Humor That Works

What Humor That Works does

Humor That Works is a privately held U.S. consultancy founded in 2009 by Andrew Tarvin that delivers workplace humor training, coaching, speaking engagements, and content to enterprise clients and individual professionals. Structured as AJTI, LLC (registered in Wyoming) and operating primarily from New York City, the company runs a small team of 1–10 employees led by the founder, supplemented by named adjuncts in academic, facilitation, and board roles. Its functional focus is using humor as a workplace skill to improve productivity, reduce stress, strengthen leadership and communication, and lift employee engagement.

The core product is the Humor Intelligence Assessment — a free, 36-question digital tool that scores users across 8 research-backed competencies and assigns one of 7 humor personas (Advocate, Engineer, Entertainer, Inventor, Curator, Enthusiast, Skeptic). Assessment outputs feed a product funnel that includes the Whole Humorist online course, the Fancy Pants Mastermind, 90-minute strategy calls with the founder, and a 3-month coaching program, supported by three published books ('Humor That Works,' '501 Ways to Use Humor,' and 'The Skill of Humor Playbook'), a blog with 700+ articles, a podcast ('Funny Thing About That'), a newsletter, and an annual Humor Awards program. The 'AI Products' layer — AI bots and text analysis built on third-party models from OpenAI and Google Cloud AI — extends the platform, while the underlying methodology rests on proprietary frameworks (Three-Pillar Humor Skill Model, Five Skills of Work, Humor Intelligence Model).

Revenue combines three streams: professional services (enterprise training, keynotes, and 1:1 coaching sold through application-based sales calls), self-paced online courses on get.humorthatworks.com, and one-time book sales via Amazon. The founder has delivered 1,000+ (and per a second count, 2,000+) live shows to 50,000+ audience members across all 50 U.S. states and 18–20+ countries, with a TEDx talk surpassing 75,000 views. The company is bootstrapped with no disclosed external funding or institutional investors and runs a content-led marketing funnel anchored on the free assessment, an extensive blog, and a newsletter ecosystem with a 101-ways lead magnet.

Name

Humor That Works

Legal name

AJTI, LLC

Website

https://humorthatworks.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Humor That Works is a founder-led U.S. consultancy selling workplace humor training, coaching, keynotes, a free online assessment, courses, and books to enterprise organizations and individual professionals seeking improved productivity, engagement, and stress reduction.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Workplace Humor Training & Consulting

NAICS

Business Schools and Computer and Management Training (6114), Business and Secretarial Schools (611410)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Collaboration, Teamwork & Conflict Resolution (EDAAAKAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Project-Based Learning & Presentation Coaching (EDANADAH)

Keywords

• Workplace humor training
• Corporate comedy consulting
• Professional speaking services
• Leadership development training
• Employee engagement workshops

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Professional Services (Speaking, Training, Coaching): Enterprise training programs, speaking engagements, and individual coaching. Includes 90-minute strategy calls, 3-month coaching programs, and Fancy Pants Mastermind monthly sessions. Targets organizations for team-wide programs.
2. Book Sales: Sale of published books including 'Humor That Works: The Missing Skill for Success and Happiness at Work', '501 Ways to Use Humor to Beat Stress, Increase Productivity, and Have Fun at Work', and 'The Skill of Humor Playbook'. Books available via Amazon and direct links.
3. Online Courses: Whole Humorist Course - comprehensive approach to integrating humor into personal and professional life. Self-paced online learning platform at get.humorthatworks.com.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Humor That Works helps individuals and organizations use humor as a workplace skill to improve productivity, reduce stress, and build stronger teams. It sells corporate training and keynote speaking engagements for organizations, 1:1 coaching and group mastermind programs for individuals, an online course (Whole Humorist), three published books, and a free Humor Intelligence Assessment that funnels users into paid offerings. The methodology is anchored by proprietary frameworks (Three-Pillar Humor Skill Model, Five Skills of Work, 7 Humor Personas) and the founder's positioning as the world's first "Humor Engineer."

Product overview

Humor That Works is a unified platform centered on Andrew Tarvin (the world's first Humor Engineer) that helps individuals and organizations use humor to achieve better results at work. The core product is the Humor Intelligence Assessment (36-question, 5-minute evaluation measuring 8 competencies), which feeds into the Whole Humorist Course and paid coaching products (Fancy Pants Mastermind, 90-Minute Strategy Call, 3-Month Coaching). Supporting content includes two books by Andrew Tarvin ('Humor That Works' and '501 Ways to Use Humor'), The Skill of Humor Playbook, the 'Funny Thing About That' newsletter with bonus guide, the '50 Quotations Series,' and an extensive blog. The company also runs an annual Humor Awards program and produces the Humor Talks podcast. The product portfolio combines free assessment and content tools with paid training and coaching services, all built on AI-powered technology (AI bots, text analysis via OpenAI and Google Cloud AI).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Humor Intelligence Assessment A free 36-question, 5-minute online assessment that measures humor skills across 8 research-backed competencies, delivers an instant personalized report covering humor strengths, growth opportunities, and workplace advantages, and classifies users into one of 7 Humor Personas (Advocate, Engineer, Entertainer, Inventor, Curator, Enthusiast, Skeptic). It is the top-of-funnel product used for lead generation into paid courses and coaching.
• Whole Humorist Course A self-paced online course that walks individuals through integrating humor into both personal and professional life, delivered through the company's course platform at get.humorthatworks.com.
• 90-Minute Strategy Call with Andrew Tarvin A one-on-one 90-minute personalized consultation with Andrew Tarvin providing tailored advice for specific workplace humor challenges, sold via an application/booking process.
• 3-Month Coaching Program A three-month individual coaching program that enhances general humor skills while focusing on infusing humor into one specific area of the customer's life, sold via application/booking process.
• Fancy Pants Mastermind A monthly group mastermind program led by Andrew Tarvin, providing practical tips and strategies for applying humor at work under an ongoing membership model.
• Enterprise Training, Keynotes, and Workshops On-site and virtual speaking engagements, training workshops, and team programs for organizations seeking to transform culture, productivity, and communication through humor, delivered by Andrew Tarvin and delivered through teams.humorthatworks.com.
• Humor That Works (book) Published book by Andrew Tarvin on using humor to get better results while having more fun at work, available via Amazon and direct sales from the company website.
• 501 Ways to Use Humor at Work (book) A comprehensive published guide covering hundreds of ways to use humor to improve communication, build relationships, enhance problem-solving, increase productivity, and have fun at work; available on Amazon.
• The Skill of Humor Playbook A step-by-step published playbook teaching how to intentionally incorporate humor at work and at home, with 7 humor personas, 40 activities, 20 prompts for positive thinking, and 20 examples of using humor at work; available on Amazon.

Quantifiable outcome

• 90,000 hours average lifetime spent at work - humor can make this time more enjoyable and productive
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature4 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• LinkedIn Learning: Mass-market video course library owned by Microsoft (a known Humor That Works customer), bundling communication and leadership training into enterprise talent-development suites. A natural distribution alternative for the same content category.
• Crucial Learning (formerly VitalSmarts): Provider of corporate training in crucial conversations, leadership, and influence. Sells courses and workshops into the same L&D budgets as Humor That Works but addresses a broader portfolio of 'soft skills' rather than humor specifically.
• Coursera for Business: Enterprise subscription to Coursera's catalog including leadership and soft-skills content from top universities. Represents the platform-based competitor model that could neutralize a content-only strategy for an assessment-led workplace humor business.
• FranklinCovey: Sells leadership, productivity, and effectiveness training (e.g., 'The 7 Habits') to enterprises and individuals worldwide. Overlaps on workplace productivity and engagement outcomes but with a much more established content library and subscription/all-access platform.
• Skillsoft: Enterprise learning platform with thousands of courses across leadership, communication, and productivity. Could absorb humor-at-work content into its catalog and reach a much larger installed base at lower per-seat cost.
• Dale Carnegie Training: Long-established global corporate training company focused on communication, leadership, presentation skills, and professional development. Competes for the same enterprise L&D budget but with a much broader curriculum and global delivery network.
• Gallup: Research and consulting firm selling employee engagement, wellbeing, and CliftonStrengths-based training to enterprises. Competes for the same workplace engagement, stress, and culture budgets Humor That Works addresses, but with proprietary assessment data and broader scope.

Direct peers

• Second City Works: Second City's corporate-training division delivers improv- and comedy-based skills training to Fortune 500 clients. It is the closest analogue to Humor That Works: applying humor and performance craft to workplace productivity, leadership, and communication skills for enterprise buyers.
• Toastmasters International: A global membership organization helping individuals build communication, public-speaking, and leadership skills through a structured self-paced program. Overlaps with Humor That Works' B2C/individual segment and its emphasis on communication skills as a measurable workplace competency.

Emerging players

• Brené Brown Training & Coaching: Solo-author/speaker brand with training programs, books, and assessments on courage, vulnerability, and leadership at work. Same go-to-market architecture (founder-led speaking, books, courses, training) as Andrew Tarvin's Humor That Works but in a different domain.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@theandrewtarvin
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/in/theandrewtarvin
• Instagraminstagram.com/theandrewtarvin
• Xx.com/HumorThatWorks

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Humor That Works