Yasi is the Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at Raya, where they support Founders, CEOs, and Executives with product and go-to-market strategy, improving internal processes for successful execution, and recruiting top talent for companies. She held senior product leadership and executive roles at companies such as Fitbit, Teladoc, athenahealth, and Cleo. Yasi has a track record of delivering cutting-edge products that are adopted by millions of people.
As the Head of Product, Software Experiences at Fitbit, she strategized and built the next generation of health and wellness offerings such as Sleep (the most-engaged part of the Fitbit mobile app) as well as Female Health (gained 2.4 million users within the first month of launch) that contributed to selling 60M devices and grew revenue by 195% from $745M to $2.2B. In her most recent role as SVP of Product & Marketing at Cleo, she led product strategy, innovation, and marketing. Under her leadership and strategic guidance, the company launched two new product lines (Teens and Eldercare) that unlocked $270+B market opportunity. She started her career in investment banking and venture capital in Silicon Valley. She still actively invests as an angel investor.
Recently, in an exclusive interview with CXO Outlook Magazine, Yasi shared her professional trajectory, what sets Raya apart from other market competitors, significant career milestones, the secret sauce behind her success, pearls of wisdom, and much more. The following excerpts are taken from the interview.
Yasi, please tell us a bit about your background and your career journey.
I’m a product strategist with a track record of delivering cutting-edge products that are adopted by millions of people and defining new categories and markets.
In 2023, I officially launched Raya, where we support Founders, CEOs, and Executives with product and go-to-market strategy, improving internal processes for successful execution, and recruiting top talent for companies.
In the past, I held multiple senior product leadership and executive roles at companies such as Fitbit, Teladoc, and Cleo.
As the Head of Product, Software Experiences at Fitbit, I strategized and built the next generation of health and wellness offerings such as Sleep (the most-engaged part of the Fitbit mobile app) as well as Female Health (gained 2.4 million users within the first month of launch) that contributed to selling 60M devices and grew revenue by 195% from $745M to $2.2B.
In my most recent role as SVP of Product & Marketing at Cleo, I led product strategy, innovation, and marketing. Under my leadership and strategic guidance, the company launched two new product lines (Teens and Eldercare) that unlocked $270+B market opportunity. Over 50% of the clients expanded to at least one of these new product lines in the first year, which validated the customer needs and market opportunity. My team also delivered record-high and above-industry-average performance metrics in enrollment, engagement, and email open rates.
I started my career in investment banking and venture capital (VC) in Silicon Valley. In my experience as a VC, I developed a strong passion for investment in early-stage startups. Over the last decade, I continued investing in startups. Some of my investments include Virta Health ($2+B valuation), Nova AI (acquired by Highspot, which is valued at $3.5B), Lemonaid Health (acquired by 23andMe), knownwell (recently raised $25M from a16z), Integral.AI, OnRamp, and Intent.
I received my MBA from Harvard Business School and my BS in Business Administration from the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley.
What is the mission and vision of Raya? What sets it apart from other market competitors?
Our mission at Raya is to help more companies reach their full potential by building products that scale and creating teams of top talents that match their business needs.
Our clients initially come to us to help them with their product or go-to-market strategy to enable their business to scale.
Many of our clients ask our team to stay involved beyond the strategic work; they seek our expertise on how to execute the strategy, establish the right internal processes, and hire the right team.
Given that we’ve been operators ourselves in the past, our strengths go beyond putting a sound strategy in place that leads to building multi-million-dollar businesses; we have the expertise to execute those plans and build teams that can deliver on those strategies.
Our team is uniquely positioned to support CEOs, Founders, and C-Level Executives because of our focus on the following elements:
- Proven Track Record: Our team, with roots in companies like Fitbit, Teladoc, Athena, and Cleo, has unlocked billion-dollar markets and built products used by millions of users.
- A Decade of Advisory Experience: We’ve advised leaders in health tech, SaaS, AI, and more, guiding them to build scalable products and teams.
- Executive Insights: Having been in executive roles, we understand your recruiting challenges.
- Extensive Network: Being based in Silicon Valley, we have worked in top tech companies, and being closely plugged into incubators, venture capitals, and universities gives us unique access to the top vetted talents and partners.
- Flexible Engagement: Our model, both in our consulting arm and recruiting arm, adapts to your unique business needs. We have the flexibility to be a fractional leader and extension of your team, or we can scale back and just offer you pieces of our offerings as you need.
You’ve had a long career in technology and product development. What are some guiding principles that you’ve learned throughout your career that you are bringing forward to Raya?
A few of my general leadership and business principles include:
- Treat others the way you like to be treated.
- You are as good as your team. Build the best team and value them and their work.
- Always put your customers first. Obsess over understanding your customers and their needs.
- Have a growth mindset and be comfortable with the fact that we all need to be lifetime learners to stay relevant. The AI revolution is the best reminder of this.
A few of my principles about product management:
- Product management is a team sport. Make sure to effectively collaborate with others on the team such as Engineering, Design, and Operations.
- Product management is equal to business management. The line between products and the rest of the business is getting blurrier than ever before.
- Product management is about delivering outcomes and not output. Focus on moving the metrics that matter for the business.
You are also an Angel Investor at Flybridge. Please tell us about this firm and your role in it.
Flybridge is a seed-stage venture capital firm based in Boston. I’m an investor out of the Flybridge Next Wave Operators Fund, created for seasoned operators within their field to invest in early-stage, high-potential startups. All Next Wave Operators investment partners are Harvard Business School alumni; the fund was created in partnership with Flybridge General Partner, Jeff Bussgang, a Harvard Business School professor.
What has been your greatest career achievement?
There are multiple events that shaped me personally and professionally.
Launching some of the most successful Fitbit categories such as Sleep, Activity Reminder, and Female Health, each of which with millions of daily users, was one of the highlights of my career.
I also take pride in building outstanding teams in any organization I’ve been part of.
Another event that shaped me as an individual, was my first entrepreneurial journey back home in Iran at the age of 14. By identifying the customer demands, a gap in the market, and the lack of competition, I started a jewelry business that combined modern European-style jewelry design with traditional Eastern rocks and materials. The products were unique and became popular fast; I struggled to keep up with the demand. At that age, I had to recruit my family and friends to help fill the orders. The margins on this business were amazing, and the profits I made from it gave me the initial funding to move to the United States. That experience gave me the conviction that I have a talent for identifying gaps in the market and coming up with products and solutions that resonate with customers.
Going forward, which emerging technologies are you most excited about?
Of course, I’m optimistic and enthusiastic about what Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) can do. GenAI has already changed the way millions of people do daily tasks, from writing content to creating marketing campaigns, generating designs and creative work, or writing codes. The exciting part is that we’ve just scratched the surface.
“AI is going to transform the global economy as surely as electricity and the steam engine did in their own times,” says Chris Hyzy, Chief Investment Officer for Merrill and Bank of America Private Bank. In my lifetime, I’ve seen how mobile and smartphones have transformed our lives in so many ways. AI will do that and so much more. Artificial intelligence is projected to contribute $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030.
You were featured as one of The 27 Most Impressive Harvard MBAs by Business Insider and recognized as the LinkedIn Top Voice. What is the secret sauce behind your success?
I’ve been fortunate to receive these types of recognition. I believe the most important ingredients for success are passion, perseverance, focus, and hard work. I try to best utilize those ingredients in any endeavor I start.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I love the outdoors and sports. Going for long walks is part of my daily routine and a way to stay centered. I listen to Audible books or my favorite podcasts during my walks. If you come across me while walking, you may find me in deep thought or taking notes on my phone. The combination of walking and listening to topics I’m passionate about such as AL, business, and leadership allows me to stay active while intellectually stimulating my brain. I read (or technically listen to) about 20 books per year.
I am a connector and community builder. I like to bring people together, whether it’s for a casual dinner, a big party, or for business reasons. I love cooking and gathering everyone around a feast.
Last but not least, I love spending time with my two kids (5 and 7 years old), my husband, and our immediate families. My kids are my best teachers; I learn so much from them and their wisdom. They enable me to see the world from their lenses — which are different from mine. I also love teaching them new things and instilling in them that they can do whatever they put their minds to.
Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?
This is the million-dollar question! As Steve Jobs said, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward.”
With what I know today, I suspect I will continue to be involved in technology and innovation, doing similar things — working with Founders and Executives to help them build the best products and scale their businesses utilizing AI and other technologies as well as investing in startups.
I’ve turned down multiple CEO and CPO job opportunities in the last 12 months because I’m excited to build my own business, Raya.
One piece of advice that you would like to share with aspiring product managers.
Be the voice of customers in your organization! The best competitive edge a product person or leader can create for themselves is to intimately understand customer needs and the market they are playing in. You want to know your customers and market better than your CEO, Sales, Customer Success, Marketing, Engineering, and Design teams.