Never Search Alone is now at NeverSearchAlone.org
I’ve spent the last three decades building companies and communities, writing books, and launching movements in both business and art.
Today, I’m widely known for running the Never Search Alone movement – a free, volunteer-led suite of services for anyone laid off, let go, or looking. More than 200,000 hours of volunteer time have been put into this program, which has now helped more than 45,000 job seekers in this tough job market. We've launched almost 5,000 free Job Search Councils – there's a book, website, and coverage in Lenny's Podcast, a prominent Silicon Valley podcast.
In the 90s through the 2010s, I was best known as a pioneer in customer experience and product management (I was CEO of one of the first firms in that space and if you've come across widely used CX or Product Management concepts, chances are my team and I helped shape them). My team and I led more than 400 engagements with companies like Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, and The New York Times. I got my start in the Internet world as a part of the first company Amazon acquired, where I worked on product management. If you've come across widely used CX or Product Management concepts, chances are my team and I helped shape them.
In parallel, I’ve built deep-trust communities for product leaders, CX professionals, general managers, and CEOs. It began in 1997, when I helped McKinsey launch the first CEO Council for Internet leaders while still a second-year student at Harvard Business School. In 2003, I founded CG Councils (now known as Collaborative Gain Councils), bringing the power of small, confidential peer groups to leaders in *and* beyond the C-suite.
Since then, we’ve supported over 3,000 leaders across Silicon Valley and nearly every major sector in tech, media, and retail. While our model has inspired many imitators, we continue to be known for cultivating the essential conditions for growth: trust and vulnerability.
I’ve written several books, with more in progress. My first, Customers Included, captured what I learned from 15 years in CX. I followed that with Never Search Alone, a best-selling guide that applies product and CX thinking to the job search. That book launched a global volunteer community that has helped more than 45,000 job seekers navigate a challenging market – it's rapidly becoming the AA for job seekers.
I also contributed a chapter to The Warren Buffett Shareholder and wrote a short piece for Harvard Business Review.
I’ve delivered more than 500 keynotes—from TEDx and the Harvard Business School Distinguished Speaker Series to corporate events at Apple, Google, Walmart, Microsoft, American Express, eBay, and many others. I’ve been a featured guest on leading podcasts, including Lenny’s Podcast (with over a million subscribers) and LinkedIn News Live. My work has been profiled in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Fast Company, which named me one of the “Fast Company 100” — 100 leaders shaping the 21st century.
I also founded and continue to lead four pro-bono movements:
Slow Art Day, a global nonprofit that now includes over 1,500 museums;
The World of Business Reading Group, a business lite racy program for high school students that now includes adult learners;
The Reading Odyssey, a long-running collaboration between scholars and the public (soon to be relaunched);
And the Never Search Alone community, which remains free and volunteer-led.
I live in Brooklyn, identify as non-binary, and welcome all pronouns.