Ryan Mickle
Verified Expert in Product Management
Product Manager
Nashville, TN, United States
Toptal member since April 17, 2020
Ryan is a product innovator and turnaround expert. He's built several consumer products (as a consultant to a YC company, then as a co-founder of YC funded company)), communities (Founderkit), and SaaS products. His last company, Brokerkit, had users in five weeks, profit in three months, and took 18 months to acquisition. Ryan is also an experienced consultant, turned around a 50-person startup for the billionaire owner of Lonely Planet.
Project Highlights
Expertise
- Agile Product Management
- Product Launch
- Product Management
- Product Strategy
- Prototyping
- Software as a Service (SaaS)
- UX Design
- User Research
Work Experience
CEO
Brokerkit
- Led the early customer development to full product prototype in one week.
- Managed an iterative approach to product development, sales and support to profitability in three months.
- Scaled business from a two-person founding team to a profitable, $1 million ARR business with 70,000 paid SaaS users in one year.
- Led the sale and transition of the business to acquiring group 18 months after the service was launched.
Interim CEO of a Gaming Startup
NC2 Media
- Spearheaded the turnaround of a 50-person derailed startup owned by the billionaire owner of Lonely Planet. The team had been working for four years without a working beta, which was delivered within 30 days of joining as interim CEO.
- Led prototyping, brand direction, agile product development process to ship two fully functioning beta casual gaming products in under six months.
- Hired and transitioned the management into an operating team.
Co-founder | CEO
Yardsale
- Oversaw the prototyping and development of a top 5 app in the category of mobile marketplace app to its first 100 users in less than 60 days. Raised $2 million from leading investors including Y Combinator, Greylock, and Index.
- Launched FOBO, a near-instant auctions app for mobile, from idea to 100 users in 60 days, and $300,000 in gross merchandise sales in less than 90 days.
- Led the acquisition to Gone, a competitor in the electronics resale category.
Consultant
Allergan
- Spearheaded the turnaround of a software implementation project for a 500-person R&D organization alongside a team of ex-BCG consultants.
- Led the implementation of processes for electronic creation and management of documents to save $5 million annually.
- Contributed to the restructuring of a 250-person R&D organization.
Contracts Administrator
Boeing
- Administered contracts for a $2-billion avionics modernization with the US Air Force.
- Formed and led employee involvement for the 100-person finance organization, an initiative overseen by Boeing Headquarters.
- Managed the reporting of schedules and engineering work to executives and the US Navy for a $33-billion aircraft development proposal.
Project History
YC-backed eCommerce Marketplace for Mobile
https://techcrunch.com/2012/06/21/yardsale-launches-nationwide/Led the development of Yardsale, an iOS app for buying and selling locally, from a napkin to the top 5 in App Store category.
Yardsale, which I co-founded and led as CEO, was a leading app for a local eCommerce, launched in 2011. The company was funded by leading Silicon Valley investors, Y Combinator, Greylock, and Index Ventures.
Turnaround for a Gaming Studio
Led turnaround of derailed 50 person startup from four years without shipping a product to a live beta in 30 days.
NC2 Media is the owner of various digital properties including Lonely Planet, where I was hired as a consultant to run a mobile gaming studio, ship a functioning beta and begin gathering user feedback on early prototypes.
YC-backed Auctions Marketplace for Mobile
https://techcrunch.com/2014/03/16/fobo-video/Led the development and launch of FOBO, reimagining eBay for mobile with near-instant auctions for electronics in less that 90 days.
FOBO launched in San Francisco, amassed sales of $300,000 gross merchandise value in its first 60 days with its near-instant auctions for electronics. I led the entire product development process from wireframes to launch.
SaaS for Real Estate Brokers
https://getbrokerkit.comLed the early customer development, prototyping, and launch of the fastest growing SaaS for real estate recruiting from idea to live users in 60 days, profitability in three months, and acquisition in 18 months.
Brokerkit is the fastest growing SaaS platform for recruiting real estate agents, serving 70,000+ users at the time of the acquisition, 18 months after launch. I led early customer development, wireframing, visual design, branding, sales, marketing, and support. I also built the team to which the product was handed off at acquisition.
Launch of a Community for Reviewing Startup Tools
Led the prototyping, early community building, and development of Founderkit, which launched on Product Hunt to be awarded one of the top products of 2017.
Founderkit is the leading source of unbiased reviews from startup founders. I led the early prototyping, recruitment of influential founders, development, and launch. The service hosts thousands of unbiased reviews of products used by leading founders and was acquired in 2018.
Blockbuster Hardware Product Launch
Led the web team in the launch of a consumer hardware product in 2016 which grossed $34 million in pre-sales of 60,000 orders in its first 60 days.
I oversaw the user research and website launch of a much-hyped drone product that grossed $34 million in its first 60 days. In this two-week project, I led the implementation and preparation for the launch of the website which received 2 million unique visits in its first 24 hours of launch.
Education
Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics
University of California, Berkeley - Berkeley, CA, USA
Skills
Tools
Slack, Trello, Asana, Jira, Sketch, Marvel, Zoom
Paradigms
Marketplace Platforms, Agile Product Management
Other
User Research, Prototyping, UX Design, Product Strategy, Product Launch, Software as a Service (SaaS), Customer Success, eCommerce, Early-stage Startups, Research Analysis, Product Management, Product-market Fit, Customer Research, Product Marketing, Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Excel, Writing & Editing
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