We’re thrilled to introduce Chris Winn as our first Chief Product Officer and newest member of the StackCommerce executive team.
Before joining Stack, Chris was CEO at Creative Market, an online marketplace for community-generated design assets. Chris brings both an in-depth background in leading high-performing product and engineering teams and a track record of developing industry-best marketplace products — a clear perfect match for what we’re building here at Stack.
Together, we’re excited to continue evolving and elevating our platform to deliver a better experience for our partners every day. Here’s a little more about Chris:
What inspired you to join StackCommerce?
Certainly coming from a background in working with marketplaces, I was drawn to StackCommerce’s platform within the context of commerce and content. There are so many great questions to answer: from how you curate to how you deliver the best possible customer experience across hundreds of publisher marketplaces. There’s a lot of exciting challenges ahead of us and a lot of fun product to build.
What’s one important lesson you learned as CEO of Creative Market?
Have conviction in what you’re building. I believe in setting a high bar for the product we are building and delivering every day. Customers recognize operational excellence and will reward you for building something great.
What did you do before entering the tech space and what did you take away from those experiences?
I’ve had multiple career “lives” including running a small agency and spending time in politics. I also spent eight years at Creative Market, which I helped grow as an engineer before working my way up to CEO. Through all of these experiences, I’ve learned that it takes a team of dedicated individuals to create a great product. Yes, you need people with different skill sets to contribute, but also dedicated individuals who understand the “why” behind what they do every day.
What do you do outside of work to create balance in your life?
I’m an ultramarathon runner. I can spend hours and hours running with no phone and no music — and the time flies. Physical fitness is an important outlet for me, but I also think it creates its own kind of stress too. It’s important to chill out and eat some chocolate cake every so often..
You’re only a week in, but what’s your favorite aspect of Stack so far?
That’s easy. Not every company can maintain a fun, friendly atmosphere while also being performance-driven. It’s a hard balance to strike. But I can say with confidence that every Stacker I’ve met so far has been incredibly kind, while also being incredibly smart and driven. You won’t find that environment everywhere.
Thanks, Chris. We’re so glad to have you on the team!
