Gary Willmott

Founder | Product Growth Specialist | AI Product Expert

Hi5 (Acquired), GoDaddy & TAIWA (Product), Delta (Venture Architect)

📓 About

Hi, I'm Gary Willmott 👋Seasoned product leader with 15+ years of experience driving digital product innovation and growth. Proven track record in leading cross-functional teams, launching successful products, and scaling startups to profitable exits. Expert in product strategy, AI integration, and optimizing user experience to achieve measurable results.Here are some career highlights:• Founder of Hi5, a SaaS HR platform scaled to 60,000+ users, leading to a successful acquisition in 2024.
• Led the development of GoDaddy's first social-first mobile website design tool at a Fortune 500 company, driving 1000x user growth and contributing to GoDaddy’s record-breaking $1B+ quarterly revenue.
• Product leader for TAIWA, a B2B AI-driven coaching platform, leading a cross-functional team through multiple iterations to achieve product-market fit.I specialize in bringing a startup mindset to mature organizations.I'm currently available for new opportunities.

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Skills

  • "Product Strategy & Roadmapping" – I craft roadmaps that keep the ship sailing smoothly (and avoid driving it off a cliff).

  • "Customer Empathy & User Research" – I dig deep into customer insights, so I can make sure we're building what they actually need, not just what we think is cool.

  • "Cross-Functional Collaboration" – I’m the glue between teams, making sure no one gets lost in translation (or their Slack channels).

  • "Execution & Delivery" – I guide product ideas from "Wouldn't it be nice if..." to "Wow, this actually works!"

  • "Data-Driven Decision-Making" – I let data be the judge—because guessing usually doesn’t work out so well.

  • "Technical Literacy & Coding Background" – I keep my coding skills sharp enough to build MVPs, but not sharp enough to join a hackathon (yet).

  • "Problem-Solving & Critical Thinking" – I enjoy solving problems that don’t require a cape, but sometimes it feels like it.

  • "Communication & Storytelling" – I explain product updates in a way that doesn’t put anyone to sleep—unless it’s after lunch.

  • "Prioritization & Focus" – I use prioritization frameworks to make sure we’re not chasing shiny objects... too often.

  • "User Experience (UX) Understanding" – I work with designers to make sure users don’t need a PhD to figure out how to use our product.

  • "Adaptability & Flexibility" – I’m ready to pivot when necessary, just not in every meeting.

  • "Stakeholder Management" – I keep stakeholders happy (or at least less stressed), while still building what’s best for the user.

  • "Market Research & Competitive Analysis" – I keep an eye on competitors, but I try not to obsess over their every move... much.

  • "Ownership & Accountability" – I take full ownership, so when something breaks, I don’t just point fingers (unless it’s my dog).

  • "Product Metrics & KPIs" – I live by metrics, because “gut feeling” doesn’t show up well on a dashboard.

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Praises

"Gary is a great product leader who excels at turning strategic goals into successful products. His customer-centric approach and ability to blend technical understanding with market insight were benenficial to our work in TAIWA. Gary's leadership fostered strong collaboration among teams, resulting in a product that exceeded expectations and engaged users effectively. His knack for validating ideas before implementation helped avoid costly mistakes and ensured the final product truly resonated with early adopters."
Robin Jose - Chief Product Officer at TAIWA
_"Gary is the rare product leader who is relentlessly focused on the customer while also giving himself and others space to innovate and try new things. On day one, he stepped into a very challenging project that had seen a lot of recent turnover and was able to rally the team together around a shared vision. Gary always makes sure that every voice is heard, and he excels at coordinating the moving pieces required to consistently ship value to customers. As a research lead working with Gary, I always knew that customer feedback would be incorporated thoughtfully into every step."
Patrick Ward - Lead Researcher GoDaddy & Buffer
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"I worked with Gary on launching Social Site at GoDaddy. His tenacity to keep the team on track and launch the product was admirable. Even with all the dependencies on marketing and engineering, he steered the ship successfully to launch the product. He is laser focused on the customer experience and needs, and that always shows in his work, whether it is ideating on the next iteration or fine tuning the existing user flow. He doesn't let processes come in his way, and always finds a way to speed up the process, work around them, or suggest new ways to ensure the launch happen in full!"
Raghu Prabhu - Product Marketing at GoDaddy
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"I have had the pleasure of working with Gary as a leading start-up founder, during this time I have always been amazed at his level of enthusiasm, dedication and positive attitude towards solving everyday problems through building world class software. Gary's understanding of the product management lifecycle, the challenges in writing code, and the importance of UI/UX make him an outstanding product manager. I am excited to watch him grow from strength to strength during this exciting time of emerging technologies."
Ryan Paterson - Investor and Advisor

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