Scott is available for hire
Hire ScottScott Murff
Verified Expert in Product Management
Product Manager
Location
Portland, OR, United States
Toptal Member Since
August 30, 2019
Scott is a seasoned product manager with experience in consumer products (Wired, Pandora, Glu Games, Quantcast, Xerox PARC). Scott's first product was wired.com, a pioneer of online news sites still in use today. With experiences in finance, team-building, and R&D, Scott melds the disciplines needed to grow successful product lines. Scott's versatility has led to product roles at large public companies, PE-backed firms, and venture startups.
Project Highlights
Commercialization of Image Recognition Software Xerox PARC
Led a small research project through a spinoff process.
Expertise
Work Experience
Product Management Consultant | Owner
2018 - PRESENT
Supernatural Software
- Revitalized a hardware product line at a public company severely missing deadlines. Demanded complex coordination (firmware team, hardware team, software team, and R&D investments). Required new hires, custom IoT analytics, and business analysis.
- Worked with a consumer real estate finance firm on a DAO/decentralized finance product. Gamified the offering to allow entry-level customers to use the power of tokenization without being intimidated by the novel approaches through cryptocurrency.
- Discovered weaknesses in the commercialization efforts, hired a new chief engineering architect, developed KPIs and made the first sales hire. The business showed demonstrable improvement in LTV.
- Turned around the management of a mobile payment startup spun out of an existing company. Narrowed the focus to ensure product completion and designed the go-to-market sequence, currently in the third round of beta testing with excellent metrics.
- Led a team consisting of an engineer and designer to develop a pitch deck for a mid-sized company moving into software services.
- Dove into their customer journey and value proposition to clarify the narrative pre-MVP investment, all done in three weeks.
- Cooperated with a CTO of a Bay-Area startup to develop the first set of KPI metrics. This resulted in a stat system used company-wide to communicate performance and goals.
- Collaborated with a client with a complex supply chain that needed assistance upgrading documentation processes and training the existing product team on best practices.
Product Owner
2022 - 2023
Wait What Inc
- Worked with the senior executive team to build a data science team for a media content company mobile app.
- Developed a reporting system to be used by the podcast, mobile app, and senior management team.
- Informed the mobile app and podcast strategies based on the data.
Product Manager and Owner
2022 - 2022
Mailberry
- Assisted a 20-year veteran of email services (Mailchimp, etc.) to build a streamlined AI email service. Turned the founder's ideas into product sketches, wireframes, a roadmap, and a complete first version of the product within a year.
- Assisted with hiring an additional three developers and a designer. Worked with an AI/ML developer to shape and define AI capabilities.
- Defined a future list of next-step follow-on features to pursue after launch. The product was built to be revenue-generating from launch. Defined what metrics to watch for stability and future decision points.
Senior Product Manager
2017 - 2018
FORSTA
- Managed the qualitative aspects of the business, including the product line for running focus groups in over 1,400 research facilities.
- Developed a WebRTC-based conferencing product from concept to MVP to initial sales. The team closed a Fortune 500 account one year from the start.
- Devised and enacted a strategy to set losses from one product line while accelerating growth in another. This entailed the complex management of operations, sales, and products within a business unit of over 100 employees.
- Reported to the CEO as part of the executive team. Held P&L ownership. Attended board meetings to represent product line.
Senior Product Manager
2015 - 2017
Glu Mobile
- Oversaw all revenue features at Portland mobile game studio, including in-app purchasing, advertising, rewarded offers, statistics, and more.
- Created and executed a rollout strategy, marketing, and user acquisition for Glu's Ultimate Chef game.
- Introduced a new software development process adjusted to game development.
- Authored strategy pieces for Glu corporate on pricing celebrity game contracts and the impact of TV on mobile.
Senior Product Manager, Native Advertising
2014 - 2015
PANDORA
- Restarted a legacy product line by instilling a new metrics system to track revenue and product KPIs. Based on early insights, convinced executive management to pivot the roadmap to pursue overlooked revenue demand.
- Folded three of Pandora's overlapping internal content toolsets into one, reducing engineering overhead and doubling product velocity.
- Oversaw an analytics engineering team and data pipeline for a large-scale internal reporting effort. The new analytics system was then used across ad, sales, and music teams at Pandora.
- Managed the launch of Promoted Stations, Pandora's first cost-per-engagement mobile and web ad unit. Sample clients included Toyota, Taco Bell, and Sonos.
Senior Product Manager, Measure
2011 - 2014
QUANTCAST
- Drove new sales and marketing strategy to grow product market share by 32% to own nearly half of the top 1,000 web properties. Grew Quantcast.com site traffic by 150% monthly uniques.
- Expanded Quantcast site mobile web measurement. Attracted top web tablet Onswipe and Mobify developers.
- Built out iOS and Android app measurements, including a Quantcast SDK and report offering. The client list includes Tumblr, Buzzfeed, and Salon. This resulted in a massive SDK device footprint within the first year.
- Launched the Quantcast traffic API product that major customers now use to mine their analytics data.
- Filed two mobile-related patents on behalf of Quantcast, one of which was granted: US Patent 8,965,336, titled "Quantifying Mobility of Entities via a Privacy-Preserving Mobility Metric."
Product Strategy Consultant
2008 - 2011
SM RESEARCH
- Operated a consulting practice specializing in product development and growth strategies for consumer software startups.
- Managed eleven clients in social media, gaming, and mobile. Sample clients: Dango, Fancharge, Mapulous, and Zynga.
- Developed product strategies for four mobile products, including Android, iPhone app and SMS offerings.
- Managed release of Battle Defenders that hit 160,000+ MAUs, becoming a top 300 game on Facebook at the time.
Product Manager, Mobile
2005 - 2006
OBERON MEDIA
- Served as a product manager at Oberon Media, one of the largest distributors of downloadable mobile and online "casual" video games in the world.
Director of Product Development
2001 - 2004
MOWAVE (Japan)
- Led product management for JVC-supplied ringtone and games storefront; Maxim Mobile deployed in multiple markets; Corbis Japan; and Time LIFE Pix Japan implementations. Products drove over $10 million in annual revenues.
Associate
2000 - 2001
INCUBASIA (Hong Kong)
- Acted as general manager to portfolio companies at a Hong Kong and Silicon Valley venture capital firm. Managed hiring, product roadmaps, and corporate governance issues.
- Launched ICQ-compatible wireless messenger, Black Octopus; Tencent QQ competitor. Structured first carrier deal and marketing launch with Sunday Telecommunication, HK carrier, achieving 100,000 text messages in first 10 days.
Director of Business Development, Strategic Relationships
1999 - 2000
MJUICE/ARTISTDIRECT
- Packaged Mjuice’s deals to make the company a successful acquisition for LA-based ARTISTdirect (5th largest music property; ComScore Media Metrix, March 2009). (ARTISTdirect acquired Mjuice).
Business Development Manager
1996 - 1999
WIRED DIGITAL/LYCOS
- Drafted Lycos Network music strategy, including the $38 million acquisition of MediaScience (Sonique).
- Closed revenue-generating deals, with larger deals in the US$1-7 million range.
- Built a marketing program that grew the Wired News subscriber base from 60,000 to 1.5+ million subscribers and 4x revenues.
Project History
Commercialization of Image Recognition Software Xerox PARC
Led a small research project through a spinoff process.
Started as a summer internship at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), Intelligent Systems Lab and resulted in an ongoing consulting agreement. Recruited an external developer and received approval from PARC to seek funding. Formally pitched to VCs but licensing terms in relation to business model proved to be barriers for investment.
Education
2006 - 2008
Master's Degree in Business Administration
Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Cambridge, MA, United States
1993 - 1996
Bachelor's Degree in School of Foreign Service
Georgetown University - Washington DC, United States
Certifications
FEBRUARY 2017 - PRESENT
US Patent - Quantifying Mobility of Mobile Devices Via A Privacy Preserving Mobility Metric
US Patent Office
MAY 2013 - PRESENT
US Patent - Inferring the Presence of an Entity Within an Identifier Space Based on the Behaviors of Unrelated Entities
US Patent Office
Collaboration That Works
How to Work with Toptal
Toptal matches you directly with global industry experts from our network in hours—not weeks or months.
1
Share your needs
Discuss your requirements and refine your scope in a call with a Toptal domain expert.
2
Choose your talent
Get a short list of expertly matched talent within 24 hours to review, interview, and choose from.
3
Start your risk-free talent trial
Work with your chosen talent on a trial basis for up to two weeks. Pay only if you decide to hire them.
Top talent is in high demand.
Start hiring