Bio

A globally focused technology strategist and business development professional with over 15+ years of experience gained from a unique blend of professional backgrounds and job disciplines.

I specialize in product development, strategic business engagements, partner alliances, business model analysis, and technology strategy equipped to lead initiatives & people toward common goals. As a highly adaptable communicator and motivator, I’m able to work effectively with diverse management styles and people across all levels of an organization. A blend of curiosity, creativity, persistence, commitment, passion, and optimism are my keys to success.

Born in Chicago and raised in New York City, I have been in love with design since an early age. While most kids wanted to be police, doctors, and firefighters; I wanted to be an architect with my head always in the sky. I attended Brooklyn Technical High School majoring in architecture. I went on to attend the historic and illustrious Tuskegee University to major in architecture later changing my major to computer science. After earning my BS in computer science from Tuskegee University and working with Microsoft on numerous project in multiple divisions I discovered how creative arts and technology converged and sought out to explore further a new passion... business. I later obtained my MBA from The University of Chicago's Booth School of Business in their Global Executive program with a focus on technology strategy and marketing. Having conducted global business on behalf of Microsoft for well over a decade, I was now armed with a new toolkit and network ready to set out on my start-up journey.

My passion had always been the entertainment industry and the mass adoption of social media created many disruptive oppurtunities and marketing challenges. In classic fashion I indentified high value problems, assembled a great team and set out to build solutions, this time on my own dime. Having been raised in a family with their roots deeply embedded in the entertainment business, combined with my work on codecs that enabled the streaming of music on the internet I built a revolutionary music discovery platfrom and a social media solution for artist and labels. Even back to the early years, my work on Xbox radically changed gaming and music consumption, and recognizing future trends and how to make it work for the consumers, my company and our partners is were I excel.

Today I'm most passionate about consumer behavior in the digital space. Most specifically devising strategies that drive physical interactions and engagements from digital touch points and being on the forefront of BIG DATA for the entertainment industry. I love design in all forms, specifically the simple and beautiful things that delight us. You can often find me working hard to be super dad, sketching/wireframing, trying new coding trends, reading about new and old concepts in product management or strategy, and generally doing things to leave the planet a better place than I found it. Be well and manifest postive vibrations. - Arif

Currently Based In: Seattle, WA, USA

Community Service

I've had the honor of serving the following organizations:

  • Floodgate Academy

    Strategy Advisor 2016 - current

    [501c3] - Minority Focused Technology Bootcamp

    website
  • Capital Hill Housing Foundation

    Board of Directors 2016 - current

    [501c3] - Supporting CHH's mission to develop affordable housing in Seattle

    website
  • P.A.C.E.

    Board of Directors 2014 - current

    [501c3] - Creating and supporting intiatives to empower pan-african communities

    website
  • NPR - Seattle | KUOW

    Governance Co-Chair 2006 -2010

    [501c3] - Seattle's NPR Station.

    website

Education

I combine a strong technical foundation with quantitative business acumen

2015 - 2015
Full-Stack Engineering Bootcamp

Coding Dojo: On-site Bellevue Campus
Concentrations: Python, MEAN, Swift

2010 - 2012
MBA - Executive

University of Chicago, Booth School of Business
Concentration: Technology Strategy

1996 - 2001
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science

Tuskegee University, Alabama
Minor: Marketing

My Toolkit

Develop: SDLC (agile/waterfall), C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, jQuery, Node.js, Angular, REACT

Design: Pro-Audio Curation, Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, Sketch, WAKE, Invision, Balsamimq, Google Material Design.

Deploy: On-Premise, Cloud (IaaS/SaaS), AWS, Windows Azure, SOA, N-Tier, Web Services, API's, SDK's.

Recommendations

"Arif has natural talent combined with business knowledge, connections, and a solid network. He is up to date on all techniques and technology in studio recording and engineering. He has a degree in computer science. The list goes on and on...."

Mark Subotnick, Business Development Manager, INTEL

"I can't say enough my experiences with Arif. He's bright, insightful, and hard working, but most significantly, made things happen inside a very large company. It's a rare individual who has the wherewithal and perseverance to cause one of the world's largest technology companies to move quickly and in a direction that benefits his business partner and employer. He's a rare individual and an asset to any organization."

Lawrence Hall, President & CEO, PAR Springer-Miller

"I have worked extensively with Arif on the design and development of our Supply Chain Management software system on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform. Arif was instrumental in the success of this endeavor. He provided the management and technical guidance, as well as the Microsoft resources that allowed us to host our system on Azure in a very short time frame. Arif has proven to be a true professional in every respect"

Ron Dressin, CEO, Red Rock Software

"Arif combines a unique set of experiences and skill sets that cross hospitality, technology and business strategy. This combination uniquely positions him to help companies navigate a rapidly changing landscape that is being transformed by technology."

LaSean Smith, Director of Strategy, Microsoft

Portfolio

Here are a few of the products and services I've developed and/or was a contributor.

StoreMode

Enterprise Technology

StoreMode™ helps shoppers answer the two most popular questions, “Do you have it?” and “Where can I find it?”. Point Inside’s search, recommendation, and mapping services help connected shoppers make an in-store purchase. StoreMode™ powers the mobile platforms of Target, Lowes, and Meijer.

Discovered

Entertainment and Advertising

Discovered is a music driven dicovery platform that allows user to learn about new music, products and services that most interest them. Curated by industry insiders; "Hear New Music & Meet New Brands". Availble on iPhone, Andriod, Windows Phone, and Connect TV platforms.

Atrio

Enterprise Technology

While at Microsoft I worked closely with the team at Par Springer-Miller on the architecture and development of their next generation property management solution purpose built for the cloud including mobile functionality. I drove a considerable investment in the developemnt of this solution, oversaw the architecture and development and worked with executive team to drive customer adoption.

SuiteLinq

Enterprise / Consumer Technology

While at Microsoft I worked closely with the team at Suitelinq to transition their on-premise in-room guest experience solution to the cloud. In addition I created a mobile application that used restful services to connect multiple properties to other property solution to drive integration via mobile applications.

Open Labs - Miko (Timberland Edition)

Pro-Audio / Consumer Electronics

I drove the strategic partnership between Microsoft and OpenLabs which introduced the cutting edge Miko all in one computer and music instrument targeting the Pro-fessional and Hobbyist computer musician. In addition to technology roadmap we also drove strategic marketing initiatives with some of the planets largest musicians and celebrities to drive awareness of the PC as a viable production platform.

Windows Vista/7

Operating System

As the lead PM for audio and video features, I deployed changes in class drivers for global hardwae manufacturers, drove innovation in pro-audio features, and implemented UI changes for manipulating sound which included introduction of audio roles and the multi input audio mixer.

Pro Tools 7

Pro Audio Application

I was in charge of driving the development and marketing effort of a startegic partnership between AVID and Microsoft with the goal of driving feature parity between the solution offering on the PC and Mac platform. This also included updating the midi functionality in the core Windows operating system

Xbox Music Mixer

Entertainment Application

This was the first entertainment title ever released on the Xbox Platform. Not only am I on the cover of this title but I also served as producer. This title pioneered karaoke in games, opening system trays without console reboots, AMG database updates of CD titles and the first game console to connect with a PC for shared funtionailty.

Xbox 360

Consumer Electronics

The console that changed the "game". We baked all of the learnings from Xbox and the Xbox titles into this console including visualizers, advanced music integration, and expanded entertainment scenrios via Xbox Live.

Xbox Game Console

Consumer Electronics

This was the first game console offering from Microsoft. As a SDET with the platform team I was resposible for developing atest frameworks and scripts. to test core functionality.

Xbox Vision Camera

Consumer Electronics

The precursor to the Kinect device, Xbox vision brought interactive visuals into game consoles. This device enabled video chat in game.

Exhibition

Game Demo

This was an aggregated game demo title. Released quarteyly it allowed gamers to play demos of upcoming releases prior to hitting store shelves. The disc were distributed via Xbox magazine and given out at retail outlets.

Previous Roles

Founder, Technical Architect, Product Manager, Creative Director, Business Development, Alliance Management,
Technical Evangelist, UX/UI Designer, Project Manager, Software Developer

Employers

  • Point Inside

    Director of Product 2015 - current

    Provider of a SAAS platform enabling big box retailers to digitize stores

    website
  • MyStay

    CPO 2015

    Provider of an OTT content and advertising enagagment platform

    website
  • Zillow

    Sr. Product Manager | Revenue Growth 2014 - 2015

    I drove innovation of advertising products as well as sales execution of new products.

    website
  • Discovered

    Co-Founder 2012 - 2014

    Music Driven Discovery. Hear New Music, Meet New Brands

    website
  • VIBEHEAVY

    Founder - CVO Jan 2010 - 2014

    A digital agency and consulting firm. We develop physical and digital experiences!

    website
  • Microsoft: Retail & Hospitality

    CTO: Retail & Hospitality 2009 - 2012

    Partner with the largest ISV's in retail & hospitality to develop innovative industry shifting solutions.

    website
  • Microsoft: Developer and Platform Evangelism

    Technical Evangelist + Global Alliance Manager 2007 - 2009

    Influnce revenue by driving technology stack adoption in flagship partner products globally across industry verticals.

    website
  • Microsoft: Windows Division

    Technical Product Manager + UX Design 2006 - 2007

    Responsible for audio and video features in Windows (kernel to UI) including industry class driver adoption and working group representation.

    website
  • Xbox: Platform Team

    Technical Product Manager + SDET 2001 - 2006

    Responsible for creating alternative entertainment (music / video) solutions to extend the functionality of the XBOX gaming console.

    website

Press

Press and Blog Coverage

  • Seattle Met

    Profile: Black Coders Matter 2016

    Online + Print: A feature story covering my efforts to improve minority representation and diversity in tech

    Full Story
  • 425 Business Magazine

    A Coding Reboot 2016

    Online: A feature about my experience with tech bootcamps and start-ups

    Full Story
  • Computer Music

    "Is multitouch the future of computer music control?" 2009

    Online: Interviewed for insight on industry trends for multi-touch and mobile development.

    Full Story
  • Microsoft News

    "Microsoft Raises Bar for Fostering a Diverse IT Industry..." 2008

    Online: Featured as a part of my diversity work at Microsoft

    Full Story
  • King Magazine

    "Coming Kings" 2008

    Online + Print: Featured as a person to watch in music and technology convergence

    Full Story
  • Puget Sound Business Journal

    "Music producers putting Seattle on the map" 2006

    Online: Interviewed for content creation work.

    Full Story

Panels

Panels Participation and/or Moderation

  • Thinking of being a Software Engineer? It’s Never Too Late

    Panelist 2016

    Advancing the Careers of Women in Tech Conference

    More Info
  • Accelerate Africatown

    Presenter 2015

    Taught a workshop on proper use of the business model canvas

    More Info
  • Startup Weekend - Seattle (UW)

    Keynote 2014

    Keynote speaker about my experiences building a startup as employee 0

    More Info
  • Quarterhorses: University of Chicago Entrepenuers Think Tank

    Presenter 2013

    Branding & Media Strategies for Business Entrepeneurs & Startups

    More Info
  • Hospitality Vendor Summit

    Presenter 2013

    The Cloud 2.0: Cloud computings impact on the hospitality industry

    More Info
  • CMJ

    Moderater & Panelist 2012

    The Cloud Hovers: Opinions on the direction of the cloud for the music industry

    CMJ Panel Site
  • CMJ

    Panelist 2009

    I want to make music for a living. Alternative careers in the music industry.

    CMJ Profile
  • One Stop Shop: Producers Conference

    Organizer, Moderator & Panelist 2008 - 2009

    The conference featured top industry professionals, platinum track making producers, and new technology trends from companies like Microsoft, M Audio, and OpenLabs.

    More Info
  • Jazz at Wingspread

    Participant 2006

    The Raising Market Share for Jazz Initiative is led by a core group of individuals and organizations committed to increasing exposure and funding for Jazz music.

    More Info

Contact

Availble for public speaking, consultations, non-profit boards, start-up advisement, and panel moderation.

I look forward to hearing from you: contact@arifgursel.com