Learn how a data science executive thinks about building scalable data systems at startups.
Michael E. Gruen
Founder-type / Tech Executive
I’m a founder, builder, and technology executive since the mid-00s.
Throughout my career I’ve worked in a part-time, fractional, or advisory capacity to a number of companies, firms, and founders through my firm greyworks. This is often on-top of or next-to my primary focus.
I have extensive experience in technology (or technology-enabled) companies going through transformational moments, whether its the company’s founding, an early/mid-stage pivot, or growth investment through a financing ro…
Work
Team, Assemble!
https://teamassemble.appTeam Travel Estimates Made Fun and Easy
(Side project current in-progress.)
What a modern Rolodex should be
https://contact.gruen.usWanted a better way to manage my friends, family, and professional contacts as, especially for the latter two, sometimes the lines can blur. No commercial solution exists, so I built one. 🎉
- https://michaelgruen.com/
Personal website with activities, and links to other projects/writings.
Experience
Exposure Labs, Inc.
Interim fCEO / Board Member
Aug 2022 - Present
Easy-to-use, easy-to-publish visual storytelling platform for brands, organizations, and professiona/pro-sumer photographers. See some of our members best work at: https://exposure.co/publications
- Upgraded core technology to modern standards. (3 version jump!)
- Reduced MTBR and MTTR (mean time between repairs, mean time to repair) by orders of magnitude, while also reducing page load time by 90%
- Leveraged AI for back-end processes and customer service tickets, reducing inbound support needs by 60%.
- Restructured CS and Technology resources for improved velocity.
SaaS/Services (Redacted)
Technical Advisor
Aug 2023 - Oct 2023
Established SaaS/Services company that maintains resume/CV records for professionals within a high-regulated industry. Company invested in a rebuild of their core technology with an outside vendor that was over-time and over-budget. Executives were concerned about future viability of their investment.
- Partnered with C-suite to understand perceived challenges and desired outcomes.
- Conducted a code and architectural review of operational app and contracted future-app; repackaged findings into recommendations with business impact for strategic discussion.
Mobile App + Web Platform (Redacted)
Fraction CTO / Advisor
Mar 2023 - Jul 2023
Series A company with a vertical-SaaS iOS app and web platform had architectural constraints on their codebase and team structure. Neither constraint was visible to the CEO, but they knew they had a problem with shipping and delivery and was concerned they didn't have the right people in place.
- Triaged the architecture (team and technology) and provided a roadmap on how to move forward. Company has since raised their next round of funding and hired a full-time technical lead.
- Coached key engineering resources on communication strategies to better articulate challenges to the wider team.
- Had fun doing it.
HR Tech Services Company (Redacted)
Fractional CTO
Oct 2022 - Dec 2022
A technology-enabled recruiting firm witnessed the efficacy of their core process automation tool drop dramatically. Executives were convinced their technology had a functional deficiency/bug that their internal team couldn't diagnose and wanted to bring in an expert.
- Coached senior engineer resources on defining success and efficacy rates for core services
- Through that work, hypothesized the problem was product-related, not engineering-related, and conducted experiments to prove such
- Proof in hand, recommended a holistic approach to remediate the existential to their business model.
Upright
CTO
Mar 2021 - Jul 2022
Financial services company focused on fix/flip and new construction loans, funded by individual investors (crowdfunding) and institutional warehouse lines.
- Owned product, engineering, DevOps, IT, data/analytics, security, and compliance.
- Rapidly built distributed team: 5 to 75 FTEs in 13 months.
- Organized using modern software organizational practices, including team topologies, dynamic re-teaming, and Agile/Scrum, with a nod toward’s Conway’s Law to improve ownership and agency, enabling more consistent value delivery with ever-growing team.
- Deprecated/repackaged monolith to service-oriented architecture on IaaS.
Cloud Security Posture Management (Redacted)
Interim COO/CIO
Apr 2019 - Aug 2019
Series A company's flagship product helped Fortune 50 and large financial institutions secure, manage, and govern their public cloud estates. (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure, etc.)
- Set a "land speed record" for achieving SOC II Type 2 compliance
- Reduced cloud costs by over 50% by improving containerization strategy and contracted spending.
- Stood up Product, DevOps, and other core technology functions.
DTC CPG (Redacted)
Fractional COO
Jun 2016 - Apr 2017
A cosmetics company with 90% sales volume through online channels, customers could "subscribe" to products with auto-delivery.
- Reconstructed data systems and reporting to improve customer/product matching
- Restructured core ops
- Lead fundraising efforts (successfully)
Send me Talent
Chat with the founders of Go Fractional to learn what problems you could be solving tomorrow.