Discover the main responsibilities of a Chief Product Officer (CPO) and get a practical CPO job description template. Find out about CPO salaries and the best way to hire one.
Hootan Mahallati
Chief Product Officer / serial product leader at hypergrowth global startups || Former YC Founder & CEO || Expertise across productivity, social media, e-commerce, marketplaces, & fintech || Columbia Business School
As a seasoned product leader and former Y Combinator founder & CEO, I have a proven global track record in both 0-1 and scale environments at globally recognized consumer tech brands. My expertise spans productivity, social networking, e-commerce, marketplaces and fintech.
I have been instrumental in driving significant growth and success (four exits and one IPO) for various companies, including:
- Helping Depop scale from $150M to $300M GMV within a year
- Leading Rocket Internet's launch and scal…
Experience
Hyperseed
CEO & Co-Founder
Oct 2020 - Jun 2024
Hyperseed is a finance operations (FinOps) automation company empowering finance teams with direct control over automating and streamlining their custom workflows. The first product enables finance teams to automate their complex, recurring billing operations at scale.
- Conceived vision for and built an innovative B2B FinOps SaaS platform for automating and streamlining custom finance workflows
- Raised $1.3M from YC, Quiet Capital and 11 other investors
- Responsible for strategy, sales, marketing and P&L
Depop
Interim Chief Product Officer (consultant)
Nov 2018 - Sep 2019
Buy and sell on Depop — Depop is the home of circular fashion that’s kinder to people and kinder to the planet. Find vintage clothing. Whatever your style, find it on Depop
- Delivered a cross-functional, three-year product roadmap tied to the vision-at-large for Depop and executed against the immediate annual milestones, helping the company scale from $150M to $300M in GMV during my tenure
- Restructured and led the product team squads through bi-weekly sprint releases, implemented a transparent weekly product update mechanism for management and a weekly reporting process tying product improvement KPIs and OKRs to GMV
- Created a management accountability structure formalizing and clarifying key responsibilities from C-level down to director level, outlining inter-dependability of roles to maximize cross-functional collaboration
- Represented Depop as acting CPO in investor meetings and was instrumental in closing the company's $62M Series C fund raise led by General Atlantic
Brickblock
Interim Chief Operating Officer (consultant)
Sep 2017 - Nov 2017
Brickblock is a blockchain real estate asset tokenization platform.
- Led a 30-person blockchain asset tokenization startup through its first major, three-week initial coin offering (ICO)
- Led product and day-to-day operations including finance & accounting, human resources, hiring, and external company communications with vendors and partners
Rocket Internet SE
Global Chief Product Officer
Mar 2015 - Mar 2017
Rocket Internet is the most renowned and successful global startup incubator and investor, with over 170 portfolio companies and $30B+ in cumulative exits such as HelloFresh ($2B IPO) and DeliveryHero ($5B IPO)
- Led Rocket's central product, design and conversion optimization teams responsible for both 0-1 of new ventures and late-stage optimization through IPOs & exits
- Directed product development for 14 new Rocket companies built & launched over two years, managing product teams and roadmaps for each company from inception to full independence
- Advised over 50 companies in the Rocket and Global Founders Capitals (GFC) portfolios - ranging from early-stage to pre-IPO phase - on business strategy, operational and product development best-practices and organizational design matters
- Led the conversion optimization & analytics team in delivering a projected increase of €1.5B+ in annualized revenues to 85+ Rocket companies across 7 verticals and 100+ markets
- Served on the Rocket management steering committee, reviewing unit economics and growth metrics of key ventures and subsequently driving decisions on funding, organizational matters, and short- and long-term roadmaps
- Partnered with Facebook and Google on testing, developing and implementing new technologies from their respective ecosystems in order to scale growth and improve engagement & retention of Rocket portfolio users
Nextdoor
Director of Product
Sep 2012 - Jan 2015
Nextdoor is where you connect to the neighborhoods that matter to you so you can thrive. Our purpose is to cultivate a kinder world where everyone has a neighborhood they can rely on. Neighbors around the world turn to Nextdoor daily to receive trusted information, give and get help, get things done, and build real-world connections with those nearby — neighbors, businesses, and public services. We believe connecting with others is a universal human need. That truth, and the reality that neighborhoods are among the most important communities in our lives, have been guiding principles for Nextdoor since the beginning. Today, neighbors rely on Nextdoor in more than 315,000 neighborhoods across 11 countries. In the U.S., 1 in 3 households uses the network. Nextdoor is based in San Francisco. For additional information and images: nextdoor.com/newsroom. Nextdoor is free, and it's easy to sign up. Get started at https://nextdoor.com. For media inquiries, email us at [email protected]. For customer support, reach us at http://nextdoor.com/support.
- As Nextdoor's first dedicated mobile product hire, conceived and built Nextdoor's mobile platform, team, product development infrastructure and market presence from the ground up
- Scaled mobile to become Nextdoor's leading interface and a top and permanently-featured social app in both Apple and Google's app stores
- Led the organizational transition to a mobile-first product culture, collaborating across teams and initiatives to grow the scope of the company's mobile know-how and product development capabilities
Bump
VP Product
Aug 2011 - Aug 2012
Bump enabled users to quickly and easily exchange contact info and photos, simply by bumping their phones together.
- Transformed Bump's product development organization as the first VP Product
- Proposed and implemented a strategy of data-backed elimination of non-performing assets, leading to an overhaul of the Bump product lineup on iOS and Android, strengthening the user base, earning high-prole app store placements
- Led growth from 50 to 90+ million downloads (7th most-downloaded app of all time) and maintained 15M monthly active users despite elimination of features
Tripit
Mobile Product Manager
Jan 2010 - Jul 2011
- Led product lifecycle efforts for TripIt's award-winning mobile application suite as the company's first mobile product manager
- Managed the transition of TripIt's core product offerings to mobile platforms in the context of a web-first company rapidly transforming into a mobile one
- Drove 5x, 48x, and 19x increases in installed bases for iOS, Android and BlackBerry, and introduced WP7 appAcquired by Concur ($120M) * Led product lifecycle efforts for TripIt's award-winning mobile application suite as the company's first mobile product
rightpedal
CEO & Founder
Jun 2007 - Dec 2009
rightpedal was an automotive enthusiast social video site.
- Conceived vision for Generation Y's social video automotive reference site
- Secured funding from the distinguished Columbia Business School Lang Fund, beating 40 competitors
- Assembled, inspired, and led international web development and video production team from conception to launch of website
Yahoo
Global Marketing MBA Intern
Apr 2006 - Jul 2006
Amplifying what matters the most to you.
- Authored a global marketing playbook aimed at standardizing and streamlining Yahoo!'s global product launches, projecting 50% savings in local marketing costs
- Playbook was compiled based on firsthand experience of pain points during launch of new Y! Mail and Messenger in USA, Asia, Europe and South America
- Work was praised by CMO, senior executives, and international managers for quality and thoroughness and implemented across several divisions
Ricardo Strategic Consulting
Associate
Oct 2004 - Jun 2005
Global automotive industry-focused strategic consultancy
- Led a client team of six at a Top 5 global engine manufacturer in resolving an $11M warranty issue
- Created and presented concise weekly progress reports to the client's C-level management
- Designed and implemented root cause analysis frameworks and test programs to identify and solve issues
Ricardo Software
Skills: Leadership · Strategy Business Development Manager, Mechanical Simulation Products
Oct 2000 - Oct 2004
Automotive computer aided engineering simulation software suite
- Managed sales & marketing of a $2M B2B mechanical simulation software product portfolio to automotive OEMs and suppliers in Asia, Europe and the United States
Ricardo
Project Engineer
Aug 1998 - Oct 2000
Global automotive engineering consultancy
- Developed engineering and analytical skills through engine system modeling, dynamometer testing and data analysis in over 17 engineering projects
- Authored proposals, determined budgets, compiled final reports, and presented results to clients including Ford, GM, Chrysler, Kohler, Briggs and Stratton.
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