Yelp Inc., the company that connects people with local businesses, has 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, Yelp said in a media release.
“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…,” said Jeremy Stoppelman, co-founder and CEO of Yelp
“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,” said Patel.
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.