Amplify, our premier product conference, is right around the corner. We hope you’ll join us in San Francisco this October 8th for a full day of talks, workshops, and networking with people as passionate about product and growth as you are.
ref Reading pays off! For a complimentary ticket, please use promo code HACKERS when registering for Amplify.
One of the highlights of Amplify is the This year, we are delighted to welcome keynote speakers from Airbnb, Zoom, Pinterest, and more. incredible lineup of speakers. This year, we are delighted to welcome keynote speakers from Airbnb, Zoom, Pinterest, and more. And Amplify has something for more than just PMs—our speakers come from a host of backgrounds including growth marketing, engineering, and customer experience.
Here are the speakers to look forward to this October:
Merci Grace, Partner at Lightspeed Ventures
Merci Grace
Even if you don’t use Slack, there’s a good chance that you’ve at least heard of the popular communication tool used by millions worldwide. Merci Grace is partly to thank for that. In 2015, Merci joined Slack as the Director of Product and Growth. In her time at Slack, she took the company from 500K daily active users to 5M daily active users.
In her time at Slack, Merci took the company from 500K daily active users to 5M daily active users. An investor and product leader with a specialty in growth, engagement, and design, Merci applied her expertise to found Women in Product, an organization that connects product professionals who identify as female. Since launching in 2016, WiP has grown to 5,000 women worldwide.
Today, Merci works as a Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, investing in early-stage consumer and B2B companies looking to find product-market fit and accelerated growth opportunities.
You can follow Merci on Twitter here.
ref See our full speaker line-up
Eric Yuan, Founder/CEO at Zoom
Eric Yuan
In his college days, Eric Yuan, Founder and CEO of Zoom, would regularly take Zoom is an excellent example of what it looks like to build a user-centric product that directly tackles a widespread need a 10-hour train ride (each way) to visit his girlfriend. All of the idle time spent on the train led Eric to realize the need to instantly connect with people—no matter how physically far away they were.
However, the idea for a cloud-based conferencing tool sat idle for over a decade while Eric worked as Cisco’s Corporate VP of Engineering. Eventually, despite his successful career, Eric recognized that he needed a change: it was time to build his own company. And, in 2011, he founded Zoom.
The digital video conferencing app went public earlier this year with incredible success—it is the most valuable IPO of 2019—outperforming widely popular ridesharing app Lyft.
Zoom is an excellent example of what it looks like to build a user-centric product that directly tackles a widespread need. We are so excited to welcome Eric to Amplify for the first time this year.
Follow Eric on Twitter or LinkedIn.
Lisa Sullivan-Cross, Head of Growth Marketing at Pinterest
Lisa Sullivan-Cross
Designing a beautiful product is only one part of the puzzle. You also need To improve conversion and retention, product managers should work closely with growth experts. to think about growth. To improve conversion and retention, product managers should work closely with growth experts.
If you’re a PM or product expert trying to find new opportunities to grow your product, Lisa Sullivan-Cross’ talk at Amplify is one to look forward to. Lisa is the Head of Growth at Pinterest, an inspiration-sharing platform with more than 250-million users.
Before joining Pinterest, Lisa was the Head of Growth at Pandora, where she successfully led campaigns that increased engagement by 26% with a 10% increase in monthly active users.
Passionate about music, Lisa also is on the Board of Directors of Women’s Audio Mission (WAM). The non-profit based out on San Francisco is dedicated to tackling the issue of female representation in the music and sound production; women produce less than 5% of music and sounds we hear on a day-to-day. WAM equips women and girls with the tools and know-how to produce music and sounds through classes and its professional recording studio.
Follow Lisa on Twitter or LinkedIn.
Adam Nash, VP of Product & Growth at Dropbox
Adam Nash
In 2018, Dropbox went public. Since its IPO, the company has witnessed recognizable growth—both in terms of paying users and in revenue. This success may be partly explained by Adam Nash, who joined Dropbox as the new VP of Product and Growth shortly after the company went public.
Before joining Dropbox, Adam worked as eBay’s Director of eBay Express. He then moved to LinkedIn, working as the company’s Product Management VP. Since then, Adam has mentored a number of companies including 500 Startups, MuckerLab, and Marin Software.
In 2013, Adam joined Wealthfront, Inc., an automated financial services company. In his four years as Wealthfront’s CEO and President, Adam helped grow the company’s client base by 60x and increase the company’s assets by 45x—reaching $4 billion in assets in four years.
Alongside his work at Dropbox, Adam acts as an advisor for a number of companies including Gusto, Convexum, and Bitwise Asset Management. He is also an adjunct professor at Stanford University, where teaches “Personal Finance for Engineers.”
You can follow Adam on Twitter or LinkedIn.
Marcelo Pascoa, Global Head of Marketing at Burger King Corporation
Marcelo Pascoa
Looking for creative inspiration for your product’s next growth campaign? Burger King’s Whopper Detour campaign is a good place to start. In case you Join us at Amplify to be inspired by Marcelo’s discussion on the creative potential of your product marketing campaigns. missed it, here’s the basis of the campaign that resulted in 1.5 million app downloads: you would receive a burger for just 1¢ if you placed an order using Burger King’s mobile app. Here’s the kicker: while placing your order, you had to be within 600 feet of a McDonalds and then pick up your burger at the closest Burger King within one hour.
The genius of Burger King’s Whopper Detour marketing campaign is one reason why we are so excited to welcome Marcelo Pascoa, Global Head of Marketing at the Burger King Corporation to the Amplify stage this year. Marcelo personally supported the Whopper Detour campaign, as well as the Impossible Burger campaign, a plant-based burger that advertises the same experience and taste of a traditional beef burger.
Prior to joining Burger King, Marcelo support Coca-Cola and Powerade’s global marketing campaigns in the 2016 Olympics. Please join us at Amplify to be inspired by Marcelo’s discussion on the creative potential of your product marketing campaigns.
Follow Marcelo on Twitter, LinkedIn, or visit his website.
ref See our full speaker line-up
James Buckhouse, Founder at Sequoia Design Lab
James Buckhouse
James Buckhouse, Founder of Sequoia Design Lab, is a world class storyteller with a passion for the intersection between stories and product design. The former Senior Experience Architect at Twitter began his storytelling career Storytelling is a powerful tool for anyone involved in the product world. while working as a cinematographer and choreography for a number of well-known movies including Shrek, Antz, and Madagascar. He then made his way to Duarte, where he was the Executive Creative Director for top accounts including Google, Facebook, YouTube.
Currently, James dedicates his time to building incredible product experiences for companies funded by Sequoia. He also regularly shares his knowledge on product and storytelling as a guest lecturer at Stanford Graduate School of Business.
From designing the user journey to crafting a product marketing campaign that resonates with your target audience, storytelling is a powerful tool for anyone involved in the product world. Please join us in welcoming James to Amplify this year!
Follow James on Twitter or LinkedIn.
Dr. Theresa Johnson, Payments PM at Airbnb
Dr. Theresa Johnson
If product management were rocket science, Dr. Theresa Johnson would still At Airbnb, Dr. Johnson applies her engineering and big data expertise to improve the company’s payment platform. have it covered. We mean that quite literally: Airbnb’s Payments PM earned her PhD at Stanford for Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering. While at Stanford, Dr. Johnson worked as lead for projects contracted by NASA and the US Department of Energy.
Now at Airbnb, Dr. Johnson applies her engineering and big data expertise to improve the company’s payment platform. As a PM, Dr. Johnson oversees everything from building APIs to using AI/ML for product innovation.
Dr. Johnson is also an investment scout for Sequoia Capital, where she helps develop early-stage entrepreneurs.
We are exceptionally excited to welcome Dr. Johnson as a keynote speaker at Amplify this year!
Follow Dr. Theresa Johnson on Twitter or LinkedIn.
ref See our full speaker line-up
Elie Javice, VP of Tech Product Management and CRM at Restaurant Brands International
Elie Javice
A positive dining experience is more important than ever before. Where a poor restaurant experience used to result in unhappy customers telling their friends and family, now review platforms like Yelp give patrons the opportunity to share feedback with anyone online. And, your potential customers are listening: 34% of people rely on online reviews to determine whether or not they’ll eat at a restaurant.
Elie Javice leads the charge for building a positive CX for well-known brands including Burger King, Popeyes, and Tim Hortons. Recognizing the need for quality service, Restaurant Brands International (RBI) heavily invests in creating a delightful customer experience (CX). Elie Javice, VP of Tech Product Management and CRM at Restaurant Brands International leads the charge for building a positive CX for RBI’s well-known brands including Burger King, Popeyes, and Tim Hortons.
The ability to keep customers happy (or, users, as in the case of digital products) is essential to business success. We eagerly look forward to hearing Elie’s advice on how to use data to build—and deploy—a CX that impacts millions of customers across 26,000 physical stores worldwide.
Follow Elie on LinkedIn.
Shadi Rostami, Senior/Executive VP of Engineering at Amplitude
Shadi Rostami
We are delighted to welcome one of our newest executive leaders, Shadi We are delighted to welcome one of our newest executive leaders, Shadi Rostami, to the Amplify stage this year. Rostami, to the Amplify stage this year. Earlier this year, Shadi joined Amplitude as our Senior/Executive VP of Engineering.
Before Amplitude, worked at Palo Alto Networks for 11 years. She originally joined the Palo Alto Networks team as a Software Architect, and climbed the ranks to eventually become VP of Engineering. In her role as VP, Shadi led Development, QA, Devops, and Data Science for Palo Alto Networks.
Follow Shadi on LinkedIn.
Safi Bahcall, Entrepreneur and Best-Selling Author
Safi Bahcall
Physicist, best-selling author, and entrepreneur are three words to describe Safi Bahcall. In 2000, Safi founded Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp, a biotech company dedicated to developing innovative cancer drugs. Eight years later, Safi was named the 2008 Biotech/Pharmaceutical Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young. Safi served as the company’s CEO for 13 years, even after the company went public in 2007.
In 2000, Safi founded Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp, a biotech company dedicated to developing innovative cancer drugs. While still CEO at Synta Pharmaceuticals, Safi joined the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology for the Obama Administration.
After leaving Synta, Safi went on to author a WSJ bestseller, Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas that Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Xform Industries. Since publishing in 2015, Safi has been featured in a number of media outlets including Forbes, Bloomberg, and the WSJ. Safi’s talk at Amplify 2019 is certainly not one you’ll want to miss.
Follow Safi on Twitter or LinkedIn.
Justin Bauer, VP of Product at Amplitude
Justin Bauer
So, you want to build a great product? From setting your product vision to prioritizing which features to build next, you’ll need to know how to apply Justin is an expert on all things product-related, from product management to data-informed product decision-making. data insights to your product team’s decision-making. Product data is one of a PM’s biggest opportunities (if not the biggest opportunity) to align their team, learn faster, and win new users.
For that reason, we are so excited to have Justin Bauer, our very own VP of Product join us at Amplify as a keynote speaker. Justin is an expert on all things product-related, from product management to data-informed product decision-making. We are excited to hear Justin’s take on practical ways for product, design, marketing, and engineering teams to use data to build better products.
Follow Justin on LinkedIn.
Siqi Chen, Board Director & Chief Product Officer, Sandbox VR
Siqi Chen
Siqi has a proven track record of building—and growing—successful products. Siqi is the Chief Product Officer and Board Director of Sandbox VR, where he is creating virtual reality experiences in the US and Asia. In 2012, Siqi founded Hey! Inc., where he built HeyDay, a digital journal that automatically records key moments in your day.
Hey! Inc. brought Siqi to his next chapter after the company was acquired by Postmates in 2016. Following the acquisition, Siqi joined Postmates as the VP of Growth.
Today, Siqi is the Chief Product Officer and Board Director of Sandbox VR, where he is bringing virtual reality experiences to a number of locations in the US and Asia.
Follow Siqi on Twitter or LinkedIn.
We hope to see you at Amplify this October! Learn more and register here.
The Amplitude team celebrating at Amplify 2018.
