Ryan Donovan

About Ryan Donovan

I am a growth-oriented SaaS executive who builds sustainable, high-velocity product-based businesses (sales-led, product-led, & hybrid). My career is defined by bridging the gap between product vision and operational rigor – leading organizations from startups (~25) to scaled global teams (~800 w/$75M+ operating budgets) – while managing significant P & Ls and driving consistent growth, value creation, and exits. Although I have principally led product and engineering + related underlying fields, I have also led IT, customer support/success, professional services, and operations/PMO functions. What I bring to the table:• SHAREHOLDER VALUE CREATION: Five exits including a record-setting $1.2B mar-tech transaction; converted companies from perpetual to recurring revenue models; and unlocked stalled revenue growth multiple times• TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP: Turned around distressed businesses; integrated multiple acquisitions; led on-premise to cloud transitions; and navigated companies through market disruptions, including AI adoption/transformation (including during the pre-LLM era). • STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS: Established enterprise alliances with major players such as Microsoft, Salesforce, Adobe, and all major social networks that drove significant revenue influence• OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE: Built and scaled cross-functional teams; established corporate/cross-function PMOs; and implemented planning frameworks that drove accountability and results• CATEGORY CREATION & RECOGNITION: Created the Digital Experience Platform category; consistently achieved strong positions with industry analysts and ratings platforms such as Gartner, Forrester, G2, & TrustRadius • AI-NATIVE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT: Currently building AI products from the ground up; implementing AI-assisted engineering achieving significant production code delivery via AI; historically built pioneering AI-driven personalization and recommendation systems pre-LLM eraMy operating style is pragmatic and outcomes-driven: clarify the ‘why’, simplify the strategy, upgrade the talent bar, build an execution cadence, and then deliver measurable movement in the metrics that matter (revenue growth, retention/NRR, activation, unit economics, reliability, customer satisfaction, developer efficiency). Technologies & domains I\'ve led: B2B MarTech (CMS, DXP, DAM, CMP, PIM, Social, Influencer Marketing), EdTech, Commerce/Payments, AI/ML, Enterprise SaaS, & PLG and Sales-led motions.I am equally comfortable in public company environments as well as private equity / venture-backed settings.

Experience

1. Chief Product and Technology Officer

   Thinkific

   Jun 2024 — Present · Vancouver, BC, CA

   Recruited to find new pathways for growth for this TSX-listed company while maintaining profitability. Overseeing the Product, UX, Engineering, Data, and PLG functions. • Reset strategy through market and competitive research; simplified ideal customer profile focus and established long-range product roadmap. Sunset non-strategic assets. • Drove meaningful improvement in PLG activation metrics, enabling steady revenue at greatly reduced marketing spend. • Introduced AI-native roadmap and modernization program with first customers live in beta during Q3 2025. • Enhanced talent bench & implemented V2MOM framework to drive top decile engineering performance with significant portion of code now being written by AI.• Thinkific is in the Top 50 2025 G2 rankings for Best Education Products & Top Rated 2025 by TrustRadius.

Education

• University of Phoenix

  Business Administration

  1997 — 1999

• University of Washington

  Computer Science

  1994 — 1997

Skills

• Engineering Management
• Product Management
• Program Management
• Product Development
• Product Design
• Taking New Products to Market
• Product Marketing
• Software Development
• Software Engineering
• Software Project Management
• Cross-Functional Team Leadership
• Cross Functional Team Building
• Organizational Development
• Distributed Team Management
• Intellectual Property
• Contract Management
• P&L Ownership
• Business Strategy
• New Business Development
• Enterprise Solution Sales
• Solution Selling
• Solution Architecture
• Software Consulting
• Professional Services Delivery
• Solution Delivery
• Managed Services
• E-Commerce
• Content Management
• Enterprise Search
• Analytics
• Digital Marketing
• Multi-Channel Retail
• Distributed Systems
• Enterprise Architecture
• Enterprise Software
• Application Servers
• Cloud Computing
• Managed Hosting
• Performance Tuning
• Microsoft Technologies