VP of Product at mywaves
San Francisco Bay Area
- Current
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- VP of Product at mywaves
- Past
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- Principal - CP(3)O at Threxy
- VP of Product Strategy at Spark Networks, plc
- Product Manager at Friendster
- Product Manager at Yahoo! Inc.
- Education
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- California State University-Fresno
- Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
- Recommended
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14 people have recommended Sherry - Connections
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193
connections
- Industry
- Internet
- Websites
Sherry Willhoite’s Summary
I am a seasoned Chief Product Officer with over a decade of experience in product strategy and development. My expertise ranges from building company and product strategies for publicly traded companies to being well known for getting my hands dirty in critical product cycles. I am a veteran of the online community space with a decade in leading companies including product leadership at Yahoo!, Friendster and Spark Networks and my own online consulting company, Threxy, Inc.
Sherry Willhoite’s Specialties:
product management, social networking, online communities, social media, PRD, MRD, agile development, startups, user experience, online dating, platform apps
Sherry Willhoite’s Experience
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VP of Product
mywaves
(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Computer Software industry)
July 2008 — Present (1 year 1 month)
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Principal - CP(3)O
Threxy
(Internet industry)
October 2005 — June 2008 (2 years 9 months)
I'm the Chief Product Officer at Threxy - an Internet marketing consulting, design and web development company with over $1 million revenue.
We are online community gurus and have primarily consulted on projects in that field. Most of our clients come to us with an idea or an elevator pitch and from that we conceive the business plan, design, develop and launch the business. Our clients range from entrepreneurs to publicly traded companies.
With the rest of our projects, we're hired for individual expertise - write a PRD, a functional spec, develop/code an app, market a business.
During my tenure, I've worked with 10 key clients, building out five full online companies and product strategy work for countless more. I am responsible for managing our engineering, product and design teams. -
VP of Product Strategy
Spark Networks, plc
(Public Company; 51-200 employees; LOV; Internet industry)
October 2004 — October 2005 (1 year 1 month)
I managed over 20 separate online personals businesses totaling $72 million revenue. I worked directly for the company CEO, to guide to company product strategy including the $21 million revenue-maker JDate and the massive user-base of American Singles. In addition to managing engineering, design and product groups, I also was a part of the executive team responsible for acquisitions, including the multi-million dollar purchase of MingleMatch in 2005.
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Product Manager
Friendster
(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Internet industry)
February 2004 — October 2004 (9 months)
A short but memorable stint that included leading all product efforts to integrate advertising and e-commerce. Also managed efforts with outside partners for voice and instant messaging features. Designed the import address book flows for all major web mail applications. But my most memorable contributions have to be the initial design for "Featured Fan Profiles" and the often-copied nomenclature "Become a Fan" and "I'm a Fan of..." now used on most social networking sites. ;-)
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Product Manager
Yahoo! Inc.
(Public Company; Internet industry)
August 1997 — February 2004 (6 years 7 months)
From the infancy of community services at Yahoo! to the ground-breaking transition of Yahoo! Personals from a free to a fee-based service, I lived and breathed community at Yahoo!
Managed Yahoo! Chat for over 3 years with a $15M+ P&L. Designed and developed cutting-edge product features including voice chat and Yahoo! Messenger integration.
Yahoo! Greetings and Yahoo! Invites - managed over a hundred artists and greetings providers including the flagship relationship with American Greetings. Launched innovative storyboard ad program.
Yahoo! Personals - managed the transition of the product from free to fee-based. Launched numerous products and features including Yahoo! en Espanol, Yahoo! Voice and Video, a full-scale redesign, PRD for the Yahoo! Personals Mailbox. Just prior to leaving Yahoo! I led the initial research and design for Y! 360.
Sherry Willhoite’s Education
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California State University-Fresno
BA , Mass Communications and Journalism , 1993 — 1996
Graduated Magna Cum Laude
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Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
1988 — 1992
Additional Information
Sherry Willhoite’s Websites:
Sherry Willhoite’s Groups:
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Yahoo Alums -
Yahoo Employees and Alumni Group
Sherry Willhoite’s Contact Settings
Interested In:
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