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2021 – 2023 Vybe (Start-up)
Head of Product, Founder
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2020 – 2021 Bodybuilding.com
General Manager, Member Experience
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2017 – 2020 Surfline
Head of Growth and Product Manager, Subscription
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2014 – 2017 Crunchyroll
Manager, Membership Strategy and Distribution
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2013 – 2014 Appiphany
Head of Product, Founder
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2011-2013 McKesson
Product Manager, Forecasting Tools
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2008 – 2011 ClariPhy
Senior Business Analyst
Head of Product, Founder
5 Direct Reports – 3 Engineers, Technical Architect, Designer
Began building with focus on a specific problem I encountered several times across the subscription ecosystem: bundling services. Conversations with multiple subscription companies about their pain-points combined with research on potential infrastructure solutions led to blockchain. Further partner feedback revealed a more interesting problem/solution space: siloed user data. Speaking with ML engineers at Discovery, Surfline, and Mythical Games combined with challenges outlined in technical blogs published by data scientists at Netflix, Tinder and the New York Times led to the development of the Axyz platform.
What I Did:
Axyz: Decentralized user-data. The specific vision was to enable recommendation engines to provide a deeper level of personalization through a digital wallet connection. The POC connected thousands of NFT holders to several brand benefits based on shared interests and delivered a 75% conversion rate on benefit redemption. Partners wanted easier, more seamless access to users and a broader audience. Both partners and investors needed broader adoption of digital wallets to make Axyz viable. We began looking at wallet architecture, which led to Vybe.
Vybe: Developments in wallet infrastructure (MPC + Smart Contract Accounts) embedded in a native mobile application enabled much more seamless use of blockchain technology than previously possible. We built the simplest, most secure way to access blockchain from your mobile device, solving two critical challenges:
- On-chain account creation and management: <30 sec directly from your mobile device
- The activation energy required to become an ecosystem participant: We leveraged existing social trust through a social feed that enabled users to see the actions of others in their network and emulate them with a swipe.
Vybe had hundreds of active users, received positive reviews and generated revenue.
I completely bootstrapped both of these products to launch. I recruited and motivated team members with nothing but a vision. I sourced feedback from users and partners, clearly articulated an iterative product roadmap, prioritized near term feature sets to drive traction, developed and deployed a GTM strategy, launched experiences and grew userbases. I created partnerships that drove product engagement and initial revenue. I hypothesized, built, launched, failed, iterated. I spoke with over 50 investors. I was accepted into accelerators but ultimately confronted an ending runway.
What I Learned: Timing is critical. The velocity in which a team ships, learns and iterates is the primary forcing function for success or failure for early stage companies. Commitment and focus are necessary but not sufficient for success. Attitude + aptitude > experience. Focus time and energy on what you can control.Venture fundraising is first and foremost a narrative exercise.
General Manager, Member Experience
7 Direct Reports – Directors of Product, Design, Marketing, Content, Business Development, Community, Advertising
Bodybuilding.com was undergoing a turnaround and had not delivered profitability in several years. The strategy was to pivot the business from the low margin, highly competitive e-commerce model to high margin digital membership.
What I Did: I was hired to lead the membership business unit, the future of the company. I reorged the team and recruited leadership in product, marketing, community management and advertising to better focus on the creation, communication and monetization of value for Bodybuilding.com’s passionate customer-base. I created and deployed an operational plan with buy-in from the BoD and my colleagues on the executive team to deliver the only year of profitability in a decade. I optimized the subscription funnel, onboarding, and account management to improve retention by >10%. I decreased price, consolidated payment plans and optimized communication driving 25% growth in 9 months.
What I Learned: Changing long term habits and behavior within a company is nearly impossible. You must change the people. Every business system is composed of people, processes and tools and is perfectly designed to yield its specific results. To change results, you must change the inputs of the system.
Head of Growth and Product Manager, Subscription
promoted from Senior Lead of Subscription Strategy
3 Direct Reports – Managers of Analytics, Lifecycle Marketing, Business Development
Surfline was a 20-year-old business monetizing via advertising and subscription. The product was well known within the addressable audience and the main challenge confronting the business was conversion from free to paid. An avid surfer myself, I pitched the CEO on my ability to drive growth, defined my role and was hired as an individual contributor to manage subscription strategy.
What I Did: I quickly became the Product Manager for the subscription squad. I created PRDs and user stories to optimize the subscription funnel through iterative test. I updated pricing and redesigned on-product merchandising. I led our lifecycle marketing team to deliver the right message to the right user at the right time through segmentation and analysis of in product triggers. I led our business development team, secured external value for premium subscribers through partnerships and created the “Premium Perks” program, delivering third party value to Surfline’s Premium subscribers. As the leader of the analytics team, I shifted the culture from decision by committee to decision by test and data analysis. I drove 60% growth with 0 paid marketing budget.
What I Learned: Growth comes from the continuous creation and communication of value. Users are the ultimate arbiters of value, not internal teams. Shipping and testing is a better than internal debate about what to ship and test. Establishing business metrics, defining the drivers of those metrics and relentless focus on those drivers is critical to reaching targets.
Manager, Membership Strategy and Distribution
Crunchyroll had just been acquired by The Chernin Group and was ramping up growth. Several members of the team that launched and grew Hulu Plus had just been recruited. The company was exploring strategies to address a broader audience outside of Crunchyroll’s core and was evolving from a small scrappy start-up with product-market fit to a $1B+ contender in the streaming space.
What I Did: I managed several distribution partnerships with critical device partners including Apple, Sony, Roku, Amazon, Microsoft and Nintendo. After negotiating and executing distribution deals, growth through these channels came from active partner management: gaining a deep understanding of the opportunities available through each partner and positioning Crunchyroll as a service that could add unique value to each platform. I collaborated with product and payment teams to scope and optimize sign-up flows, authentication and payment as well as content discovery across platforms. I also structured several strategic partnerships with endemic partners such as GameStop, Bandai Namco, LootCrate, Gamefly, Razor, and Screenvision Media to evolve Crunchyroll from a streaming service to a lifestyle brand. These partnerships generated 250K+ in annual sign-ups and $100Ks in incremental revenue through giftcard sales and partnership fees.
What I Learned: The most under-appreciated lever of growth (acquisition, conversion, retention) is retention. When confronted with the decision to invest in an improved product experience or paid acquisition, product-led growth is more sustainable and leads to a healthier business. However, strategic paid acquisition (vs an always on model) can be powerful when coupled with a timely, compelling message, like new value or a compelling partnership offer. Great leaders shield their teams from noise, lay out clear objectives, secure the resources that enable their teams to hit those objectives, and secure motivational rewards in success.
Head of Product, Founder
3 Direct Reports – 2 Engineers, Designer
When we founded Appiphany, Instagram adoption was skyrocketing and the proliferation of mobile photo and video sharing was taking off. Our thesis was that curation could add significant value to the content consumption experience.
What I Did: I released 2 applications across iOS, Windows, and ASHA platforms with over 500K downloads collectively. I took flagship application, PicFeed, from concept to market in 40 days. I led our agile development flow, creating user flows and mockups, defining user stories and grooming sprints. I analyzed customer feedback to iteratively enhance features, increasing daily downloads by over 50%. I secured $225K, pre-load rights, and app store marketing from Nokia and created technical solutions to conflicts of interest with Nokia legal. I successfully negotiated the sale of the company.
What I Learned: Funding is not a milestone. Funding is a resource. Having the right mix of skillsets across the founding team is critical. Reducing dependencies on third parties wherever possible enables more sustainable growth.
Product Manager, Forecasting Tools
promoted from Senior Financial Analyst
McKesson’s $10B generics business unit was growing rapidly. While it represented just 10% of top-line revenue for the business, it was the majority of the company’s profit. Understanding the underlying financial drivers of this business was critical to corporate growth. The FP&A department was putting together a team to increase visibility and forecasting accuracy. I was the first hire.
What I Did: I led a team of internal and third party developers to create a SQL-based forecasting system, doubling the level of detail for the $10B annual budget. I gathered requirements across departments and collaborated with IBM’s Watson team to create a supply chain optimization model saving $10Ms annually. I collaborated with 3 departments to define requirements and develop forecasting software for new product launches, saving 50 man-hours/mo. I streamlined weekly and monthly financial reports through automation with Visual Basic and pivot tables.
What I Learned: It is possible to run large, profitable organizations without perfect processes and tools. This creates significant opportunity for savings and process improvement within these organizations. Making the changes necessary to realize those opportunities is extremely difficult due to the number of stakeholders affected. The best way to innovate within the context of a large company is to do so as a separate entity. This is why large companies acquire in order to innovate.
Senior Business Analyst
promoted from Business Analyst
I had just graduated into the Global Financial Crisis. I wanted to work for a start-up company because I felt it would be the fastest way to learn. I interviewed with the CEO and CFO of ClariPhy, a high speed semiconductor start-up with a team of 30. While they wanted to bring me on, financial conditions were tight. I offered to work for nearly nothing to start. 3 months later I was offered a full-time role with a much better salary. I had doubled my starting full time salary and acquired a decent equity position once I left as a result of my contributions.
What I Did: I worked closely with the executive team to define requirements and build ROI, cost accounting, sales forecasting, and resource allocation models. I led implementation of company-wide ISO: 9001 quality management system reaching successful certification with 0 errors. I worked with the CFO on multiple rounds of fundraising, reviewing legal documents and cap tables for over $70M in funding. I reviewed and modified multiple partnership agreements with legal counsel and participated in negotiations, helping to secure partnerships worth $10Ms.
What I Learned: The opportunity to learn from and with intelligent, motivated people is invaluable. Growth is challenging, messy, unpredictable and rewarding, especially in the context of a start-up.