MACK REED

Versatile tech product development executive–from ideation through launch to road-mapped growth. Delivers precise market fit and feature performance from blue-sky ideation, research-driven UX design, brand alignment, and agile, metrics-guided management. 

Award-winning communication/strategy chops, proven instincts for optimizing interaction. A knack for building team synergy feeds collaboration between C-suite goals and deadline developers. Relentlessly devoted to the always-evolving user journey – and reaching beyond its milestones.

  • Hires, builds & empowers innovative teams for community, enterprise, social, gaming, and startups
  • Holds deep knowledge of tech cultural trends & history for impactful & ethical design practice 
  • Predicts and navigates product vulnerability & opportunity in all phases of development
  • Ensures delivery with agile, hands-on, full-lifecycle, product-management expertise
    CONSULTANT – PRODUCT DESIGN & MANAGEMENTMackReed.co2014-Now

    Developing digital product design, road map & prototype UX, and overseeing delivery of software & product success for a variety of clients, including CreatePrime & Daedalus Health.

    DIRECTOR OF PRODUCT MANAGEMENT CLIPr.ai2021-2022

    Focused & evolved the UX design, branding & go-to-market strategy for an AI video indexing/analytics platform (SaaS). Delivered products that secured the company’s largest partners.

    ORGANIZER – COMMUNITY, COMMS & TECH STRATEGYMutualAid.nyc2020-2021

    Developed strategy, governance, tools, policy & content for a city-wide network of volunteer  mutual-aid organizations. Supported vulnerable New Yorkers through the COVID-19 pandemic.

    HEAD OF PRODUCTVeebit.com2014-2019

    Innovated product strategy & UX for a psychometrics platform that shapes better teams & cultural fit via ESG. Refined product offerings for Esports, pro sports, enterprise business & education.

    PRODUCT MANAGERElated2015-2017

    Directed design/testing of product, technology & marketing strategy for gamified dating app startup.

    CO-FOUNDER & CHIEF PRODUCT OFFICERF.8 Interactive2011-2015

    Created social technology, content/audience strategy, and games for mobile, consoles, VR, and gesture-controlled platforms. Managed product and operations for a SaaS/white-label mobile marketing platform powered by gamified photo-sharing for brands.

    UX/PRODUCT DESIGN, INNOVATIONS DIRECTORspeakTECH/Perficient2007-2011

    Designed information architecture, UX & social strategy for web, desktop, mobile & multi-touch. Designs for 20th Century Fox, Disney, Boeing, Dell, NewsCorp, Ticketmaster, USAA contributed value that led to company’s merger/acquisition.

    CONSULTANT – PRODUCT & COMMUNITYMetblogs2006-2008

    Managed and mentored editorial “captains” of 52 urban weblogs around the world; Shaped editorial voice for a broad variety of cities, cultures, and nations – from NYC & Paris to Tokyo & Islamabad – in a corporate milieu that actually valued the absence of restrictive editorial policies.

    FOUNDING PUBLISHERLAVoice.org2003-2007

    Established a blog-based publication and online community that published daily news and opinion by people who write well and passionately about Los Angeles. Topics: culture, freeway life, environment, media, neighborhoods and the political power structure. LA County Press Club awards: Best Weblog

    SENIOR CONSULTANTUSC Information Science Institute2002-2005

    Built online hub, voice & brand for the National Science Foundation’s Digital Government Research Program from scratch. Managed development team, designed interactive & print publications and editorial voice.

    CONTENT MANAGER, SENIOR NEWS PRODUCERCox Interactive Media1997-2001

    Helped conceive, design, build, launch and produce two major regional web portals, drove three complete interface overhauls across more than 6,000 pages, Developed products including 150-page L.A. County Neighborhoods Guide, Disaster Guide, live So.Ca. traffic maps (pre-Google) and message boards on LAPD and LAUSD.

    STAFF WRITER, COLUMNISTLos Angeles Times1990-1997

    Covered criminal justice, civil courts, city government, youth, defense contractors and Burning Man. Contributed to Pulitzer-winning coverage of the L.A. Riots and Northridge Earthquake. Wrote a weekly column on motor vehicle laws, car culture and the travails of commuting. Coverage of the flawed death-penalty appeals system won an award from the Calif. Bar Assn.

    REPORTERPhiladelphia Inquirer1987-1990

    Covered police, courts, and features. Investigative series on severe overcrowding and mistreatment of patients at a state psychiatric hospital won an award from the National Alliance on Mental Illness. 

    INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

    U.S. Patent Application #14/588,891 filed on Jan. 2, 2015 for: “Method and System for Distributed Collection and Distribution of Photographs”

    PUBLICATIONS

    TOO DAMN FAST (white paper)- How to Match the Blistering Evolution of Social Media with Effective Internal & External Social Technology Strategies (speakTECH, 2009)

    Digital Government Community-building and Outreach (Proceedings of the National Conference on Digital Government Research, 2004)

    SKILLS & TECHNOLOGIES
    Project management / collaborationAsana, Jira, Trello, Google Workspace
    Wireframing & high-fidelity prototypingFigma, OmniGraffle, Balsamiq, Sketch
    Graphic designAdobe Creative Suite, Paper
    Publishing / PresentationRaw HTML, CSS, BBEdit, WordPress, Apple iWork, MS Office
    Working familiarity withUnix, LAMP, Node, iOS, Homebrew, Android, AWS, Sharepoint/MS Teams
    EDUCATION

    Brown University: BA w/Honors, in American Civilization

    Rhode Island School of Design: Advanced photography studies

    PERSONAL

     Bicyclist, artist, instrument builder; Member of the WELL and Burning Man communities since 1996