Emma Lawler
Product and Design Leader, Serial Entrepreneur, MBA from Chicago Booth
San Francisco, California
Summary
Emma Lawler is a seasoned product and design leader with a decade of experience in the startup ecosystem. She has a strong track record of building and scaling products from early-stage to post-acquisition, demonstrating expertise in user experience, mobile app development, and product strategy across diverse companies including Fitstar, Fitbit, theSkimm, Moonlight, and Velvet. emmalawler+1
As a serial entrepreneur, Emma has successfully co-founded two companies that achieved acquisition: Moonlight, a remote work marketplace acquired by PullRequest, and Velvet, an AI platform for LLM evaluation and observability acquired by Arize AI. Her entrepreneurial journey highlights her ability to identify market needs, bootstrap ventures, raise funding, and navigate the complexities of startup growth and exit strategies. emmalawler+3
Emma combines a strong design background with a strategic business acumen, earned through her MBA at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Her academic pursuit was specifically aimed at incubating new startup ideas and gaining quantitative finance skills, further enhancing her capabilities in venture-scale business development and investment strategies. poetsandquants+1
She possesses a global perspective shaped by her experience as a digital nomad, having lived and worked in numerous international cities. This exposure has likely influenced her approach to remote work, distributed teams, and understanding diverse user needs, which was foundational to her work with Moonlight. poetsandquants+1
Work
Education
Writing
Aspiration: What drives founders to seek the elusive product-market fit
August 28, 2024A post on her personal website discussing the concept of aspiration in entrepreneurship and detailing the pivot journey of Velvet, from initial ideas like a crypto wallet and authentication to an AI SQL editor and ultimately an AI Gateway, leading to its acquisition.
What’s a search founder?
October 1, 2021An article discussing her perspective as a 'search founder' constantly seeking her next venture-scale business idea and sharing her entrepreneurial journey, including her experiences at Fitstar, Fitbit, Moonlight, and theSkimm.