Yelp Names Vivek Patel as Chief Product Officer
19 February 2019 - 10:00PM
Business Wire
Experienced Veteran Takes on Expanded Role
Focused on Driving User Growth and Monetization
Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP), the company that connects people with
great local businesses, today announced the appointment of Vivek
Patel to the newly created role of Chief Product Officer. Patel has
a record of significant accomplishment in product development and
management and extensive industry experience, including spending
nearly 10 years leading Yelp’s product efforts. He most recently
led the successful integration of Yelp’s consumer- and
business-focused product efforts to drive user growth and maximize
the Company’s revenue generation.
As Chief Product Officer, Patel will oversee all aspects of
Yelp’s product management function, including design, data science,
and user research, among other areas. In addition, as a member of
the executive leadership team, Patel will ensure that the
development of Yelp’s products is aligned with the Company’s
strategic direction, especially its diversifying go-to-market
strategy and focus on both business owners and consumers.
“Over the 14 years since our founding, Yelp has created the
leading local internet destination for consumers with the help of a
strong and dedicated team,” said Jeremy Stoppelman, co-founder and
CEO of Yelp. “Our business-facing products are a central component
of Yelp’s overall strategy. During his tenure at Yelp, Vivek has
played an integral role in accelerating the diversification of our
business products and enhancing our go-to-market strategies,
specifically through the development of key products such as our
self-serve platform, Request-A-Quote and Yelp Reservations, and the
integration of Yelp’s partnership with GrubHub. Our products have
been vital to creating revenue-generation opportunities by allowing
business owners to access our engaged consumer base and by forging
deeper relationships with our consumers through our transactions
business. These products are the core of our long-term growth
strategy, and we are thrilled to have Vivek lead us as we continue
working to execute on that strategy.”
“I am honored to take on this important responsibility to help
support and drive the Company’s product strategy moving forward.
Growing up with and working alongside a family of restaurateurs and
small-business owners has provided me not only with firsthand
knowledge of the complexities of this industry, but also a deep and
personal connection to Yelp’s business owners and an understanding
of products that serve them effectively,” said Patel. “Yelp’s
products are a significant part of our growth opportunity, and I am
excited to continue working alongside our incredible team to unlock
more value for consumers, advertisers and business owners, and
achieve our full potential as a business.”
During his career at Yelp, Patel managed the business products
team, which, under his leadership, grew Yelp’s advertising products
from $25 million to nearly $1 billion in revenue. Patel also served
as Yelp’s Head of Business Products from 2011 to 2016, during which
he led the development of the company’s self-serve advertising
platform, business-owner mobile app, Request-A-Quote and
integration of Yelp Reservations and Yelp Waitlist. Patel also led
the integration of several Yelp-acquired products and businesses,
including Turnstyle, a Wi-Fi enabled marketing platform for small
businesses (2017); Nowait, the restaurant waitlist app now known as
Yelp Waitlist (2017); and SeatMe, Inc., now known as Yelp
Reservations (2013), and the integration of Yelp’s strategic
partnership with GrubHub after the sale of the Company’s Eat24
division.
Prior to joining Yelp, Patel spent four years at SugarSync, a
provider of online file backup, syncing and sharing services, where
he was the company’s first hired employee and member of the senior
management team. In his role as Director of Product Management,
Patel defined SugarSync’s product vision, roadmap, and monetization
plan. Prior to joining SugarSync in 2004, Patel was a software
engineer for a number of companies and his own entrepreneurial
ventures.
Patel graduated from Stanford University with an M.A. in
Education: Learning, Design & Technology and a B.S. in Computer
Science.
About Yelp
Yelp Inc. (www.yelp.com) connects people with great local
businesses. With unmatched local business information, photos and
review content, Yelp provides a platform for consumers to discover,
interact and transact with local businesses of all sizes. Yelp was
founded in San Francisco in July 2004. Since then, Yelp has taken
root in major metros in more than 30 countries.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements relating
to, among other things, Yelp’s future performance that are based on
its current expectations, forecasts and assumptions and that
involve risks and uncertainties. These statements include, but are
not limited to, statements regarding Yelp’s: strategies, priorities
and initiatives; ability to successfully execute on such
strategies, priorities and initiatives; and ability to unlock more
value and achieve its full potential as a business.
Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences also
include those factors that could affect Yelp’s business, operating
results and stock price included under the captions “Risk Factors”
and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition
and Results of Operations” in Yelp’s most recent Quarterly Report
on Form 10-Q at www.yelp-ir.com or the SEC’s website at
www.sec.gov.
Undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking
statements in this release, which are based on information
available to Yelp on the date hereof. Such forward-looking
statements do not include the potential impact of any acquisitions
or divestitures that may be announced and/or completed after the
date hereof. Yelp assumes no obligation to update such
statements.
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Public RelationsVince Sollitto(415)
230-6506press@yelp.com
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