Zoltán Petres

2009 to 2014 · Budapest, Hungary · USA

Gravity R&D

VP Product & Strategic Business Development

Took a research spin-off into the global top three in recommendation engines.

Studio photograph of a white porcelain apple with a vermilion leaf.
  • 400M+recommendations served daily
  • +1,000%YoY traffic growth
  • 5 → 50people in three years
  • $3Mventure funding raised

Built the strategy and the two product lines that scaled to 400M+ daily recommendations for media, retail and telecom clients.

The situation

A team of exceptional researchers with world-class recommendation algorithms, and no product yet.

What I did

  • Built the product strategy and roadmap that placed Gravity in the global top three for personalization and recommendation, launching two product lines: RECO for online and IMPRESS for multi-screen content.
  • Designed a domain-independent product architecture so Gravity could enter new verticals quickly.
  • Formed strategic partnerships with Microsoft, Huawei and Cisco, and co-developed products with Deutsche Telekom Group.
  • Helped raise $3M in venture funding, grew the company from 5 to 50, and led the sale of the TV and media business to a UK private equity firm in 2014.

What I took from it

Great algorithms are table stakes. The company was won on architecture, partnerships and the patience to make enterprise integrations boring.

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