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheRyanHofmann
- Threads: https://www.threads.net/@theryanhofmann
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theryanhofmann
- Medium: https://medium.com/@theryanhofmann

## Research and writing
- [What 100 startup homepages get wrong](https://ryanhofmann.com/research): Alterra Studio scored 100 funded AI/SaaS homepages (60 YC 2026 seed, 40 a16z Series A+) on 12 criteria. Mean 14.1/24; 53% show no customer proof; seed 12.8 vs Series A+ 15.9. Full study: https://alterra.studio/research/startup-website-benchmark-2026
- [Letters](https://ryanhofmann.com/journal): his numbered letters to founders, with an RSS feed at https://ryanhofmann.com/journal/rss.xml
  - No. 005 [A shop in three days](https://ryanhofmann.com/journal/a-shop-in-three-days): Then & Theory from first commit to a live 50-product shop, 28 to 30 Sep 2026.
  - No. 004 [Why I brought Auditvia back](https://ryanhofmann.com/journal/why-i-brought-auditvia-back): Auditvia returned on 2 Oct 2026 as a free website audit from Alterra Studio.
  - No. 003 [The first second of a launch video](https://ryanhofmann.com/journal/the-first-second-of-a-launch-video): lessons from the 22-second iAgent launch video (1.9M+ views, per iAgent's CEO).
  - No. 002 [What 100 startup homepages are missing](https://ryanhofmann.com/journal/what-100-startup-homepages-are-missing): the benchmark's findings and what to fix first.
  - No. 001 [The accessibility reckoning](https://ryanhofmann.com/journal/the-accessibility-reckoning) (Oct 2025, first on Medium): why overlays failed.

## Pages
- [About](https://ryanhofmann.com/about): his story in six chapters, plus a short FAQ
- [Work](https://ryanhofmann.com/work): seven Alterra Studio projects, each with its own page under /work/, and his companies
- [Research](https://ryanhofmann.com/research): the 2026 startup website benchmark
- [Letters](https://ryanhofmann.com/journal): letters to founders, the research study, and Alterra Studio's practical guides
- [Principles](https://ryanhofmann.com/principles): the four principles he designs by
- [Now](https://ryanhofmann.com/now): what he is working on this month
- [Clients](https://ryanhofmann.com/clients): client quotes in full
- [Lab](https://ryanhofmann.com/lab): in-house experiments from Alterra Studio (type, Rive, Blender)
- [Desk](https://ryanhofmann.com/desk): the tools behind his work
- [Library](https://ryanhofmann.com/library): the design resources he uses, by job
- [Press kit](https://ryanhofmann.com/press): official bios, portrait, facts and press contact
- [Archive](https://ryanhofmann.com/archive): personal design explorations, 2015–2026