JK

Justin Kistner

Founder of Upfocus

Seattle, WA

About Justin

For the last 20 years Justin Kistner has been at the forefront of digital marketing and software product management. Most recently, he served on the executive team during two exits for digital marketing software companies. He has seen how digital ad technology and strategies work at the highest levels. This unique access has come from working for top 10 ad software partners for Google, Facebook, and Twitter. Justin has developed strategies and led the execution of over $10M in Facebook advertising for top brands, such as Nike, Invisalign, and Xfinity. Also notable, he holds a patent for a social engagement scoring algorithm. And, his work has been featured in the American Museum of Advertising. Justin has contributed to top-tier tech publications such as Mashable, VentureBeat and ReadWriteWeb. As a speaker or keynote, he has been an invited presenter at conferences such as ad:tech, OMMA Global, Web 2.0 Expo, Blogworld, eMetrics and Social Fresh. Outside of work, he is a passionate vegetable gardener and Oregon Ducks football fan. He lives in Seattle with his wife and son.

Company

Companies with more than 500 employees employ 96% of all product managers. Yet, 97% of all software companies have less than 500 employees. It's a massive unfair advantage for big tech companies.

Upfocus is on a mission to make quality product management accessible to all software companies. Achieving our mission would mean a greater diversity of tech companies could find and maintain product market fit. We'll do this by helping software teams replace manual product management with modern digital software. Our goal is to make Upfocus the easiest way to be data driven about what to build next.

Company Stage

Launch

Funding Raised

None/Bootstrapped

Team Size

1-5 employees

Location

Seattle, WA

Founded

2020

Industry

Technology

Skills

Facebook AdvertisingPatent HolderKeynote SpeakerPublicationsFounderTechnologySocial Media AdvertisingMarketingDigital MarketingDigital Product ManagementProduct ManagementSoftware DevelopmentGardening

Facebook Advertising

Led the execution of over $10M in Facebook advertising for top brands.

Patent Holder

Holds a patent for a social engagement scoring algorithm.

Keynote Speaker

Invited presenter at major conferences such as ad:tech and OMMA Global.

Publications

Contributed to top-tier tech publications such as Mashable and VentureBeat.

Gardening

Passionate vegetable gardener.

Experience

job

Founder

Upfocus

Founded Upfocus to make quality product management accessible to all software companies.

Launched a company focused on helping software teams with modern digital product management.

job

Executive Team Member

Various Digital Marketing Software Companies

Served on the executive team during two exits for digital marketing software companies, overseeing product management and marketing strategies.

Contributed to successful exits and developed high-level digital marketing strategies.