Employee Spotlight featuring Vice President of Product, Rowland Hazard

Welcome to another installment in Mosaic’s Employee Spotlight series. This is our chance to give our talented team members space to share their stories and give their perspectives on their roles and hopes for the future of our company. Today, we’re shining a light on our Vice President of Product, Rowland Hazard. Take it away, Rowland.

Tell us about yourself – where are you from + how did you end up at Mosaic?

I am from San Diego but have lived in Los Angeles for the better part of 13 years. I have been involved with Mosaic since its inception, as an offshoot of Advertise Purple and Purply, to the independent affiliate management CRM it is today.

What drew you to Mosaic?

Mosaic is striving to connect all the disparate pieces of affiliate marketing and synthesize them into one easy-to-use, intelligent, recommendation and management platform. It’s a complicated problem but the challenge of connecting all the dots is extremely exciting.

What is your position at Mosaic?  What is a typical day in your role?

Vice President of Product. I spend time working with: our developers and QA team to touch base on current and future development, our product analyst team, to understand trends and patterns that inform the product roadmap, and our sales and client support teams to better understand the needs and wants of current and future clients. The sum of these conversations and learnings helps me shape and prioritize the next steps for Mosaic, both in the short and long run.

Is this what you studied in college?  If you had to redo college, what major would you choose? Why? 

In college, I was a finance major and if I had to redo it I would choose finance again. At its core, every business is driven at least in part by its finances. A strong understanding of the financial fundamentals of business, particularly the business you work for, allows you to unify your goals with the company’s goals and add value regardless of your industry or position.

The cliche about a startup is that ‘there is so much to do but not enough personnel or money to do it.’ Is that true? How do you handle wearing so many different hats?

The exciting thing about a startup is that things move very quickly. Wearing many hats allows you to expedite personal learning and growth while the company rapidly transforms and evolves. Taking on many roles can be stressful but it’s also exhilarating; there is no greater satisfaction than watching your platform and your company grow as a result of your efforts.

How is your work at Mosaic making a difference for its customers?

Mosaic is providing actionable recommendations at the individual affiliate level as well as overarching brand and channel strategies previously inaccessible to SMB eCommerce companies without breaking the bank. We’re kicking off growth in the fastest-growing eCommerce channel with a self-service solution tailor-made to drive results.

What excites you most about the Mosaic technology & mission over the next 12 months?

As we grow and expand over the next 12 months, I envision us adding incremental potential revenue streams for our clients. We ultimately want to use our platform to provide resources for SMB eCommerce companies to scale not only their affiliate platforms but also to drive growth via technology solutions including vehicles like SEO, display, influencer marketing, and more.

Here ends yet another Employee Spotlight! We appreciate the chance we get to highlight the wonderful stories behind the awesome talent we have on the MDS team. Until next time!