I’m a versatile, data-driven marketing executive with experience growing small and medium size startups in the online and mobile space. I’m currently the Executive Director, Puzzles at The New York Times, building out our crosswords and puzzles subscription business.
In the decade prior to The Times, I have worked at small game startups like Oberon Media, PowerChallenge, OMGPOP (makers of Draw Something and acquired by Zynga) and FreshPlanet (makers of SongPop) to help them scale in analytics, marketing, product management and monetization. Through these companies I’ve had hands-on experience with what’s worked and what’s not as the industry has transitioned from PC downloadable games, to Facebook social games and now mobile apps.
In this process I’ve been involved with all steps of the game life cycle:
- Competitive analysis and identifying new opportunities
- Prototyping new game ideas
- Creating game loops, leveling systems and economies
- Launching games in test markets
- Optimizing the new user experience through analytics
- Acquiring new users through marketing and advertising campaigns
- Developing new features to drive more engagement and monetization in a game
- Optimizing in-game advertising to balance revenue maximization with user retention
- Community management and customer support
- Designing marketing campaigns to drive users back to the game or to buy new virtual goods in the game
Prior to the games industry, I graduated from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern and held marketing positions with larger organizations like UPS, Prodigy Internet and DoubleClick, which give me perspective on competitive analysis, monetization of web content and the online and mobile ad space.
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