Experienced Product Manager and Business Strategist
San Francisco Bay Area
- Past
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- Vice President, Product Management and Product Design at Ning, Inc.
- Director of Product Management, Emerging Creative Technologies at Adobe Systems
- Group Product Manager at Adobe Systems Incorporated
- Senior Product Manager at Adobe Systems Incorporated
- Product Manager, Cross-Media Workflows at Adobe Systems Incorporated
- PDF Evangelist, Developer Relations at Adobe Systems Incorporated
- Digital Content Management (Contract) at First Marathon Securities (now National Bank of Canada)
- Manager, Digital Workflow Integration (Contract) at Arthurs-Jones/Print-Net Inc.
- Regional Sales Support Manager at Scitex America Corp. (now Kodak Graphic Communications Group)
- Instructor, Part-time at University of Toronto, School of Architecture and Design, Digital Media Studios
- Education
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- Pepperdine University, The George L. Graziadio School of Business and Management
- Ryerson University
- Recommended
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7 people have recommended Lydia - Connections
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- Industry
- Online Media
- Websites
Lydia Varmazis’s Summary
Proven strategic thinker who is able to analyze markets and formulate strategic product plans and roadmaps towards a history of successful product releases.
Creative business leader who is comfortable with change and with an eye towards trends in technology, specifically related to SaaS and online and social media software.
Passionate product manager who is able to internalize customer needs and translate these into engaging consumer experiences.
Lydia Varmazis’s Specialties:
Product Management, Business Development, Marketing Management, Social and Interactive Media, Software, SaaS
Lydia Varmazis’s Experience
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Vice President, Product Management and Product Design
Ning, Inc.
(Privately Held; Internet industry)
October 2008 — July 2009 (10 months)
Managed, lead and grew the Product Management team comprised of Product Managers, User Experience Designers, and Web Developers to drive the continued success of Ning’s rapidly growing platform.
Defined, executed and iterated on Ning’s existing product while formulating the product plans for the new products such as Ning.com and new functionality such as Ning Apps based on OpenSocial. -
Director of Product Management, Emerging Creative Technologies
Adobe Systems
(Public Company; ADBE; Computer Software industry)
February 2007 — September 2008 (1 year 8 months)
Defined and operationalized the roadmap for transitioning of Adobe’s creative professional business from desktop applications to on-line hosted applications and communities.
Designed and deployed Adobe’s first online creative communities—Adobe kuler and Adobe knowhow.
Defined new product, analytics and monetization models for hosted applications and SaaS that were incorporated into the BU’s strategic imperatives for new market growth and new customer acquisition.
Recruited and managed a cross-functional team of product managers, software developers and quality testers to develop a series SaaS focused on the Creative Professional and built on Adobe AIR, Flex and Flash. -
Group Product Manager
Adobe Systems Incorporated
(Public Company; ADBE; Computer Software industry)
2003 — 2005 (2 years )
Defined the product roadmap and strategic direction for Adobe’s market leading illustration software—Adobe Illustrator, mobile applications and new product and market opportunities for the creative professional.
Managed and mentored a team of product managers in the definition of the existing product line while leading a diverse cross-functional team through multiple product life cycles. -
Senior Product Manager
Adobe Systems Incorporated
(Public Company; ADBE; Computer Software industry)
2001 — 2003 (2 years )
Responsible for product management of Adobe Illustrator and Adobe SVG as well as mobile technology. Created product definition documents for multi-generational products and led the development team through multiple successful product releases.
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Product Manager, Cross-Media Workflows
Adobe Systems Incorporated
(Public Company; ADBE; Computer Software industry)
1998 — 2001 (3 years )
Defined the product specifications and strategies for a series of desktop software applications, SaaS applications and licensed technologies based on Adobe Acrobat and PDF technology.
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PDF Evangelist, Developer Relations
Adobe Systems Incorporated
(Public Company; ADBE; Computer Software industry)
1997 — 1998 (1 year )
Recruited to lead the adoption of PDF technology, identifying business opportunities and build a developer network. Increased the number of partners by 145% is less than 1 year.
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Digital Content Management (Contract)
First Marathon Securities (now National Bank of Canada)
(Public Company; NA.TO; Banking industry)
1997 — 1997 (less than a year)
Defined standards for just-in-time electronic content delivery for IPOs, special warrants and private placements for the Investment Banking’s on-demand print and Intranet/Internet site.
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Manager, Digital Workflow Integration (Contract)
Arthurs-Jones/Print-Net Inc.
(Printing industry)
1995 — 1997 (2 years )
Established formalized workflows that supported the publishing of Financial Reports to print, the web and interactive and online media.
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Regional Sales Support Manager
Scitex America Corp. (now Kodak Graphic Communications Group)
(Computer Hardware industry)
1993 — 1995 (2 years )
Recruited into a sales management assignment to direct a team of six systems specialists and to promote the value of the product through executive level and industry association presentations, and ROI-based cost/benefit analysis.
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Instructor, Part-time
University of Toronto, School of Architecture and Design, Digital Media Studios
(Educational Institution; 11-50 employees; Graphic Design industry)
1992 — 1995 (3 years )
Lydia Varmazis’s Education
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Pepperdine University, The George L. Graziadio School of Business and Management
MBA , Strategy, Finance , 2000 — 2002
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Ryerson University
BSc , Graphic Communications Management
Additional Information
Lydia Varmazis’s Websites:
Lydia Varmazis’s Groups:
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Adobe Alumni -
Pepperdine Graziadio School Alumni -
ThoseinMedia -
Streaming Media Professionals -
TED Conferences -
Future Trends
Lydia Varmazis’s Honors:
Crazy Ivan Award: for delivering an outstanding, unexpected, out-of-the-box accomplishment (2007)
Communication Arts Interactive Annual 13 Art Directors Merit Award for Adobe kuler (2007)
