Why consulting?

I’ve spent 20 years working with companies in entertainment, music, sports and technology to help build their app and digital businesses. In my most recent role at Apple, I was focused on business growth for partners ranging from Amazon and HBO to the NBA and Google. Although I loved the role, I increasingly came to miss the work I’d done prior at Apple, working on UI/UX and helping partners to launch great apps. As a consultant, I can focus on everything.

Have you ever consulted before?

Not as a standalone entity, but my role at Apple was really an app developer consulting role. We provided best practices and guidance to help our third-party app ecosystem grow on our platforms.

What did you do at Apple, specifically?

For the entire eight years, I was on the App Store Business Team. We were responsible for growth across the categories that we managed. For the first three years, I managed our partnerships in photo & video, social networking and education. The majority of these partners (Facebook, Hipstamatic, VSCO, Nextdoor, Twitter), at the time, didn’t monetize on our platform, so we mostly focused on helping them to build great app experiences (UI/UX, iOS features, etc.). For the past five years, I managed a small team responsible for all US partners in entertainment, music, sports, news and weather. Given the increased focus on the App Store and Services, in terms of growth drivers at the company, we were much more focused on subscription monetization and growth. My team and I managed many of the top billers on the App Store, including HBO, YouTube, Netflix and Amazon. In terms of our day-to-day, we were responsible for growing existing subs via business reviews, subscription optimization, feature/platform and development/adoption. We were also responsible or sourcing and adding new partners to monetize on the platform.

Did you like your job?

Best roles I’ve ever had, hands down. Apple is an amazing company and hires amazing people. It was an absolute honor to work there, and in all likelihood, it will be the best corporate role I ever had when all is said is done.

Why would you leave then?

Honestly, it just felt like the right time. I had been leading this side of the business for a good 4-5 years, and it felt like the right time to hand it off. Also, as I noted above, I missed working on product and design, something I did quite a bit of prior to the App Store being such a focus for growth. By going it alone, I can work with developers on all aspects of business and product. I really enjoyed working with developers on all aspects of development. Now I can do that.

What did you do prior to Apple?

I worked through entertainment and music, largely in licensing and business development roles. I lived in New York from 1999-2005 where I worked at MTV Networks and the entertainment law firm Grubman Indursky & Shire. After decided that I didn’t want to go to law school, I relocated to the Bay Area in 2005 and, prior to Apple, held a number of management roles in entertainment and music. The most exciting gig pre-Apple was heading independent label relations at the digital-music company start-up SNOCAP. SNOCAP was founded by Napster founder Shawn Fanning and man that was fun gig.

What do you do outside of this work?

I am increasingly interested in mental health and currently service on the board of the mental-health nonprofit, Bring Change to Mind. In my spare time, I spent a LOT of time listening to music (huge vinyl nerd), hanging with my dog Bennett and my girlfriend Julia, traveling to different parts of Mexico, reading, running and rooting on the New York Yankees and Knicks.