
Co-founder + CEO at Taika
⚡️Currently working on making cheat codes for everyday life.⚡️ I'm an entrepreneur, angel investor and product nerd who has spent the last few years crisscrossing the planet in search of great coffee and adventure. I've been lucky enough to invest in a handful of great companies and am always looking for more. In previous lives, I was the first mobile product hire and 7th product manager hired at Facebook. I led teams building many early mobile products including iOS, Android, mobile web, SMS and others. Some of my favorite moments were building and launching the very first version of Facebook Places, the brand new FBiOS app in 2012, the first version of native mobile ads & leading the Pages product group through a hugely successful evolution of product & strategy. By the numbers: * Helped grow mobile at Facebook from ~10M MAUs to over 1B DAUs. * Grew active Pages from 20M to over 50M * Grew Pages annual revenue from ~$600M to over $3.5B Before that, I was co-founder and CTO at one of the earliest social location companies (Socialight) and an Adjunct Professor at NYU, teaching classes in mobile applications and location product design. Right before I hopped over a few ponds and continents to the US - I was a freelance writer, occasional photographer and brand strategist in South Africa.
nyu.edu
columbia.edu
meta.com
taika.co
San Francisco, California, United States
Co-founder + CEO
Taika
• www.linkedin.com/company/drinktaika
Feb 2019 - Present
San Francisco Bay Area
Investor and Board Member
Mami Wata Surf
• www.linkedin.com/company/mami-wata-surf
Jan 2017 - Present
Product
• www.linkedin.com/company/facebook
Jan 2008 - Jun 2016
Advisor
Snapguide
• www.linkedin.com/company/heavy-bits-inc
Jan 2011 - Dec 2015
San Francisco Bay Area
Advisor
MobGeo Ltd.
May 2008 - Dec 2014
Board Member
Socialight
• www.linkedin.com/company/socialight
Jul 2004 - Dec 2011
Co-Founder, CTO
Kamida, LLC / Socialight
• www.linkedin.com/company/socialight
Jul 2004 - Aug 2008
Freelance writer / photographer
Various publications
Jan 1999 - Jul 2008
Co-founder / Organizer
Mobile Monday NY
May 2005 - Feb 2008
Strategist
trigger/isobar
Jan 2001 - Jan 2002
Analyst / Consultant
Media Africa / Acuity
Jan 2000 - Jan 2001