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Running a Product & Engineering Team

(5)
Created 4 years ago in Product & Design / Product Management

Close.com (formerly Close.io) is a B2B SaaS product that helps salespeople be more productive and close more deals.

2012-2014: Head of Product & Engineering
• Helped design, build, and launch Close from scratch. Helped grow Close from 0 to profitable with millions in ARR when we were a company of 6 people.
• Led our initial 3-person Product+Engineering team, where I wore many hats. I was the our primary Frontend/JavaScript developer and architected and built most of our initial Backbone.js single page app / UI. I also served as our Product Manager and Product Designer, and contributed with on the Backend (Python/Flask/MongoDB/Elasticsearch) and in DevOps (AWS/Puppet/CI/CD).
• Contributed in many other ways – doing support, helped close early deals, worked with integration partners, etc.

2015-2018: Director of Product & Engineering
• Grew the Product/Engineering team from 3 to 20 people. Started hiring more specialist roles (compared to our Full Stack team) in areas of DevOps, Backend engineering, Frontend engineering, and hired our first Product Designer and Product Manager.
• Created and managed a remote screening, interviewing, and hiring process. See https://philfreo.com/blog/when-who-how-to-hire-an-engineering-team-including-hiring-remotely/
• Set up product development processes based on Shape Up.
• Championed remote work and helped transition the company from fully in-person in Palo Alto to fully remote with 40+ people around the world.

2019-Present: Sr. Director of Engineering
• Setting engineering team goals, setting high standards, improving processes, identifying bottlenecks, hiring & retention, fostering team culture and relationships.
• Promoted/hired and now managing 4 Engineering Managers.
• Working closely with our Product team on high level product strategy and improving our product development process.
• Working closely with founders and Directors of other departments on overall company strategy/goals.

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Quizlet.com
• I was the first Engineering hire at Quizlet.com, a study website used by 6M students (60M page views) monthly. I worked closely with the company's founders and led Engineering/Product.
• Focused on designing/developing new features (PHP, JavaScript), backend scalability (MySQL, Memcached, devops), improving UX/UI, Engineering Recruiting, and Product Management.
• More details: http://philfreo.com/blog/two-years-at-quizlet/

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