Chris Reed, Product Manager in Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
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Chris Reed

Verified Expert  in Product Management

Product Manager

Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Toptal member since January 29, 2020

Expertise
IoT Product Management
Bio

Chris is an entrepreneur, product development manager, and management consultant who's successfully fulfilled various roles. He recently founded SafeTravels, a market-leading mobile app platform for tour operators. Chris took a hands-on development role with SafeTravels, which has provided additional strength to his product management capabilities as he can comprehend and articulate technical challenges.

Project Highlights

SafeTravels App
Launched the SafeTravels app—used by travel companies globally for hundreds of thousands of their customers.

Expertise

  • Angular
  • Business Process Analysis
  • Ionic 4
  • Management Consulting
  • Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
  • Mobile App Development
  • Software as a Service (SaaS)

Work Experience

Co-Founder | CTO

2020 - PRESENT
Patch
  • Co-founded Patch, a web platform connecting homeowners directly with people interested in purchasing their homes.
  • Successfully closed funding rounds with venture capitalists, including Antler and Skalata.
  • Spearheaded the product management and full-stack development of the Patch site, from the initial MVP through to the current version of the site.

Full-stack Software Developer

2020 - 2021
Freelancer
  • Worked on several projects in different industries, working with the client to take their idea, and turn it into a product.
  • Created a gym member app platform for a small gym operator. The solution included the Ionic mobile app, Angular admin dashboard, and Express back-end.
  • Built a full-stack solution for a small startup in the equestrian industry for horse owners to manage the information for their horses online, such as feeds, equipment, rugs, and more. This solution was created using Ionic, Angular, and Firebase.

Product Development Manager

2019 - 2020
Freelance Work
  • Product managed an MVP app build for a fintech startup, which was used to demonstrate to potential investors, resulting in a successful funding round.
  • Managed and assisted in the development of key new functionality for Adzurra, a boutique fashion app linking consumers to local boutiques.
  • Supervised and contributed to the development of a PWA web application, an Angular administration dashboard, and a Firebase back end for a SaaS tool in the equine sector.

Founder | CEO

2014 - 2019
SafeTravels
  • Founded SafeTravels, a mobile app platform for tour-and-travel companies to increase engagement and drive additional sales with their customers while they are traveling.
  • Managed SafeTravels through several product iterations and releases, as well as leading the company through investment rounds.
  • Established a strategy and product roadmap for the development of the SafeTravels product from initial concept to a market leading product.
  • Project managed several major builds of the SafeTravels app and back-end platform with a team of in-house and off-shore developers.
  • Transitioned high-level product features to technical system design requirements, ensuring a platform that is scalable with business growth and client demands.
  • Established partnerships with Travel Technology vendors to develop integrated solution offerings to the travel market.
  • Collaborated with new clients to establish custom branding and feature requirements and trained client staff.
  • Formalized business processes for the sales, onboarding, and on-going management of client solutions.
  • Prepared investment memorandum and supporting financials and documentation as part of successful venture capital funding rounds.

Product Development Manager

2012 - 2014
Momentum Energy
  • Responsible for the strategic development of a portfolio of products that meets the needs of Momentum’s residential, SME, and C&I (industrial) customer base.
  • Took a range of products through a gated development process from idea conception, business case development, through to launch.
  • Steered the product development of a consumer web portal to allow customers to monitor their energy usage via their installed smart meters.
  • Oversaw the product development to implement the necessary business and system changes to create a new revenue channel for Momentum Energy, allowing management of embedded network (central metering) systems in multitenant facilities.
  • Led the internal team to identify and partner with IoT companies who provided real-time energy efficiency monitoring to implement at the sites of Momentum's Industrial and manufacturing clients.
  • Drove the product development of an energy-efficient lighting replacement program for small business operators where the cost of installation was cash-flow-positive from day one, based on the saving they achieved on their electricity usage.

Senior Consultant

2008 - 2012
Litmus Group
  • Served as a lead consultant for the build and implementation of a new system for a leading electricity retailer to manage the sales and installation process of solar panels for their residential customers.
  • Acted as a lead consultant on the implementation of an ERP system at CPA Australia, an accounting professional membership organization, including stakeholder facilitation, business requirement document creation and working with the software vendor.
  • Worked on a cost-reduction project for a large logistics and transportation multinational.

Project History

SafeTravels App

Launched the SafeTravels app—used by travel companies globally for hundreds of thousands of their customers.

SafeTravels is a mobile app platform for travel companies. We have built white-label travel apps for leading tour and travel companies, with a strong focus in the educational travel and sports-travel sectors.

Education

2003 - 2008

Bachelor's Degree in Information Systems

Queensland University of Technology - Brisbane, Australia

2003 - 2008

Bachelor's Degree in Management (Business)

Queensland University of Technology - Brisbane, Australia

Skills

Tools

Asana, Jira, Trello, Sketch

Paradigms

B2B2C, Business to Business to Consumer (B2B2C), Scrum

Industry Expertise

Renewable Energy, Professional Services

Platforms

Adobe Suite, Firebase

Other

Ionic, Travel, Mobile App Development, Management Consulting, Business Requirements, Ionic 4, Angular, Business Process Analysis, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Software as a Service (SaaS), Workshop Facilitation, Product Requirements Documentation (PRD), Internet of Things (IoT), Solar, MongoDB, Node.js, Microsoft Office, Google Sheets, Visual Studio, Express.js, Product Management, Amazon Web Services (AWS)

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