Michael Widner

About Michael Widner

Engineering executive with 7+ years leading multi-product SaaS orgs through rapid growth, acquisitions, and successful PE exits.At LineLeader, I scaled engineering from 3 → 30+(FTE + offshore), modernized our architecture across 6–7 codebases, and delivered 3 enterprise-grade products serving thousands of schools. I built our payments engineering function, now driving 15–20% of ARR, and led our SOC2 Type II certification.I’ve overseen multiple M&A integrations end-to-end — from systems consolidation to organizational restructuring — and helped increase the company\'s ARR by 6x.My focus:• Scaling high-performing engineering teams• Platform modernization + technical strategy• Reliability, compliance, and enterprise readiness• Product + engineering alignment• Building engineering cultures that shipPreviously: Stanford technologist, humanities PhD, UNIX systems engineer, experiences that give me that rare blend of deep technical insight, systems thinking, and clarity in communication.

Experience

1. Vice President of Engineering

   LineLeader by ChildcareCRM

   Jan 2022 — Present

   Scaled engineering org from 3 → 30+(FTE + nearshore/offshore).Grew company from $2.5M → $12M ARR, including 80%+ growth organically + 2 acquisitions.Owned technical integration for two acquisitions, unifying platforms, data, and teams.Oversaw 6–7 codebases across 3 enterprise-grade SaaS products.Led platform modernization: cloud infrastructure, API unification, and data architecture.Built payments engineering function supporting 15–20% of ARR.Led SOC2 Type II readiness and ongoing program.Reported directly to CEO / PE board stakeholders.

Education

• The University of Texas at Austin

  Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), English Language and Literature/Letters

  2006 — 2014

• The University of Texas at Arlington

  Bachelor of Arts - BA, English / French

  1995 — 2000

• Southern Methodist University

  Master of Arts (M.A.), English Language and Literature/Letters

  2004 — 2006

Skills

• Writing
• Mac Os X
• Editing
• Close Reading
• Digital Humanities
• Text Analytics
• Unix Shell Scripting
• Javascript
• Mysql
• Linked Data
• Machine Learning
• Freebsd
• Drupal
• Poetry
• University Teaching
• Postgresql
• Python
• Higher Education
• Linux System Administration
• Unix
• Books
• Data Visualization
• Public Speaking
• Teaching
• Semantic Web
• Product Management
• Databases
• French Literature
• Php
• College Teaching
• Perl
• Literature
• Medieval Studies
• Project Management
• Social Media
• Mongodb
• Strategic Planning
• Grant Writing
• Solaris
• Oracle Sql