Jeffrey D. Gerson
Fractional Exec: CMO/COO in San Francisco, CA, he/him/his
About
marketing leader | community builder | man about town
A seasoned marketing professional with a proven track record of building high-performing teams, I bring passion, empathy and intellectual curiosity to every project. I most recently served as CMO of Updater, where I successfully grew and managed a full-stack marketing team and developed go-to-market strategies for key initiatives, including acquisitions and fundraises, while designing cross-company team structure, strategic planning cycles and employee leveling. Additionally, I have served as a fractional marketing executive for startups of all sizes, leading teams in product marketing, branding, community building, editorial content creation, advertising and communications. In addition to my professional roles, I also act as an advisor to multiple companies and serve as a mentor to students at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where I help founders achieve growth and success through coaching and strategic guidance.
As one of Instagram's earliest employees, I had the privilege of working at the company as it grew from 100 million users to over one billion. During my nearly seven-year tenure, I worked on a wide range of projects and initiatives across the company and collaborated with diverse teams to drive growth through strategic projects that spanned the product ecosystem. At various points in my time there, I served as the Product Marketing Lead for Global Strategic Initiatives, the Senior Product Marketing Manager for Instagram's creation and identity products (profile, stories and feed sharing) and the Community Manager for North America. I also led Instagram's Pride initiatives, ranging from physical and digital campaigns to integrated product development.
I have a strong passion for creating diverse, thriving and meaningful communities through effective strategy and a signature combination of advocacy, events and storytelling. I believe that interpersonal connection is key to creating a sense of belonging and purpose, and I take pride in my ability to bring together the right groups of people for any community. My work has spanned a wide range of industries and organizations, from helping to establish Soho House's first five years of membership in the Bay Area to curating community engagement for tourism boards, fashion houses, museums, cultural institutions—and even NASA. In addition to my professional endeavors, I am also deeply committed to the arts community, working to bring together multidisciplinary creatives and supporting local artists, organizations and institutions.
Work Experience
Building the next generation of queer technology to help LGBTQ+ folks feel seen, safe, valued and desired.
We build Bent — a new platform to help queer communities come together and thrive.
• Grew marketing team from 1 to 13, spanning product marketing, B2B marketing, brand marketing, editorial and PR/communications
• Built core company-wide infrastructure including XFN matrix models, bottoms-up strategic planning and clear employee role leveling
• Oversaw go-to-market strategy and materials for high-priority moments such as corporate acquisitions, investments, fundraises and government subcontracts
• Led key foundational research initiatives to understand consumer needs and revamp 360º marketing positioning
As Instagram’s PMM team scaled and assigned product marketers to specific product areas, I developed this role to leverage my depth and breadth of experience across the company to unlock outsized opportunities through strategic projects that span the product ecosystem.
• Partnered with decision science and brand marketing to develop and implement new methods of on-platform audience targeting that leverage ML to drive highest-ever average impacts at record efficiency
• Led marketing POV in early Japan research and strategy task force to establish foundation for incoming ground team
• Initiated cross-product inbound market research to re-evaluate Instagram’s international market positioning for evolving user behaviors
• Drove end-to-end positioning, go-to-market strategy and momentum campaigns for all launches across Stories, Profile and Feed Sharing.
• Led core cross-functional teams and drove alignment on GTM plans. Partnered closely with product, engineering, design, comms, partnerships, and policy stakeholders.
• Notable launches include the Questions Sticker in Instagram Stories and Stories Highlights and Archive.
• Led Instagram's 2017 and 2018 Pride initiatives, which included a 360º campaigns with on- and off-platform activations as well as lasting changes to the core product.
• Led community managers across global regions and industry verticals to synthesize feedback into actionable insights for product roadmapping
• Designed scaled playbooks and messaging to leverage relationships with major community advocates to amplify narratives, bust rumors and drive positive sentiment
• Worked with XFN teams to design outreach strategy for all major Instagram launches
• Wrote all launch blogs and announcements; managed translation and distribution across 15 language markets; produced launch videos and visual marketing assets managing both in-house teams and agencies
• Wrote, edited and published hundreds of stories across Instagram editorial channels to an audience of 100M+ on @instagram, the world’s largest social media account
• Designed and initiated accessible and repeatable global event series to bring local communities together and encourage creative collaboration
• Encouraged, supported and attended InstaMeets in key cities across North America to learn from and build relationships with Instagram advocates
• Served as Instagram’s first acting PMM (06/13 – 02/14). Major launches: Photo Tagging, Video on Instagram, Instagram Direct, Hyperlapse from Instagram, Creative Tools, Layout from Instagram, Search & Explore
Volunteering
• Host ongoing office hours advising Stanford GSB students from the Stanford Venture Studio and Center for Social Innovation
• Focus areas: integrated strategy development, 360º go-to-market planning, customer acquisition & community bootstrapping, cross-functional organization design and company scaling
• Guest lectures: 'Countdown to Launch: Building a Successful Go to Market (GTM) Strategy,' 'Validating Hypotheses through Social Advertising'
• 2020: Vice-Chair, Board of Trustees; Chair, Development Steering Committee
• 2019: Board Trustee, Development Steering Committee
Since its founding in 1979, the Djerassi Resident Artists Program has hosted residencies for more than 2,400 artists across disciplines on their 583-acre ranch in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The land is protected and held exclusively for the artists as a place where they can dream, dare, collaborate and create in a setting of astounding natural beauty.
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