Jack Gunderson

Product Leader + Program Manager

Experience built the hard skills.

But the soft skills of making skeptics into believers or turning meetings into breakthroughs, that's what actually ships products.

Let's talk about your product vision. Or... why Arsenal fans are the worst.

I'm passionate about both.

How I Work

Design and code fluent

Fluency in both design and code is the only way to really be in it. Being able to provide visual communication builds consensus faster, while technical understanding ensures we're solving the right problem at the right level of complexity.

Users first

Product excellence requires the right obsessions: genuine user behavior, systems that balance user and business needs, and environments where great engineers thrive. Customer empathy means distinguishing between productive friction and destructive friction. The best experiences know when to be effortless and when to demand attention.

Always shipping

Building is how I lead. Side projects become innovation catalysts, new tools become team capabilities, quick experiments become company-wide initiatives. The building mindset creates ripple effects and creates momentum within a team. Always systematic, but the best ideas win, regardless of source.

Professional Experience

Roles + Experience

Career journey across startups and enterprises

Product Development

Products built and shipped

Program Management

Leading complex initiatives

Summary

  • 10 years on Agile teams
  • 7+ years in product and program management
  • 4 years in leadership positions

AppliedXL (SaaS AI-driven clinical intelligence)

Technical Program Manager and Product Strategist - Since September 2024

  • Accelerated AI-driven clinical intelligence development by optimizing UI/UX for scale, and building product and program discipline to drive feature delivery

Dapt (SaaS fintech startup)

Chief Product Officer - 1 year

  • Brought on to productize CEO's vision, worked with customers, and launched two SaaS platforms, automated onboarding workflows to accelerate growth and reduce time-to-market, and secured $1M+ in VC funding

Critical Mention (SaaS global media monitoring)

Senior Director of Program Management - 1 year 4 months

  • Partnered with engineering leadership to define technical product requirements, acceptance criteria, and success metrics while maintaining delivery of 100+ features annually

Director of Program Management - 1 year 9 months

  • Established continuous release management framework, implementing bi-weekly release cycles that accelerated feature delivery from quarterly to bi-weekly cadence while improving quality metrics

Program Manager - 3 years 10 months

  • Drove backend product strategy and roadmap for media monitoring platform balancing new feature development with infrastructure modernization including a critical AWS migration

Bobit (B2B Publishing)

Assistant Web Producer - 1 year 4 monhts

  • Certified Scrum Product Owner working on 0-1 product features, roadmap creation and release coordination for a 13-person Agile team.

Strategic Product Leadership

  • Product Vision Translation: Converting executive vision into actionable product roadmaps and development plans
  • Market-Driven Strategy: Synthesizing user research, competitive analysis, and market positioning into product direction
  • Roadmap Development: Building feature dependency maps, impact matrices, and multi-horizon planning frameworks
  • Product-Market Fit Assessment: Measuring stickiness, churn reduction, and user adoption to validate market alignment

User-Centric Product Development

  • Customer Discovery: Leading user interviews, feedback sessions, and beta testing programs to understand user needs
  • Requirements Translation: Converting user insights into detailed product requirements, user stories, and acceptance criteria
  • User Journey Optimization: Mapping user flows, identifying friction points, and designing solutions that exceed expectations
  • Data-Driven Decision Making: Implementing tracking systems, analyzing user behavior, and creating hypothesis-driven testing frameworks

Cross-Functional Collaboration + Influence

  • Stakeholder Alignment: Managing competing priorities between executives, customers, engineering, and business teams
  • Technical Communication: Bridging product vision with technical feasibility through architecture-informed discussions
  • Design Partnership: Collaborating on UI/UX strategy, creating design systems, and prototyping user experiences
  • Engineering Credibility: Earning technical team trust through full-stack understanding and feasible product specifications

Product Delivery + Execution

  • Feature Prioritization: Balancing business impact, technical debt, and user value through collaborative decision-making frameworks
  • MVP Development: Creating minimal viable products, gathering feedback, and iterating based on real user validation
  • Release Management: Coordinating feature launches, managing dependencies, and ensuring quality while maintaining velocity
  • Performance Measurement: Tracking product metrics, user engagement, and business outcomes to optimize product decisions

Innovation + Continuous Improvement

  • Rapid Prototyping: Building functional mockups and demos to validate concepts before full development investment
  • Emerging Technology Integration: Staying current with industry trends and incorporating cutting-edge solutions into product strategy
  • Process Optimization: Streamlining product development workflows, reducing handoffs, and eliminating friction in delivery pipelines
  • Team Development: Mentoring junior product managers and building organizational product management capabilities

Business Impact + Growth

  • Go-to-Market Strategy: Contributing to product launches, pricing decisions, and market positioning strategies
  • Revenue Impact: Driving product decisions that improve customer acquisition, retention, and overall business metrics
  • Investor Communication: Presenting product vision and progress to secure funding and stakeholder buy-in
  • Customer Success Integration: Collaborating with business teams to improve onboarding, reduce churn, and increase user satisfaction

Quantified Product Management Results

  • Feature Delivery Velocity: Boosted release cadence by 300%, scaling from 2 releases over first five months to 8 feature releases over the next five months
  • Product Launch Success: Achieved marketplace approval for multiple product platforms within aggressive timelines
  • Customer Experience Improvement: Increased onboarding speed by 45% through process and technology optimization
  • Business Development: Contributed to $1MM funding acquisition through product demonstration and vision presentation
  • Team Leadership: Developed product management capabilities across junior staff and cross-functional teams

Strategic Program Leadership

  • Multi-Team Coordination: Orchestrating five separate project teams with complex dependencies and shared resources
  • Portfolio-Level Planning: Creating comprehensive roadmaps that balance feature development, technical debt, and infrastructure needs
  • Executive Alignment: Facilitating strategic decision-making through data-driven options and transparent communication
  • Program Vision Translation: Converting high-level business objectives into executable program plans with clear milestones

Cross-Functional Program Delivery

  • Dependency Management: Identifying, tracking, and mitigating interdependencies across multiple teams and technical systems
  • Resource Coordination: Allocating shared resources, managing capacity constraints, and optimizing team utilization
  • Timeline Orchestration: Developing multi-level scheduling from 2-week tactical execution to 2-year strategic planning
  • Quality Assurance: Ensuring comprehensive testing, environment readiness, and production deployment standards

Risk Management + Problem Resolution

  • Proactive Risk Identification: Maintaining constant vigilance over program health through transparent monitoring systems
  • Escalation Framework Development: Creating clear decision-making hierarchies and sign-off processes for different risk levels
  • Crisis Response: Managing complex program challenges while maintaining delivery momentum and stakeholder confidence
  • Contingency Planning: Developing scenario-based alternatives to handle resource constraints and timeline pressures

Stakeholder Management + Communication

  • Multi-Level Reporting: Adapting communication formats (mapping, memos, real-time updates) to different stakeholder needs
  • Conflict Resolution: Facilitating compromise and alignment between competing priorities from executives, customers, and teams
  • Vendor + Partner Coordination: Managing external dependencies and ensuring consistent communication standards
  • Change Management: Navigating scope changes and priority shifts while maintaining program integrity

Agile Program Scaling

  • Scaled Agile Implementation: Coordinating 3-month sprint cycles across multiple teams with velocity-based planning
  • Release Coordination: Managing coordinated releases and feature delivery across interconnected development teams
  • Backlog Dependency Management: Facilitating cross-team prioritization and feature coordination
  • Ceremony Facilitation: Leading program-level planning, retrospectives, and alignment meetings

Process Optimization + Governance

  • Workflow Streamlining: Implementing release management processes that balance quality with delivery speed
  • Governance Structure Creation: Establishing milestone tracking, risk escalation, and decision-making frameworks
  • Performance Monitoring: Tracking velocity, deployment timelines, and delivery predictability across program portfolio
  • Continuous Improvement: Identifying and eliminating friction points in cross-team collaboration and delivery pipelines

Technical Program Leadership

  • Infrastructure Program Management: Leading complex technical migrations (AWS stack migration) while maintaining feature delivery
  • Architecture Coordination: Working with technical leadership to balance system improvements with business requirements
  • DevOps Integration: Coordinating CI/CD pipeline improvements and deployment automation across multiple teams
  • Technical Debt Management: Balancing feature development with system maintenance and performance optimization

Team Development + Organizational Capability

  • Program Manager Development: Mentoring and developing junior program managers over 4+ years
  • Cross-Team Leadership: Building collaboration frameworks and communication standards across diverse technical teams
  • Organizational Process Building: Creating repeatable program management practices and knowledge transfer systems
  • Capacity Building: Establishing program management best practices that scale across growing organizations

Quantified Program Management Results

  • Large-Scale Coordination: Successfully managed five separate project teams through critical infrastructure migration
  • Feature Delivery Excellence: Coordinated delivery of 600+ features while maintaining quality and timeline commitments
  • Process Efficiency: Streamlined release procedures to achieve bi-weekly deployment cadence
  • Business Continuity: Maintained feature delivery velocity during complex AWS migration program
  • Risk Mitigation: Delivered programs within budget and timeline despite competing stakeholder priorities
  • Team Leadership: Built program management organizational capability through direct mentorship and process development

Skills and Expertise

Capabilities

Core competencies and expertise

Tools

Technologies and platforms

Certifications

Professional credentials

Product Strategy

  • Translate executive vision into actionable product roadmaps
  • Conduct customer discovery sessions and beta testing programs
  • Develop feature prioritization frameworks balancing vision and feasibility
  • Present product demonstrations to secure VC funding
  • Measure product-market fit through user engagement and retention metrics

Technical Leadership

  • Rapid prototyping and technical proof-of-concept development
  • Full-stack architecture design and system integration
  • AI workflow automation and intelligent agent development
  • End-to-end SaaS product development and deployment
  • Technical communication and engineering team collaboration

Program Delivery

  • Multi-team coordination during complex infrastructure migrations
  • Large-scale feature delivery management
  • Release process optimization and deployment automation
  • Cross-functional stakeholder alignment and priority management
  • Performance improvement initiatives

Team Leadership

  • Program manager development and organizational capability building
  • Strategic communication and executive alignment facilitation
  • Design system creation and UI/UX standardization
  • Agile methodology implementation across 15+ person teams
  • Ambiguity resolution and strategic planning coordination

Have extensive experience working with:

  • AWS: EC2, Lambda, S3, CloudFront, Amplify, API Gateway, Cognito, Route53
  • Google Cloud: OAuth, Google Analytics 4
  • Languages: Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, React, Node.js, C#, Rust, SQL, GraphQL
  • Design Tools: Figma, Balsamiq
  • Diagramming: Lucidchart, Miro
  • Frameworks: React, Vite, Next.js, Express, Flutter/FlutterFlow
  • Databases: MongoDB, PostgreSQL, MySQL, DynamoDB, Firebase/Firestore
  • AI/ML: Anthropic/OpenAI/Gemini/Deepseek APIs, LangGraph
  • Data Visualization: Tableau, Looker, Matplotlib, Recharts, D3.js, Google Data Studio
  • Analytics: Mixpanel, Google Analytics, Excel/Google Sheets with advanced macros, SEO Tooling
  • Project Management: Jira, Confluence, Monday, Microsoft Project, Linear
  • Version Control: Git, GitHub, Bitbucket
  • UI Libraries: Tailwind, Shadcn, Material UI, Untitled UI, Lucide
  • Communication: Slack (with custom integrations), Google Suite

Have personally built projects that utilized:

  • SageMaker, BigQuery, Docker, Elasticsearch, TensorFlow, Swarm (multi-agent), Airtable

Have worked on project teams with:

  • Kubernetes, Jenkins, GitLab CI/CD, Terraform, Puppet, Cassandra, Kafka, RabbitMQ, Solr

Professional Credentials

  • Project Management Professional (PMP)
  • Certified ScrumMaster (CSM)

Beyond Work

About

Personal background and interests

Side Projects

Building for fun and learning

Everything else

Art, music, and some travel photos

Journey: Hardware → Design → Full-Stack → AI-Accelerated

Started with hardware tinkering and basic Python scripts for personal automation. Curiosity about design tools and creating better user interfaces naturally pushed me into web development - learning JavaScript, React, and Node to bring ideas to life. This progression from backend scripts to full-stack applications taught me to think holistically about products. With the rise of AI tooling and LLMs, I'm now comfortable building full systems in languages I don't know completely, but it helps me to learn quickly and unlock functionality that was previously unavailable to me.

Featured Projects

  • Stick Arcade
    • Gaming controller analytics platform that diagnoses stick drift and controller health through web-based diagnostic games. Includes a desktop companion app with 1 kHz sampling for real-time drift compensation.
    • Learned: First time with Rust, WebSocket communication between desktop and web apps, using Amplify for a full-stack deploy instead of just FE, using Cognito, deploying my own Lambdas, learned to utilize Claude Code.
  • Stick Arcade Desktop Companion App
    • A desktop application addressing controller stick spring deformation that affects muscle memory in gaming. Built with Rust and C++ to provide 1kHz polling for monitoring deformation over time and augmenting sensitivity curves for consistent gameplay experiences regardless of hardware degradation.
    • Learned: Low-level systems programming with Rust and C++, High-frequency hardware polling and data collection, Reverse engineering game sensitivity curves and input compensation
  • Spanish Learning Video Game
    • A Unity-based story game where players assume the role of a spy in a foreign nation, solving mysteries by conversing with NPCs and learning Spanish through gameplay. The game integrated Whisper API for speech-to-text and voice detection/translation, with 5 levels completed.
    • Learned: Game development in Unity with narrative branching, Speech recognition integration and real-time language processing, Combining educational content with engaging gameplay mechanics
  • MeetOut
    • My wife and I met on a dating app and the experience made us want to create something that facilitated real-world meetings rather than endless chatting.
    • Learned: Google Places API, Flutter/FlutterFlow for mobile development, Firestore and Google Auth, first real mobile-first venture.
  • Novel Writing Agent
    • A multi-agent AI system that transforms a single sentence into a complete novel through iterative development. The system uses looping agents to create plot outlines, develop characters, and build story arcs, followed by a separate writing flow that generates actual chapters.
    • Learned: Multi-agent AI orchestration and workflow design, Creative AI applications for long-form content generation, Building iterative refinement systems for complex creative tasks

Data + Analytics Projects

  • Tweet Scraping ETL System
    • A comprehensive backend system designed to analyze tweet sentiment and understand contextual factors influencing social media communication and its impact on stocks/markets. Built algorithmic approaches for collecting tweets, replies, images, and screenshots, then processed and stored the data for downstream analysis.
    • Learned: Large-scale social media data extraction and processing, Sentiment analysis pipeline development, Building robust ETL systems for unstructured social data
  • FlightRadar24 Analytics
    • An agent system analyzing private flight data to identify travel patterns and deduce passenger identities and travel intentions. Combined curiosity-driven investigation with potential investment insights, exploring flight patterns as both a learning exercise and mystery-solving challenge.
    • Learned: Aviation data analysis and pattern recognition, Building investigative data pipelines, Connecting flight patterns to potential business/financial insights
  • Rocket League Performance Analyzer
    • Data-driven tool analyzing thousands of matches to identify optimal strategies and gameplay patterns, providing personalized recommendations based on playstyle.
    • Learned: Game telemetry parsing, statistical analysis for pattern recognition, how small optimizations compound into significant performance improvements. Status: Personal use, 15% win rate improvement
  • Statistical Analysis SaaS Dashboarding Platform
    • A proof-of-concept commercial SaaS platform for data visualization and statistical analysis using Tableau, Looker, and Google Data Studio.
    • Learned: Data visualization pipeline development, Commercial SaaS product conceptualization, Multi-platform analytics integration

AI + Automation Projects

  • Virtual Product Management AI Agent
    • Prototyped a multi-agent system to understand swarm. Worked on mechanics to read Slack, summarize meetings, generate Jira tickets to try and automate repetitive PM work.
    • Learned: LangGraph, Jira integration, Slack integration.
  • 5 Minute Calm (Meditation App)
    • An ultra-fast meditation app concept focused on OCD-specific modules, serving as a first deep dive into prompt engineering and AI personalization. Explored the AI wrapper approach to modern product development with tailored meditation experiences.
    • Learned: Prompt engineering and AI response personalization, AI wrapper product development strategies, Designing user experiences around mental health needs
  • Personal ML System using AWS Sagemaker
    • I wanted to understand how ML systems were built during LLM infancy, and worked with Sagemaker to build predictive analysis for NHL hockey games.

Hardware + IoT Projects

  • Smart Lock Sensor
    • A renter-friendly Bluetooth system prototype using Arduino, microsensors, and BLE components to detect and notify whether a door is locked without requiring permanent modifications to the door hardware. Designed as a non-invasive solution for renters who can't modify their living space.
    • Learned: IoT prototyping with Arduino and sensor integration, Bluetooth Low Energy communication protocols, Designing non-permanent solutions for rental constraints
  • Subway Time Alexa Skill
    • An Alexa skill providing next uptown F train arrival times at Carroll Street station using Lambda functions.
    • Learned: Voice interface development, AWS Lambda serverless architecture, Public transit API integration
  • Audiometry Device (School Project)
    • A low-cost hearing loss detection device using Raspberry Pi with Python programming and custom sound generation using Ableton.
    • Learned: Medical device prototyping, Raspberry Pi development, Audio signal processing and testing methodologies

Web + Mobile Development

  • Crypto DeFi Game
    • A blockchain game designed to gamify staking rewards on the Algorand network during the early 2020s DeFi trend. Built a full-stack prototype with Unity WebGL integration, collaborating with a frontend developer and designer while handling backend development and frontend design.
    • Learned: Full-stack development and blockchain integration, First-time Figma design experience and game asset coordination, WebGL game deployment and cryptocurrency reward mechanisms
  • Crypto Snipe Tool on Solana
    • Modified an existing crypto sniping tool to be more forgiving and consistent for scalp trading on legitimate (non-rug) tokens. Built as a learning project to understand high-speed cryptocurrency transactions and Solana blockchain mechanics.
    • Learned: High-frequency blockchain transaction processing, Solana network architecture and optimization, Crypto trading automation and risk management
  • Word Territory Game
    • I love the boardgames Carcassonne and Scrabble so I prototyped a hybrid word game exploring territorial control mechanics, built to learn real-time multiplayer architecture using React.
  • No Blue Check Extension
    • Built a chrome browser extension to hide blue checkmarks replies from Twitter/X feed.
  • Programmatic SEO CMS System
    • Built system for pulling in SEO keyword templates to build out a database of articles that would publish in a database, these could then be published and used by my Stick Arcade blog.

Miscellaneous Projects

  • The Enthusiast (Music Discussion Forum)
    • A college project creating mockups for a niche music discussion community platform. Served as first exploration into UI design, learning high-fidelity design tools and community-focused user experience design.
    • Learned: UI/UX design fundamentals and mockup creation, High-fidelity design tool proficiency, Community platform design principles
  • Poker Learning Tools
    • Spreadsheet-based tools with macros for flashcard-style learning of optimal poker play and analysis of playing style weaknesses.
  • Running Performance Optimizer
    • Personal tool analyzing fitness data to optimize pacing strategies and generate custom training plans based on performance metrics.

Music

Making ambient techno music for over a decade as Mr. Jackpots or Gunder

Art

Some paintings I've created over the years.

Blue painting Green painting Red painting Rider in rain painting

Find Me On

Jack Gunderson
  • I recently made the hop across the river to Brooklyn after living in East Village for 7 years (and honestly it's pretty great)
  • I am an overly competitive ping pong and darts player
  • I went to school in California for biomedical engineering but I found myself in tech
  • I naturally like planning and organizing and creating a productive and efficient environment
  • I think I'm pretty good at poker
  • I've made music for over a decade as Gunder (ambient techno)
  • I actually do have some design experience now but I still have the product mindset to be the conduit from the CX to the UI to the development team
  • I feel an obligation to protect development talent from the day-to-day craziness of the product lifecycle
  • I got really into Geoguessr during the pandemic and I streamed sometimes
  • In my spare time I like to create projects to try to solve something interesting
  • I also like to paint when it's not nice out
  • I used to run a lot but I hurt my knee so now I rollerblade
  • My wife and I foster dogs which has been a fantastic experience
  • I love going to the movies
  • Manchester City is my club, I also like the Chicago Cubs and Blackhawks, and watching tennis
Bernie Hibby Little Man Snowy
Playing ping pong
Jack and his wife