I am a hands-on entrepreneur and product management executive with strong curiosity, having founded several venture-backed startups. I lead development, product and creative teams to build a range of interactive digital media products, SaaS platforms, and web communities.
Currently, I am at Wevr, an interactive software company, and I am a co-founder of the AI community, CO/AI.
I am the co-founder of CO/AI, a global AI community that guides and provides insights on AI technologies for creative and business professionals. Additionally, I am the co-founder and part of the executive management team at Wevr, where we partner with creative individuals to develop immersive simulations.
My latest project, Harry Potter VR, which I co-directed, is the result of a multi-year production partnership with Warner Bros and J.K. Rowling's Blair Partnership.
In 2021, I acted as the interim Chief Product Officer for Tempo, a SaaS plugin company holding the largest installed base within the Atlassian ecosystem, with an annual recurring revenue of $45 million. Throughout my time at Tempo, I contributed significantly to various key areas including AI/ML optimized features, universal plugin embedding, internationalization, and the transition from time tracking to enterprise capacity planning.
Before joining Wevr and Tempo, I served as the Head of Digital for Ashton Kutcher at Katalyst. I secured million-dollar partnerships with GE, Virgin Mobile, Intel, and a funded channel on Youtube. I increased social media revenue by 100% year over year and boosted engagement numbers tenfold through aggressive content programming.
I am the founder and former CEO/CCO of Buzzmedia, an innovative web publisher of social media communities. Supported by Jeff Clavier, Redpoint Ventures, NEA, and SutterHill, we pioneered influencer-created content. We launched top-100 internet digital music and celebrity web communities, striking business deals that directly launched pop culture influencers like the Kardashians and musicians such as Fallout Boy, Paramore, My Chemical Romance and Adele.
Over nearly a decade, we built and acquired over 30 web communities, reaching 110 million monthly active users according to ComScore. Our digital media portfolio included brands like Stereogum, Pure Volume, JustJared, Absolute Punk, and Celebuzz.
I co-founded Metapa (Greenplum) with my long-time friend and co-founder, Scott Yara. We were supported by early VC, Ed Sim, who now runs BoldStart Ventures. Amid the dot-com failures, Yara and I pivoted Metapa from a content distribution platform to a big data company and managed to survive.
I would like to acknowledge one of my earliest partners, Craig Newmark, with whom I had a rewarding collaboration. We co-founded a small tech consultancy, DigitalThreads, in San Francisco, where we developed some of the earliest websites on the Web. One of our projects was Craigslist, which Craig credits me with naming and helping to establish.
Throughout my career, I have designed, developed, and implemented various projects and product strategies for brands such as Microsoft, Paul Allen, GE, Virgin, Absolut Vodka, Samsung, Universal, Warner Bros., Tempo, and other enterprise SaaS companies. I have had the privilege of working with talented people, including Reggie Watts, Kevin Kelly, Zoe Saldaña, David Choe, and Ashton Kutcher.
My work has been featured in The New Yorker, Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, The Verge, Bloomberg, and The New York Times. I won a Communication Arts award for interface design and have been recognized as one of Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies in AR/VR.
Additionally, I invest in and advise interesting founders and early-stage SaaS startups that have a positive creator economy focus. 😀