Chris Gagne

Current

• Product Manager at Atomic Online
• Founder at Cerbumi.org

Past

• Product Manager at Oversee.net
• Director, Client Services at Leads360, LLC
• Operations Supervisor at McMaster-Carr Supply Company

• Webmaster at Occidental College
• Wilderness Patrol at USDA Forest Service
• Project Manager at Frontera Corporation
• Graphic Designer at College Enterprises, Inc

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4 more...

Education

• University of California, Los Angeles - The Anderson School of Management
• Occidental College

Recommended

17 people have recommended Chris

Connections

316 connections

Industry

Internet

Chris Gagne’s Summary

As a product manager, I help companies research, design, develop, and launch compelling new products. Here's what I bring to the table:

Sophisticated user-centered design skills. I combine personas, design and reality mappings, user testing, the KJ method, ethnographic field research, persona-weighted feature evaluation and more to identify and prioritize the features that users need most. Naturally, this translates into a better product, happier users, and more revenue.

Excellent research, analysis, writing, and communication skills. The user-centered design approach helps teams identify great opportunities for new products and enhancements. My research and analysis skills help verify and bolster these opportunities, and my writing and communication skills document and support their development.

A solid technical background. While you probably wouldn't want to hire me as a junior developer, I've done my fair share of coding. I write SQL statements like a poet. I've spent many an hour in the deafening roar of a data center, swapping CPUs and installing IP-KVM switches. In short, I "get" technology and earn the respect of the technical team, making designing, developing, and actually shipping product all that much easier.

Experience in a startup environment. In addition to launching my own successful startup, I've contributed to the success of several startups over the course of my career as both an employee and consultant. I've developed business plans, one-sheets, decks, and elevator pitches both as an entrepreneur and as an employee.

Connections to the community. I am an active participant in the Los Angeles technology community, and often present at local events on a variety of technology topics.

I use Scrum. This iterative development methodology breaks down large projects into smaller "chunks." This increases productivity, shows results sooner, and allows the product to adapt faster to new learnings and changing market conditions.

Chris Gagne’s Specialties:

UI design, wireframes, PRDs, use cases, Agile/Scrum Development, KJ Method / Affinity Diagrams, Personas, Reality & Design Mapping, User Testing, Ethnographic Field Research, Persona-Based Competitive Analysis & Feature Prioritization, Perl, MySQL, MS SQL, Eclipse RC, CSS, HTML, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Visio, Flash, OMNIGraffle, Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Outlook, Entourage, Project), Windows XP, Mac OS X, Keynote, AppleScript, Mathematica, Lander Optimization

Chris Gagne’s Experience

• Product Manager

  Atomic Online

  (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Online Media industry)

  August 2008 — Present (1 year)

  Manage the product backlog for Crave Online, The Fashion Spot, and Teen Crunch web networks using Scrum.

• Founder

  Cerbumi.org

  (Non-Profit Organization Management industry)

  March 2004 — Present (5 years 5 months)

  • Developed an web 2.0 application to facilitate an open-source network-based approach real-world problem solving
  • Conducting research into how individuals can collaborate effective online

• Product Manager

  Oversee.net

  (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Internet industry)

  July 2007 — July 2008 (1 year 1 month)

  • Research and develop new products for Low.com, a leading mortgage lead generator
  • Research, develop, and launch a competitive business model and product offering for an new auto insurance vertical
  • Manage the product roadmap and backlog
  • Manage an agile development cycle using Scrum
  • Evangelize and apply best practice user-centered design, including personas, process and design mapping, KJ-method collaboration, ethnographic field research, and user testing
  • Create and sustain business development partnerships

• Director, Client Services

  Leads360, LLC

  (Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Computer Software industry)

  June 2005 — June 2007 (2 years 1 month)

  • Directed the company’s account management and technical support departments through 45x revenue growth in less than 2 years
  • Researched and developed best practices recommendations for mortgage industry clients
  • Designed and evangelized core product functionality based on customer feedback and metrics-based research
  • Conceived, designed, and personally developed LeadGuardian™, the only anti-theft tool on the market that protects expensive mortgage leads and trains new loan officers

• Operations Supervisor

  McMaster-Carr Supply Company

  (Privately Held; 1001-5000 employees; Wholesale industry)

  August 2003 — June 2005 (1 year 11 months)

  Oversaw several customer-side operations of a nationwide industrial supply distributor, including competitive strategy, marketing, material handling, purchasing, and finance.

• Webmaster

  Occidental College

  (Educational Institution; 11-50 employees; Broadcast Media industry)

  August 2002 — April 2003 (9 months)

  Developed a consistent web design and user interface and managed a web-content team.

• Wilderness Patrol

  USDA Forest Service

  (Government Agency; 10,001 or more employees; Government Administration industry)

  June 2002 — September 2002 (4 months)

  Patrolled the Trinity Alps Wilderness and managed a remote historical cabin.

• Project Manager

  Frontera Corporation

  (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Internet industry)

  July 1999 — January 2001 (1 year 7 months)

  • Managed customer relationships, change requirements, and documentation
  • Supervised graphic designers and provided technical oversight for a design group in a fast-paced development environment, substantially improving usability

• Graphic Designer

  College Enterprises, Inc

  (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Graphic Design industry)

  October 1997 — July 1999 (1 year 10 months)

  Provided graphic design and customer service at a retail reprographics center.

Chris Gagne’s Education

• University of California, Los Angeles - The Anderson School of Management

  MBA , 2008 — 2011 (expected)

• Occidental College

  BA , Economics for Business and Management , August 2001 — May 2003

  Earned departmental honors for my thesis entitled "What effects will increased globalization have on America's knowledge workers?"

  Activities and Societies:

  Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, Mortar Board, Omicron Delta Epsilon, campus radio

Additional Information

Chris Gagne’s Interests:

nonprofit, open-source, sustainable development, Macintosh, user interface design, software development, graphic design, backpacking, digital photography, usability research, independent films

Chris Gagne’s Groups:

•    Rotaract
•    Barcamp Alumni
•    Online Lead Generation
•    PHI BETA KAPPA SOCIETY Official
•    Mortar Board National College Senior Honor Society
•    Occidental College Alumni
•    Social Entrepreneur
•    Idealab etc.
•    BarCamp LA
•    LAgeeks.org

Chris Gagne’s Honors:

GMAT Scores: 740 total, 6 AWA
Magna Cum Laude
Phi Beta Kappa Member
Mortar Board Member
Omicron Delta Epsilon Member
Earned Departmental Honors for Thesis Entitled "What effects will increasing globalization have on America's knowledge workers?"
Passed "Human Resources Economics" Senior Comprehensives with Distinction

Chris Gagne’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

• career opportunities
• consulting offers
• new ventures
• job inquiries
• expertise requests
• business deals
• reference requests
• getting back in touch