Michael is available for hire
Hire MichaelMichael Smith
Verified Expert in Product Management
Product Manager
London, United Kingdom
Toptal member since July 13, 2020
Expertise
Bio
Michael is a product and technology leader with 20 years of experience in building products that generate millions of dollars in annual revenue. He has built product and technology organizations in diverse domains: finance, mobile, machine learning and artificial intelligence, embedded systems, search, online advertising, cloud, SaaS, and video. Michael has developed products for startups and top-tier companies such as Google, Yahoo, and Qualcomm.
Project Highlights
Articles on Product Management
I have written and published my experiences in shaping product management organizations and mentoring product managers at my blog.
Expertise
- Agile Transformation
- Architecture
- Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
- Mobile
- Objectives & Key Results (OKRs)
- Product Management
- Product Strategy
- Senior Executive Management
Work Experience
Chief Product Officer
2018 - 2020
Prodigy Finance
- Launched multiple features to double revenue in 18 months and new pricing across functions to increase profit by up to 50%. Lowered costs by 50% and increased conversion by 20%.
- Grew the product team from five to twelve members and the design team from four to seven members. Created robust, business-aware teams that drove business value to advance the company’s vision. Enhanced user testing to gain powerful insights.
- Drove product visions, roadmaps, and OKRs as a member of the executive team, reporting to CEO, COO, and board.
Chief Product Officer
2016 - 2017
FuboTV
- Grew subscribers by 60% YoY by launching new smart TV, mobile apps, and a complete visual redesign.
- Led product management, design, and customer support, including rapid hiring to build the organization from four to fifteen people.
- Drove and managed company and team roadmaps and OKRs.
- Led scalable architecture, planning, and personnel management. Doubled the development team to over 60 engineers.
Vice President of Product
2015 - 2016
SwiftKey (Purchased by Microsoft in 2016)
- Launched multilingual market features for India that added 20 million active monthly users and increased the app download by 150%.
- Built and deployed the world’s first neural network keyboard on mobile.
- Deployed features for monetization, 50+ languages, and many user experience improvements.
- Restructured the product management organization leading to a culture of clear decision-making, team empowerment, metrics-driven experimentation, market intelligence, and a more controlled and reliable release schedule.
- Developed roadmaps and OKRs for all products and teams (Android, iOS, and SDK).
- Reported to the founder, who was also the chief technology officer, and participated in the exit to Microsoft.
Product Manager, Ad Exchange and AdSense
2012 - 2015
- Designed new rules-based inventory controls for Ad Exchange publishers globally, generating an uplift of $200 to $500 million in ARR and unlocking the roadmap for another $70 to $350 million ARR on a $2 billion project.
- Led engineering, marketing, commercialization, and rollout. Evolved and promoted the programmatic marketplace in Europe and North America with the largest partners and presentations at conferences.
- Launched and iterated a WordPress plugin using AI to automatically place and optimize AdSense ads, resulting in a 10% to 20% uplift for publishers and removing the possibility of poor ad placements.
Principal Engineer, Product Lead, Full-time Consultant
2005 - 2015
Qualcomm
- Directed 25+ engineers working on $8 million in OEM partnerships for cellular and satellite telematics solutions for construction, agriculture, and transportation.
- Led engineers on requirements, architecture, schedules, risks, and development on firmware, back end, and web.
- Evangelized and drove Scrum rollouts on five product lines and $20 million in business. Trained staff on Agile and domain-driven design.
- Initiated a multiyear software quality and architecture initiative on mobile firmware with involvement across the engineering function.
Staff Engineer
1995 - 2014
Qualcomm
- Defined requirements for digital cinema compression used for Star Wars, Episode II and compressed Oceans 11 on location at Warner Bros. Studios.
- Conceived and executed training for engineering, thereby lowering costs by 30%.
- Developed embedded software for a parallel video encoder. Designed and built tools for I&T of a $4+ billion Globalstar global satellite telephony system. Developed tools for base station automation, documentation, software processes, and builds.
- Served as the chief software architect for a $100+ million government project that received an outstanding technical award.
Head of Platforms
2009 - 2012
INQ Mobile
- Spearheaded the delivery of INQ Mobile’s first Android handset, the acclaimed Cloud Touch, including the tech strategy, staffing, technical guidance, and creation of our continuous build of the Android operating system.
- Led the development of INQ social networking apps, including modifications to native apps and ongoing OS updates.
- Directed the integration with OEMs and supported ongoing Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless (BREW) development.
- Set the product and technology strategy. Established, built, and directed an agile team of 40+ software developers and testers for Android. They were located in London, San Francisco, Rome, Beijing, Kiev, and Bangalore.
Technical Product Manager, Search and Mobile
2004 - 2005
Yahoo!
- Drove a $3 million Yahoo! search strategy and technology platform for mobile devices, integrating deep tech features and supporting international, vertical, and mobile search products.
- Increased the mobile and search monetization by 15%.
- Proposed major telco partnerships to executives and evaluated and integrated acquisitions.
Summer MBA Intern, New Merchant Integration
2003 - 2003
Amazon
- Onboarded 60 businesses into Amazon’s merchant system.
- Designed new internal and external training, lowering costs by 40%.
- Managed 300+ small businesses to launch in new product categories.
Project History
Articles on Product Management
I have written and published my experiences in shaping product management organizations and mentoring product managers at my blog.
Topics include:
- Value Creation and Capture: The Role of the PM and the Product Organization
- The Ideal Launch Email
- The Product Mental Model
- The Phone Screen Interview
- Transforming a Startup Into a Product Company
- How to Properly Use Data and Hypotheses: Processes as Insurance
- The Three Types of User Research
- Evaluating PMs and Teams
- Conversation Hacks for Stakeholder Management
- Agile Fixed the Worst Issues in Development
- Cynefin Framework for PMs
- Product vs. Project vs. Program Managers, Plus Product Marketing and Product Operations: How to Navigate
- Value Creation and Capture: The Role of the PM and the Product Organization
- The Ideal Launch Email
- The Product Mental Model
- The Phone Screen Interview
- Transforming a Startup Into a Product Company
- How to Properly Use Data and Hypotheses: Processes as Insurance
- The Three Types of User Research
- Evaluating PMs and Teams
- Conversation Hacks for Stakeholder Management
- Agile Fixed the Worst Issues in Development
- Cynefin Framework for PMs
- Product vs. Project vs. Program Managers, Plus Product Marketing and Product Operations: How to Navigate
Education
2002 - 2004
MBA in Business
UCLA Anderson School of Management - Los Angeles, CA, USA
1994 - 1996
Master's Degree in Computer Science
The University of Arizona - Tucson, AZ, USA
1989 - 1994
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science
The Pennsylvania State University - State College, PA, USA
Skills
Tools
Zoom, Slack
Paradigms
Agile Product Management, Scrum, Design Patterns, Kanban
Other
Product Management, Product Strategy, Management, Mobile, Agile Transformation, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Objectives & Key Results (OKRs), Architecture, Senior Executive Management, Android, Business Transformation, Strategy, Software Development, Product Design, Fintech, Google
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