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RÉSUMÉ

RÉSUMÉ

Tanner Reid
FORMER HIGH SCHOOL QUIZ BOWL CAPTAIN


WHO I AM

I'm a Mississippi native and multidisciplinary product development leader who thrives on messy problems — whether building a vision for a new product category, untangling complex UX systems, designing organizations, or navigating a four-wheeler through a mud hole.

HOW I LEAD

My best outcomes haven't come from informed design or elegant engineering alone — they required a big vision, an aligned team, a culture of trust and creativity, and leadership that knows when to guide and when to get out of the way.

I bring clarity to ambiguity, enthusiasm to complexity, and joy to challenge.






WHAT YOU'LL FIND HERE

I work across strategy, design, engineering, and research — connecting dots, shaping direction, and building systems that help good ideas go the distance.

From a purse for Calvin Klein to a consumer laser to a startup factory, the projects here highlight the wins, stumbles, and learnings from my time in hardware, software, and academia.

Cricut
crafting machines

GROUP PRODUCT MANAGER

laser cutter and consumer design SW

Joined a consumer crafting company to make laser cutting technology accessible to hobbyists.

Ceremonially dug a shallow grave behind the parking lot at work for a machine that was cancelled before launch.

Led all areas of the product org to modernize our design SW with a contextual interface on desktop and mobile.

Enabled over a billion dollars in revenue for 6M+ users of new machines (vinyl cutters, laser cuters, and heat presses).

TODAY

Let's build something!

I'd love to hear from you if you're
interested in working together

Cricut
crafting machines

GROUP PRODUCT MANAGER

laser cutter and consumer design SW

Joined a consumer crafting company to make laser cutting technology accessible to hobbyists.

Ceremonially dug a shallow grave behind the parking lot at work for a machine that was cancelled before launch.

Led all areas of the product org to modernize our design SW with a contextual interface on desktop and mobile.

Enabled over a billion dollars in revenue for 6M+ users of new machines (vinyl cutters, laser cuters, and heat presses).

Abound Parenting,
at MIT's DeltaV Accelerator

CHIEF PRODUCT OFFICER

EdTech Startup

Joined a Harvard researcher, a Sloan MBA, and a novelist on a mission to curb the US literacy crisis.

Managed an international team of engineers and designers through an iterative development cycle.

Hunkered down in a yogis & writers retreat while working remotely in Mississippi during the COVID-19 crisis.

After 18 months, exited our startup
and joined the Board of Advisors.

Massachusetts
Institute of Technology

MASTER OF SCIENCE & TA

Integrated Design & Management

Designed a new type of college: the "startup factory," to diversify economies outside of today's innovation hubs.

Published a masters thesis that proposes a re-design of the US Dept. of Education for local ideation.

Interned as a a product manager for a database system at IBM used by more than 10k companies worldwide.

Accidentally burgled my Israeli host office during Shabat while doing a work-study at an EdTech startup in Tel Aviv.

Autodesk
pro & consumer solid modeling

PRODUCT DESIGN ENGINEER & EVANGELIST

"Future of Making Things" team

Played student-designed instruments with Will.I.Am through an outreach program with the Prince's Trust.

Taught industrial design and mech engineering classes at dozens of incubators, schools, and maker spaces.

Designed my second-empire dream home that I will one day build and later haunt.

Worked on a purse at Calvin Klein for a
parametric design collaboration.

Franklin W. Olin College
of Engineering

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE & TA

Mechanical Design Engineering

Designed my own degree with a focus on product design and mechanical engineering.

Elected to the judicial branch of
Olin's student government.

Hunted sharks with Jeff Corwin in the
Gulf of Mexico after the BP Oil Spill.

Interned at an ATV customization
startup in rural Mississippi.

Vancleave
High School

HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA

The Formative Years

Fell down an
elevator shaft.

Valedictorian, Student Council President,
NHS VP, and Quiz Bowl captain/failure.

Volunteer firefighter and Hurricane
Katrina disaster relief worker.

Grew up working construction
in the family business.

raised in rural
Mississippi

one part nerd, one
part redneck