Consultant
2018 - PRESENTSchwertner Consulting- Performed a domain vendor cost analysis, identifying potential cost savings and price negotiation strategies.
- Developed a concept for a centralized, microservices-based internal infrastructure to manage domain names, allowing for vendor consolidation and significant long-term cost reductions.
- Created the transformation plan to introduce a product management organization to a Waterfall-based software organization.
VP Products
2022 - 2023ActivateStaff- Hired by the CEO to lead the transformation to a product company and obtain Series A funding.
- Introduced Agile product management and transition from agency-driven to a problem and product-driven development.
- Automated customer onboarding to enable growth at scale.
VP Products
2021 - 2022CrowdRiff- Reported to the CEO and led a team of 14 product managers and designers across four product lines and $15M in ARR as a senior leadership team member.
- Grew a mature SaaS business into new geographies and customer segments.
- Recruited critical talent and realigned team structure to support business goals.
- Achieved 100%+ net revenue retention on existing SaaS business, successfully launched and acquired clients for a new SaaS product line, and developed and released a native iOS app from scratch in less than six months.
- Scaled up two new, strategic SaaS product lines and built a new Creator Marketplace on a content development platform that connects destination marketers and content creators with an innovative web-based story-telling format.
VP Products
2020 - 2021500px- Transformed a leading photography community into a product-driven organization, focused on growing a freemium membership model and licensing royalty revenue by creating value for users.
- Launched 500-pixel portfolios, an easy-to-use website builder for targeting a large pool of less tech-savvy photographers. Introduced Agile product management practices to align product development toward business objectives.
- Built and managed a product organization of four PMs to accelerate product delivery across several teams. Led remote mobile and full-stack engineering team of 20 developers across Canada and China.
VP Products
2016 - 2018Tucows, Inc.- Drove the profit margin per transaction by 15%, across 30,000 wholesale channel partners, by creating an analytical pricing map to develop and deliver pricing tiers.
- Eliminated technical debt by engineering a platform established on a microservice architecture, resulting in an improved product strategy, cost structure, and profitability—conjecturing a margin increase of USD 5M by 2019.
- Catapulted new top-level domains added to the platform from 5 to 200 in one year by developing a product roadmap, solving complex integration obstacles, and delivering a 10% increase in overall profitability.
- Increased the net promoter score (NPS) by 20% through product alignment using state-of-the-art UX design.
- Solved industry regulation requirements across 190 countries and enhanced the customer experience by leading developers of a new end-user interface with B2C transaction provisions, allowing B2B branding and customizations.
- Established a strong cadence of Agile product management process across multi-location product engineering and operations, providing measurable story points.
- Earned industry-wide recognition for developing a model GDPR approach through collaboration with internal and external stakeholders and analytical thinking, contributing to an industry playbook that was largely adopted as the new industry regulation.
- Conceptualized and executed a new messaging service implemented by more than 75% of partners, allowing localized and highly customizable content.
- Propelled additional margin by several million dollars by leading integration efforts after multiple mergers and acquisitions, yielding the addition of 17 million domain names and 30,000 resellers.
Vice Chair of Supervisory Board
2007 - 2018DENIC eG- Worked for DENIC, the registry operator of .DE, one of the largest ccTLDs with more than 16 million domains.
- Contributed to setting and continuously adapting the board's goal of pursuing growth of the .DE zone, operational excellence, and cost-effectiveness.
- Cultivated a new strategy to build products resulting in the development of three new products and new opportunities.
General Manager
2004 - 2018EPAG Domainservices GmbH- Oversaw the ccTLD competence center housed within Tucows, operating as a separate wholesale domain business with customers primarily in Germany and Austria; managed a 15-member business unit that generated €5 million in revenue.
- Rescued the company from near bankruptcy by consolidating operations, identifying niche market opportunities, and repositioning the company—growing the number of wholesale partnerships by 150%, boosting revenue from €250,000 to €5 million.
- Reignited company by shifting to a ccTLD niche market and developing a new website which increased revenue by 15%.
- Stimulated revenue growth to more than 30% per annum by investing in new features such as repositioning to a ccTLD niche market, dramatically expanding the platform feature set, thereby gaining trust of customers.
- Initiated the sale of the company with EPAG’s shareholder and facilitated the acquisition by Tucows in 2011.
Director of Products
2014 - 2016Tucows Inc.- Skyrocketed incremental domain registrations to 900,000 in 2015, through product management strategies such as establishing vendor relationships, streamlining the product onboarding process and adding 450+ top-level domains.
Team Lead of Marketing and Billing
2000 - 2006Celox GmbH- Acted as a key member of an eight-member startup team, growing the company to an €8.5-million business within five years.
- Completed the go-to-market plan and execution for a new brand and product rollout.
- Acquired and integrated a new business to diversify product offerings.