about

I’m an independent consultant who works with startups, publishers and non-profits. I help my clients develop empathetic partnership, product and subscription strategies. I’m great for scrappy, funded companies that want to launch something new, adapt a strategy or build scale quickly. I believe curiosity and collaboration are essential to any company that wants to evolve.

Hire me to: 

  • launch chaotic early stage products
  • develop content & revenue strategy
  • build partnerships that don’t screw anyone over (bullshit & risk analysis)
  • market, onboard, survey and support consumers
  • help business & tech teams build empathy for publishers & creators
  • make biz ops less annoying
  • bridge the gap until you hire specialized roles 
  • bring your weird ideas to life and guide them towards sustainability 

Why me? 

I’ve worked for both gigantic and tiny companies, which means I can help you think bigger and do more with less. I have deep industry relationships from a career spent convincing people to team up. I’ve helped everyone from the front lines to the c-suite understand emerging revenue models, scope complicated product integrations and dream up unexpected partnerships. I’ve negotiated complex commercial and product deals in notoriously uncooperative industries like journalism and consumer tech. As the first not-an-engineer hire at two startups, I learned creative ways to scale sales, partnership and support teams. I’ve endured every stage of startup funding and both sides of acquisition chaos. I’ve launched b2b software and consumer subscription products – I’ve seen them all break, and helped fix them. 

Availability 

I’m currently looking for projects that start in the spring or summer. I’m interested in advisor roles, speaking gigs and short term contracts. I’d love to chat about your project!

Contact me 

DM me on Twitter or LinkedIn, or introduce yourself through this form:

Testimonials

“I’ve always valued Dana’s deep expertise when it comes to intersections of technology and news. Most recently, I was lucky to collaborate with her to bring product thinking into my entrepreneurial journalism course for journalism graduate students at TMU. She worked with students on their projects and introduced product and marketing requirement docs as a framework for the students to develop their products and services. Dana also gave guest lectures and guided the individual groups as they prepared their final presentation pitches. She is a generous and authentic mentor and advisor. The master’s students loved hearing about Dana’s experience building journalism products and appreciated the real talk behind the big ideas.” – Asmaa Malik, journalist and professor at Toronto Metropolitan University

“Does your company need help expanding its network and reach? Do you need someone who can negotiate complex deals while developing sustainable content and monetization strategies? I’ve followed Dana’s work for more than a decade and her ability to build fair and beneficial partnerships is unparalleled, demonstrating her keen sense for risk analysis, empathy and negotiation. She excels at marketing, onboarding, surveying, and supporting consumers, and also brings enthusiasm to even the most difficult challenges. Beyond her operational skills, Dana is an invaluable advisor for startups, a confident speaker, and a compassionate coach and mentor. Her diverse skills and innovative approach make her an asset to any team or project. I highly recommend Dana for any endeavors she chooses to pursue.” – Dorrine Mendoza, Program Co-Lead, Local Media Association’s Family and Independent Media Sustainability Lab (FIMS lab).