Cliff Vars

Cliff Vars Email and Phone Number

Head of Product @ ThinkOnward
Austin, TX, US
Cliff Vars's Location
Austin, Texas, United States, United States
Cliff Vars's Contact Details
About Cliff Vars

I'm a product management and business leader with experience at smaller companies and divisions that became parts of much larger companies. I've held roles from software engineering to consulting and technical sales, but my passion is combining product management and business acumen to solve the needs of a market. I love to engage in everything from strategic planning and roadmaps to data and market analysis to manage a group's financial performance. My background is in product management, and I feel most impactful thinking about how to uncover customer needs and shaping products that scale through the right combination of internal support tools together with thoughtful user experience for customers.After over 8 years at HomeAway/Vrbo/Expedia Group, I am actively looking for my next challenge, and of course I am finding ways to keep myself busy in the meantime. Outside of work, I try to spend a lot of time with my wife and two children. Sometimes it is just hanging out at home and tossing the ball in the back yard with my son, and other times it is attending an activity like a horse show where my daughter is riding. We like to vacation together and we stay in vacation rentals when possible. I also like to burn off steam at the gym.I'm always looking to grow my personal and professional network. Feel free to connect via LinkedIn.

Cliff Vars's Current Company Details
ThinkOnward

Thinkonward

View
Head of Product
Austin, TX, US
Cliff Vars Work Experience Details
  • Thinkonward
    Head Of Product
    Thinkonward
    Austin, Tx, Us
  • Thinkonward
    Head Of Product
    Thinkonward Feb 2023 - Present
    Austin, Tx, Us
  • Care.Com
    Sr Director, Provider Product
    Care.Com Apr 2021 - Jan 2023
    Dallas, Texas, Us
  • Expedia Group
    Sr Director, Multifamily Product & Strategy
    Expedia Group Jan 2019 - Aug 2020
    Seattle, Wa, Us
    Guided integration of two acquisitions into Expedia Group and retained critical talent while growing the business. Focused the team on key metrics to provide a full view into the business funnel from sales prospects through division’s net revenue. Built a business model based on unit economics for evaluating potential product initiatives, then partnered with acquisition co-founders to determine plan to achieve aggressive growth targets. Improved distribution strategy for multifamily rental inventory.
  • Homeaway Is Now Vrbo
    General Manager, Homeaway Software
    Homeaway Is Now Vrbo Jan 2016 - Jan 2019
    Owned P&L for the business and beat profitable EBITDA targets. Developed strategy and executed portfolio rationalization and consolidation, retaining majority of accounts by revenue. Partnered with marketplace platform team to launch a new data powered revenue management tool for Vrbo and securing incremental investment for division. Negotiated and signed a multi-year enterprise agreement with largest customer. Expanded relationships with integration business partners to improve customer choice. Directed a cross-functional team including sales, marketing, support, product, and engineering, across time zones and continents.
  • Homeaway Is Now Vrbo
    Director Of Product Management, Homeaway Software
    Homeaway Is Now Vrbo May 2012 - Jan 2016
    Maintained high legacy customer retention rate while driving product portfolio through the transition from distributed to SaaS products, with a focus on major product enhancements and migration tools. Collaborated with key stakeholders outside the division to represent the viewpoints of property managers in the company’s marketplace. Presented joint product demonstrations with business partners at annual customer conferences. Launched a guest contract solution as fastest adopted paid add-on ever. Grew and cultivated a team of 4 product managers to manage product portfolio.
  • Lombardi Software (Acquired By Ibm)
    Sr Product Manager, Cloud Bpm
    Lombardi Software (Acquired By Ibm) Jun 2010 - May 2012
    Austin, Texas, Us
    \Led product management team for IBM Blueworks Live to produce 8 releases in first 18 months in role. Worked closely with executives on strategic product direction. Spoke with customers weekly to get feedback and to nurture relationships. Interacted daily with design team to shape product features. Provided sales support and worked with legal during contract negotiations. Led efforts to identify and resolve sales obstacles to selling software as a service within IBM. Crafted offering for managed private cloud and explored hosting SaaS in other countries, including visit to China. Worked with customers to explain, position, and enhance SaaS security features. Provided guidance to team on product feature requirements and design.Worked with team to help exceed aggressive year over year sales growth goals from 2010 to 2011.Managed team of product managers and designers.Please visit: https://www.blueworkslive.com
  • Lombardi Software (Acquired By Ibm)
    Product Manager, Bpm (On Premise)
    Lombardi Software (Acquired By Ibm) May 2007 - Jun 2010
    Austin, Texas, Us
    Led product management for a major update to Lombardi's largest product (Enterprise, on-premise software) with a successful launch in December 2009. Over a 2-year period: wrote detailed requirements, worked closely with UX to influence product design, interviewed customers for feedback, worked with engineering leadership to negotiate scope and tradeoffs, worked with marketing to craft messages, created sales collateral, presented product at conferences, and participated in analyst briefings. Beginning in early 2009, managed other product managers and UX designers for on-premise BPM product.
  • Venetica Corporation
    Product Manager, Content Integration
    Venetica Corporation Oct 2005 - May 2007
    (Venetica was acquired by IBM in October 2004.)Gathered requirements from customers, business partners, sales, marketing, services, and development. Prioritized requirements and built consensus at various levels to define a product roadmap that drives revenue and meets customer expectations.
  • Venetica Corporation
    Technical Sales - Business Partner Enablement
    Venetica Corporation Jul 2003 - Oct 2005
    Tailored and delivered technical sales presentations. Built proofs-of-concept for customers, partners, and internal product integrations. Designed high-level architectures for integrating products. Created and delivered training to business partners.
  • Venetica Corporation
    Software Engineer (Product & Services)
    Venetica Corporation Nov 1999 - Jul 2003
    Member of four-person team to develop initial version of enterprise content integration software, utilizing Java and EJBs. Later helped to build and overhaul web-based portal for browsing content management systems built on top of content integration platform, based on Servlets and JSP.
  • American Management Systems
    Software Consultant
    American Management Systems Jan 1998 - Oct 1999
    Developed procurement software in PowerBuilder and Java for commercial customers. Provided software services and customizations for multiple customers as part of on-site consulting engagements.

Cliff Vars Skills

Saas Product Management Cloud Computing Enterprise Software Start Ups Requirements Gathering Business Process Design Web Applications Product Marketing Strategy Integration Process Improvement Agile Methodologies Product Design Management Business Process Business Analysis Java Iterative Design Scrum Sales Operations Product Launch Sales Support Technical Requirements Requirements Writing

Cliff Vars Education Details

  • Vanderbilt University
    Vanderbilt University
    Electrical Engineering And Computer Science

Frequently Asked Questions about Cliff Vars

What company does Cliff Vars work for?

Cliff Vars works for Thinkonward

What is Cliff Vars's role at the current company?

Cliff Vars's current role is Head of Product.

What is Cliff Vars's email address?

Cliff Vars's email address is cv****@****way.com

What is Cliff Vars's direct phone number?

Cliff Vars's direct phone number is +151250*****

What schools did Cliff Vars attend?

Cliff Vars attended Vanderbilt University.

What skills is Cliff Vars known for?

Cliff Vars has skills like Saas, Product Management, Cloud Computing, Enterprise Software, Start Ups, Requirements Gathering, Business Process Design, Web Applications, Product Marketing, Strategy, Integration, Process Improvement.

Free Chrome Extension

Find emails, phones & company data instantly

Find verified emails from LinkedIn profiles
Get direct phone numbers & mobile contacts
Access company data & employee information
Works directly on LinkedIn - no copy/paste needed
Get Chrome Extension - Free

Aero Online

Your AI prospecting assistant

Download 750 million emails and 100 million phone numbers

Access emails and phone numbers of over 750 million business users. Instantly download verified profiles using 20+ filters, including location, job title, company, function, and industry.