Over Two Decades as a Tech Leader. A lifetime as a Builder.
We might be whimsical and irreverent, but we take seriously the building of technical solutions that meet our customers’ needs.
Proven Leadership and Innovation
Ward has a proven track record of working backwards from the customer, leveraging over two decades of my experience as a technology leader for companies like Boeing, Amazon, Microsoft, and RealSelf.
With a relentless pursuit of building what is needed in the moment, we anticipate lurking problems and foster high-performing teams by cultivating a culture of psychological safety.
This empowers team members to embrace the unknown and view failures as opportunities for learning, resulting in continuous innovation and exponential outcomes.
- Four decades of hands-on programming mastery fueling transformative solutions
- Leadership roles at Amazon, Xbox, Microsoft empowering scalable team development
- Pioneering applied AI to solve complex, real-world technological challenges
- A rich portfolio demonstrating innovation at all scales from 0-1 to global scale
Driving Innovation with Expertise and Leadership
Don’t take our word for it. Here is what others are
saying about working Ward and Monster Orange.
Phillip Oakes
CEO StrategyPlus, Board Member, Ex Amazon and Walmart eCommerce
As a senior executive at the two largest companies in the world and also multiple startups I’ve had the pleasure of working with many talented individuals, but Ward stands out as a true force multiplier. I know him both from working with him in the early days at Amazon and also operating as our CTO for StrategyPlus. At Amazon my first experience with Ward was incredible. I remember our first meeting where he came in and quietly just took a bunch of notes and then a week later he had built stuff I had been asking multiple other people to deliver for 6 months. I knew right then and there I would add Ward onto any team that I could in the future. So I did at StrategyPlus and in a very short period of time and at a cost lower than I thought possible, he built our entire platform.
He designed and implemented the complete functionality of our talent database, search features, automated email service, and the “Profile Plus” mini-website feature. Ward’s ability to work backward from the customer, is a skill started at Amazon but is honed by four decades of hands-on experience and leadership roles at the world class companies you see in his portfolio. He doesn’t just build what you ask for; he builds what the customer actually needs, and he does it with a deep understanding of technology and a proven track record of creating high-performing teams.
Ward is a rare talent who combines technical mastery with strategic vision. He’s an innovator at heart, and his work has directly contributed to our success at several different businesses. Any team would be lucky to have him and I will continue to spend as much money as I can on Ward because the ROI is better than I have ever seen anywhere, period.
FREDRIK FRIDLUND
Co-founder & CEO of Allakando
As a technical and leadership advisor to Allakando, Ward is always super honest in his opinions and he is always pushing for what’s best for the company. He is amazing at both the high-level strategic questions as well as the important details in our work. On a personal level it’s also an absolute joy to work with Ward and I can’t recommend him enough!
JUDY STERN
CMO | Board Member | E-Commerce, Marketplaces | Revenue Growth | Partnerships |Ad Monetization | Growth Marketing | Global | Full Stack Brand-to-Demand Marketing Leader
Wicked smart, collaborative, engaging, thoughtful, authentic, always delivers — that’s Ward. His combination of expertise (the “what”) and leadership style (the “how”) is truly remarkable and I saw it in action every day at RealSelf. He will make your organization and products better for customers (internal and external). Run – don’t walk, to work with him.
JAMES COYLE
President@ OPENLANE | Global Executive & Enterprise Business Leader | Former Category Leader at Amazon
I have worked with Ward at 3 companies, we have worked together as peers and he was also my direct report at RealSelf. Ward is one of the smartest humans I have ever met. From a work perspective, he is an expert architect, a great engineer and a fantastic people leader. I have seen him break apart monolithic infrastructure into SOA, and I have seen him completely rebuild teams from the ground up to. I would gladly recommend him.