San Francisco COO Helps Make A Company's Vision A Reality
Brian Witlin is the Chief Operating Officer of Yummly. As the COO at Yummly, he leads all of the mobile, product and business development efforts. Witlin spends some of his days deep in design and others out meeting partners and working on new technologies.
Witlin has a Master of Science degree in engineering from Stanford University and a Bachelor of Science in marketing and finance from Lehigh University.
What are the scope and responsibilities of your current role?
"I am responsible for our product roadmap, and translating the company's vision into reality. I work closely with the CEO and VP of growth to drive our core metrics of success."
What is your favorite part of your daily duties?
"My favorite part of my daily duties is interacting with my co-workers. I have never worked in a company environment where everyone respects, trusts and gets along so well with each other. I learn something new every day from my team. Working at a company where everyone enjoys working with each other is something that should not be taken for granted."
Do you feel your education prepared you for your current role?
"Absolutely. I was blessed to pursue entrepreneurship while both in undergrad (where I started my first software company) and graduate school (where I launched several product related businesses). Both schools gave me a strategic advantage as I prototyped and pursued my passion for growing companies."
Do you have any advice for people who desire to pursue a similar career?
"If you are interested in entrepreneurship and/or consumer services and technology, I would focus on finding the applications and services that are most inspiring to you. Then, reach out to individuals at the company and take them to lunch. These meetings will help you triangulate the right role and necessary skills, and can possibly lead to a rewarding role at one of your dream companies. It also may help you formulate a new idea for a company waiting to happen. One other piece of advice is to start working on a new business or service as a side project. This will limit the risk of not having a full-time salary and you can truly enjoy and learn as you go (without as much pressure). I find that I learn the most from doing, that being said, I have also found it useful to listen to audio books on the subjects you are interested in. If you have a long commute, you now have some good, dedicated time to learn and sharpen your craft."
Michelle Guilbeau is a writer, reviewer, teacher and business owner. She also has experience in school administration, literacy coaching and is proud founder of CraftKitsForKids.com and MichelleGuilbeau.com Michelle enjoys sharing her knowledge of cities, food, travel, education and parenting issues with her readers. Her work can be found on Examiner.com.
