Vanessa Kafka
Studied at MIT Sloan
Hiring Manager at Eventbrite
My availability is somewhat limited through the summer. If you're interested in working together, feel free to reach out and we can find a time that works.
Questions? Start chatting with this coach before you get started.
About Vanessa
I’m a product leader with 15+ years of experience building and scaling consumer platforms and marketplaces, including leadership roles at Eventbrite and KAYAK. I’ve always been drawn to the intersection of technology, creativity, and real human problems—helping teams turn ideas into products people genuinely connect with. My work has focused on product strategy, craft, and building strong, outcome-oriented teams.
Why do I coach?
I enjoy working with product managers who want to grow their strategic thinking, communicate more effectively, and step into leadership with confidence. I also work with people in product-adjacent roles - engineers, designers, researchers, and operators - who want to think and communicate more like product leaders. My coaching is practical, honest, and grounded in real-world experience - focused on helping you navigate the challenges you're facing right now.
Work Experience
Vice President, Product Management
Eventbrite
June 2023 - November 2025
Hiring Manager
At Eventbrite, I led the shift toward a more personalized, discovery-driven consumer marketplace, redesigning the mobile app and launching social discovery features like Friends and It List to drive gains in retention and paid conversion. I scaled experimentation across ranking, discovery, and checkout flows, delivering paid-ticket growth during a period of company-wide revenue pressure. Alongside growth, I built a modern product operating model — rolling out Product Principles, career frameworks, and outcome-driven planning.
Head of Product
Tinyhood, Inc
March 2022 - October 2022
Hiring Manager
At Tinyhood, I partnered with founders to define product vision and growth strategy for an on-demand learning platform for parents and led the company’s shift to subscription, including engineering planning and rapid prototyping ahead of a Q4 launch. I introduced experimentation practices to validate pricing, onboarding, and engagement during the business-model transition.
SVP of Product Management
KAYAK
August 2020 - March 2022
Hiring Manager
Over nearly 8 years at KAYAK, I grew from one of the company’s first PMs into SVP, ultimately leading 40 PMs and designers across KAYAK, Momondo, CheapFlights, and other global brands. My teams built large-scale personalization, ranking, and experimentation systems powering discovery in 60+ countries, launched KAYAK’s first branded hotel spanning digital and on-premise experiences, and led COVID-era pivots into rentals, multimodal travel, and engagement products. I also unified teams across acquisitions, redesigned operating models around autonomous, journey-owned squads with embedded data science, and shifted north-star metrics toward booking-based economics through close partnership with Commercial.
VP of Product Management
KAYAK
May 2016 - August 2020
Hiring Manager
Director of Product
KAYAK
May 2015 - May 2016
Hiring Manager
Product Manager
KAYAK
October 2014 - May 2015
Senior Marketing Manager
Wayfair
February 2014 - October 2014
At Wayfair, I led customer acquisition for early lifestyle brands, doubling first-14-day conversion through creative testing, incentives, and landing-page optimization.
General Manager
Hailo
June 2012 - December 2013
Hiring Manager
At Hailo, I launched the company’s first U.S. ride-hailing operation, building the Boston team and recruiting thousands of licensed drivers through partnerships with regulators and local dispatch networks.
Product Marketing Intern
Adobe
May 2011 - August 2011
Education
MIT Sloan
Certificate, AI for Senior Executives
2025 - 2026
MIT Sloan
MBA
2010 - 2012
Activities and societies: TA for Accounting, Joie de Vivre, Ambassadors Program
University of Connecticut
Bachelors, Management Information Systems
2002 - 2006
Honors Program