Michael Helmbrecht
Verified Expert in Product Management
Product Manager
Austin, TX, United States
Toptal member since July 14, 2021
Michael has a twenty-year track record of building innovative businesses. He has held senior executive roles in private and public companies leading global teams focused on product management, marketing, customer success, and operations. He developed the strategy for product line management of Dell's $1.8 billion data storage business and brought in an additional $10 million to Logitech by negotiating OEM agreements. His most recent role was COO of a private equity-owned B2B SaaS company.
Expertise
- Agile Product Management
- Pricing Strategy
- Product Innovation
- Product Launch
- Product Management
- Product Marketing
- Software as a Service (SaaS)
- User Experience (UX)
Work Experience
Chief Operating Officer
Lifesize, Inc.
- Led a global team of 250+ professionals to transform product strategy and drive profitability for video conferencing and contact center solutions. I was responsible for product, operations, customer success, and support.
- Transformed the enterprise software and systems company to a subscription-based SaaS business. Grew annual recurring revenue to $65 million from $12 million in four years (2015-2019).
- Boosted profits by 20% by leading transformation to subscription-based services. Restructured pricing and packaging structures. Developed eCommerce and freemium models to complement direct and channel sales.
- Onboarded two million new users during COVID-19 and supported 12x utilization growth.
- Led the migration of 9,000 customers to the AWS micro-services cloud platform.
Chief Product Officer
Lifesize, Inc.
- Built an independent product and business strategy to support future growth as a SaaS company following spin-out from Logitech.
- Transformed an enterprise software and systems company to a subscription-based SaaS business. Grew annual recurring revenue from $12 million to $65 million in four years (2015-2019.).
- Shaped the product vision and strategic direction for three business lines.
- Accelerated release time by 300% through the adoption of Agile methodologies.
- Developed a culture of innovation and cross functional collaboration. Co-sponsored frequent hackathons and innovation sprints. Championed winning projects into product a development roadmap and brought them to market.
Vice President of Product Management
Logitech
- Coordinated the product development integration of Lifesize into Logitech to maintain business integrity and ensure minimal impact to our customers.
- Built two new business lines and achieved rapid revenue growth, collaborating with our partners both internally and at Logitech.
- Doubled revenue in three years by driving product-led growth of the company. Added product lines, fostered innovation, and built research and data analysis into product planning, putting customers first.
- Brought in an additional $10 million in revenue by negotiating and executing OEM agreements.
- Led product integration on two acquisitions and built a SaaS video conferencing service.
- Spearheaded product management, product marketing, and pricing for the video conferencing division of Logitech.
Senior Director of Product Management
Lifesize, Inc.
- Built the core product management structure for a $60 million venture backed company.
- Hired new talent to build complete teams in product management and pricing.
- Expanded our product lines by adding an innovative line of virtualized software appliances.
Executive Director of Product Line Management
Dell
- Developed strategy and tactics for product line management of Dell's $1.8 billion data storage business in the Americas.
- Created actionable insights, through BI and analytics, that allowed myself and the larger company to make sound business decisions.
- Led cross-functional planning between the engineering and product management teams.
- Managed worldwide marketing integration for a $1.4 billion data storage acquisition. This represents the largest acquisition in Dell history up to that time.
- Acted as the senior manager of Product Line Management (2002-2006) and as marketing Manager (1999-2002).
Project History
Product Line Extension Strategy
Developed the product line extension strategy for a global leader in digital imaging solutions.
Researched and analyzed imaging markets, including customer segmentation competitive products, price bands, and distribution. Assessed product-market fit of client capabilities to each segment. Developed strategic recommendations of prioritized segments to enter, including market segment sizing, customer personas, pricing strategies, and distribution models.
Education
Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Business
University of Michigan - Ross School of Business - Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Bachelor's Degree in Political Science; Economics
Colgate University - Hamilton, New York, USA
Certifications
Pragmatic Institute Management Curriculum
Pragmatic Institute (formerly Pragmatic Marketing)
Skills
Paradigms
Agile Product Management, Agile, DevOps
Platforms
Twilio
Industry Expertise
Telecommunications
Other
Product Management, Product Marketing, Strategic Partnerships, B2B, Cloud Computing, Competitive Analysis, Cross-functional Team Leadership, Internet of Things (IoT), Product Development, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Software as a Service (SaaS), Video Conferencing, Enterprise SaaS, People Management, People Development, Leadership, Product-market Fit, Hiring, Product Strategy, Product Roadmaps, Market Strategy and Research Product Manager, Growth Hacking, Technical Product Management, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Business Strategy, Business Transformation, Communication, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Customer Success, Data Analysis, Entrepreneurship, Go-to-market (GTM) Strategy, Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Mentorship & Coaching, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Performance Management, Platform as a Service (PaaS), Pricing Strategy, Process Improvement, Product Innovation, Product Launch, Reporting, Research, Sales Enablement, Team Building, Training, User Experience (UX), Post-merger Integration, Stakeholder Engagement, Culture Management, Integration, UX Research, Startups, Startup Funding, Market Entry, Pricing, Competitive Strategy, P&L Responsibility, Private Equity, Quality Assurance (QA), Contact Centers, Unified Communications, Operations Management, Channel Management, eCommerce, Lean Manufacturing
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