Product and design leader who built teams and scaled consumer brands with ÅŒURA, Pandora (Rdio), Apple, and Surfline
Chris Becherer
Partner
About Me
I am a tech leader, product advisor, and startup investor. My experience spans product, marketing, and development leadership roles in the tech industry. I’m currently leading product and design with Surfline, and I recently served as the Chief Product Officer at ÅŒURA Health, where I led the launch of the award-winning ÅŒURA Ring Generation 3. Before ÅŒURA, I held senior positions at Pandora, Rdio, and Apple. I thrive on scaling teams for impactful products and driving company growth. I am also passionate about music and founded a non-profit for music education in Afghanistan, and I serve on the advisory board for Music Health, an AI-driven music intervention technology startup created to improve brain health outcomes.
Career Highlights
Experience
Executive Roles ​
Surfline
VP of Product
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WISEcode
Fractional Chief Product
Officer
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ÅŒURA
Advisor and Chief Product Officer, Software
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Pandora
VP, Product
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Rdio
SVP, Product
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Apple
Sr. Product Marketing
Manager, iOS
I began my career as a software developer and designer for a short time on the East Coast and decided to return to school for an MBA at Berkeley. I then started with Apple as an intern in 2005, and I became part of the iPhone team right after its initial launch. I worked on several versions, from the iPhone 3G to the iPhone 5 and on iOS through version 6. I led product marketing efforts for several apps on iOS, including the original music player, which led to my next career move to streaming music service Rdio, where I built and scaled the product and design team to over 20 people. When Pandora acquired Rdio, I was the only executive to transition. As VP of Product, I led the team that rebuilt the Pandora app from a radio player into a fully-featured on-demand music service with multiple subscription tiers, serving over 80 million users in the US.
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After leaving Pandora, I was introduced to a small wearable company out of Finland called ÅŒURA. I was the first product management hire and one of the first US employees. I built a product team and scaled it to about 40 people to work on redesigning the ring and app, introducing a new version to the US. I led the Product team through several big rounds of funding, and what was a $20 million company when I started was worth about $2.5 billion when I left. Currently, I am leading product and design with Surfline, the leader in near-shore ocean technology that connects surfers with their passion.
Techquity Solutions
With my varied experience and success in product and design leadership, I am passionate about helping companies build teams and scale consumer products. I am also passionate about utilizing my extensive media experience, including video interviews and press tours, to advise clients on product launches and how to best manage media exposure to convey the right message and enhance growth.
Innovation & Impact
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Scaled product and design teams to 25-40 person organizations at multiple consumer brands (ÅŒURA, Pandora/Rdio)
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Led product through significant valuation growth at ÅŒURA, $20M to $2.5B
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Led redesign of the Pandora app, used by 80 million US consumers
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Served as an Apple spokesperson for iPhone and iPad
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Awarded two patents in the wearable technology space
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Invested in and advised more than 10 consumer tech startups, with multiple successful exits
Why Techquity?
I am connected to Techquity’s Founder, Anthony Bay, from our time at Rdio, and he engaged me to serve as a Fractional CPO for a fascinating client in the nutrition space, which was a great experience. I value Techquity’s network of thought leaders, the opportunities to collaborate, and being part of a team where good people find good people. Helping companies and startups create products that matter and guiding them to build teams and scale products to drive their growth is the work I enjoy most.