executive coaching for product and design leaders

I partner with senior executives to put the best of product development and leadership practice to work for you.

coaching

I work 1:1 with senior executives (Founders, C-Suite, VPs, Directors, heads of function), combining practical experience and a research-backed POV to help transform products, organizations, and leaders.

Hands Dirty

I’ve got 15 years of experience at companies like Meta and Airbnb. I’ve built the product, designed the org, driven the process, and led the team. I’ve seen and made the mistakes so you don’t have to.

mind engaged

I’m a PhD social psychologist and a lecturer at UC Berkeley. I know the research on what makes great products and great leaders, and I make it practical to keep you moving forward.

direct, kind, outspoken

There’s no time for vague coaching nonsense. I’ll encourage you and challenge you. Inspire practical ideas and burst your bubble. Tell you what you need to hear, like it or not. I’ll do it with kindness and humor.

I help senior leaders with pragmatic coaching to:

  • …evolve your product development org and process for more impact.

  • …develop world-class UX capabilities.

  • …integrate insights into your strategic and product planning processes.

  • …get more out of your team with the best, science-backed techniques.

  • …grow your executive leadership and management capabilities in a safe space.

It can be lonely at the top, and hard to know where to turn when you want to do better. That’s why I’m here.

In addition to coaching, I offer a variety of consulting services focused on organizational design & development, strategic planning for products and organizations, and individual leadership advising. I specialize in two areas:

CONSULTING

Transforming Product
& Design Teams

I work with companies that are evolving their products and organizations. I’ll work with you to understand what your business needs, and then import the best practices that will work for your unique context. I can help you find the right people for the job, and set them up for success.

The key insight is that successful businesses need lean, flexible organizations and effective leaders to support them. I can help you develop an insight-driven product strategy with your org in mind. Or maybe you already have a robust strategy and you need the org to support it. No matter what, I’ll make sure your product vision and your org plan are in lockstep.

Rescuing Organizations
in Crisis

I help rescue troubled organizations, teams, and projects - what I call dumpster firefighting. From inefficiency and lack of impact to actively toxic or crumbling teams, effectively dealing with an organization in crisis is a huge distraction and a huge challenge. I can help.

As a PhD Social Psychologist and a battle-tested dumpster firefighter, I know how to get to the heart of challenges and quickly build trust. I’ll uncover and communicate the hard truths with directness, honesty, and kindness. And I’ll develop and help you execute a plan to put things right.

Selected Clients

Rappi Logo
Airbnb Logo
Mozilla Logo
Gametime Logo
Code for America Logo

  • I can't recommend Judd highly enough. I valued our work together and learned a lot from the experience. Judd has a great ability to understand the situation, identify root issues, and drive change. He is visionary and pragmatic, and knows how to help move an organization forward and uplevel of the team.

    — Katie Dill, Head of Design, Stripe

  • I hired Judd as an executive consultant to improve the performance of my product, design, and research organization and help recruit key leaders. Judd made significant contributions to my organization’s success by harnessing his unique blend of technology industry leadership experience at Airbnb and Meta plus science-backed, academic expertise. Judd is insightful, forthright, and always a pleasure to work with. I would hire Judd again for future projects in a heartbeat.

    — Kai Xu, CPO, Rappi

  • Judd possesses an exceptionally rare set of skills: the ability to understand nuance and complexity, the macro and the micro, all while making it feel navigable and surmountable. He’s an exceptional listener, capable of uncovering the root of the issue without giving away the answer, instead empowering you to find your own path forward. The best part of working with Judd? You want his advice, and you’re not afraid he’s going to think you don’t know what you’re doing.

    — Shelley Osborne, Director of Learning & Development, Airbnb

Judd Antin, PhD

I’ve spent almost 15 years as a product executive at some of tech’s fastest-growing and most challenging companies. At Facebook I helped build a powerful insights-driven product practice. I led and grew research teams across Facebook’s core apps, and incubated product visions in developing areas like news media, video, and advertising. I helped navigate some of the earliest crises around privacy and content quality.

At Airbnb I wore many hats - from Head of Research to General Manager to Head of Design. I worked to build innovative products and effective multi-functional organizations. And I partnered with founders and the C-Suite to drive company-wide strategic and organizational projects. I was called in as a fixer to resolve more crises than I can count.

I hold a PhD from UC Berkeley in Social Psychology & Information Systems. I teach graduate courses at UC Berkeley in leadership & management as well as social psychology & product design. Check out my full CV here, and my newsletter here.

Contact

Curious to know more? Interested in working together? It all starts with a conversation.

Drop me a line at judd@juddantin.com
or fill out the form.