Hey. This is Justin Grant. I'm a software product manager in the SF Bay Area. My focus: pragmatically bringing consumer-web concepts (ease-of-use, social software, etc.) to the stodgy world of business software.

stuff i'm working on

  • Cantaloupe Systems

    Since 2011 I've been head of Product at Cantaloupe Systems. We build technology that drives the future of the vending industry. We connect over 70,000 vending machines to the Cloud over cellular wireless networks, and then provide SaaS services that crunch the resulting data. We:
    • enable cashless and NFC mobile payments at vending machines
    • track near-real-time machine inventory and use that data to generate "prekits" to save warehouse and driver time
    • automatically build daily route schedules to optimize driver time and reduce vehicle and fuel costs
    • algorithmically adjust machine planograms to increase same-store sales and reduce "empties"
    • manage warehouse operations and handle back-office accountability for cash and merchandise
    • are building many more things I can't talk about yet. :-)
    I work hands-on, leading a small team defining Cantaloupe's product roadmap and working with a distributed development team to deliver that roadmap. Lately I've been doing a lot of UI design/prototyping and have been spending a lot of time in the field learning more about our customers, field-testing new products, and helping Sales close big deals.

stuff i was working on before

  • Splunk

    From 2009-2011 I was at Splunk, a big-data software company in San Francisco. I was responsible for Splunkbase (Splunk's "app store"), Splunk Answers (Splunk's support community), and Splunk's overall strategy to build social web technology into Splunk's products and culture.

    I drove Splunk's product-to-Web strategy: ensuring our app store and other community sites were seamlessly integrated into product features, were relevant for business users (not just online-community enthusiasts), and were free of ease-of-use blockers.

    I also founded Splunk's Application Management product line and managed a small, cross-functional team delivering Splunk's "V1.0" Application Management product, which focused on analytics, operational reporting, and troubleshooting for Java Application Servers.

    UPDATE: Congratulations to Splunk (SPLK) on the recent IPO!

  • Job Alchemist

    In 2009 I worked at Job Alchemist, an early-stage SF startup building recruiting solutions like Startuply. As a hands-on contributor and advisor, I learned about the online recruiting & HR space and ended up refuting ideas I'd had for an HR-related startup of my own.

  • MSDN and TechNet

    I was PM of msdn.com and technet.com, the Web's largest community sites for developers and IT-Pros. I was responsible for Web Analytics (at terabyte scale!), Social Applications strategy/execution, and building out an "internal SaaS" model to lower editorial and globalization costs. I also drove usability testing, overhauled site navigation across 10M+ pages, and fixed site search.

  • Microsoft Server Management Products

    I co-founded the "internal startup" team that built Microsoft's first Application Management product. I ended up running PM for Microsoft's server-management products including Operations Manager (now called SCOM).

  • Stockpoint

    I was employee #6 of Stockpoint, a web-based financial information provider. I managed operations, led web development, and scaled out Stockpoint's SaaS offering. Stockpoint was acquired and is now Dow Jones Client Solutions, part of News Corp.

  • Ask Jeeves

    I was one of the original engineers on the AskJeeves.com site. I still remember the day our CEO brought the original "butler" art back from our design firm. At the time, I thought: "A butler? That's dumb. No one will like that!". Oops.

more stuff i'm working on: nerdy hobby projects

other Justin Grants