# Ryan Donahue > VP, Head of Design @ Databricks | Design, Data, AI Location: Palo Alto, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/ryandonahue I'm a design leader and repeat entrepreneur. These days I'm using my experiences with both to bring a unique angle to scaling the world's best design teams. ## Work Experience ### VP Product Design @ Databricks Jan 2020 – Present | San Francisco Bay Area Design at Databricks has a clear mission: help people solve the world's toughest problems by making data and AI tools simpler and more accessible. Here at Databricks, I'm building the best design team in the world that is focused on designing for data. If you'd like to learn about how to join us - I would love to hear from you. ### Advisor, Center for Entrepreneurial Studies @ Stanford University Graduate School of Business Jan 2015 – Present | Stanford, Ca Frequent volunteer at the CES and Venture Studio with the goal of helping student entrepreneurs to better identify the opportunity for design to play a leading role in their businesses. Advisor to Stanford Startup Garage entrepreneurs. ### Member, Design Leadership Forum @ InVision Jan 2018 – Jan 2021 | San Francisco Bay Area The mission is to advance the practice of design leadership by fostering a community where the world’s best can learn from one another. We strive to make the Forum inclusive and relevant to those confronting the challenges of leading design teams. ### Advisor @ Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design Jan 2014 – Jan 2020 | Copenhagen Area, Denmark Guest speaker and occasional mentor to students at the CIID Nest Program. ### VP Global Design @ Zendesk Jan 2015 – Jan 2019 | San Francisco Bay Area Humbly helping to lead a global design studio of 90 creatives across the disciplines of product design, brand design, user research, design systems, content strategy, design operations and more. ### VP Product Design @ Zendesk Jan 2014 – Jan 2015 | San Francisco Bay Area Leading a global team of product design, design systems and user research across 4 continents and far too many timezones. ### Designer & Founder @ Pickwick & Weller Jan 2011 – Jan 2014 | SF and Los Angeles Designer and founder of a vertically integrated fashion business with co-founder Ashton Kutcher. Endorsed by Vogue, Oprah, Elle and Monocle Magazine. ### Entrepreneur in Residence @ SV Angel Jan 2011 – Jan 2012 | San Francisco Served as Entrepreneur in Residence at SV Angel, the leading early stage VC fund in Silicon Valley. Worked on due diligence, producing deal flow and working closely with portfolio founders. ### General Manager @ POPSUGAR Jan 2010 – Jan 2011 | San Francisco General Manager and owner of the P&L and operations for the PopSugar Offers business. PopSugar Offers was a hybrid editorial publication/e-commerce business with a presence in eight local markets, as well as a national market. Managed all aspects of the product design, sales, marketing and operations. ### Designer & Founder @ FreshGuide (acquired by PopSugar, June 2010) Jan 2009 – Jan 2010 | San Francisco Designer and founder of FreshGuide - a female-focused editorial property and ecommerce offers platform. Freshguide was rebranded as Popsugar Offers following the acquisition. ### Designer & Founder @ BookFresh (acquired by Square, Feb 2014) Jan 2006 – Jan 2010 Designer and founder of Bookfresh - the leading online scheduling platform for SMBs. Bookfresh was acquired by Square and rebranded as Square Appointments. ### Product Design Team Lead @ PayPal Jan 2000 – Jan 2005 Employee #30 at PayPal. I led the user experience and product design of many of PayPal's early products. Worked for Elon Musk and Peter Thiel amongst many other great minds. ### Designer, Stanford Behavior Design Lab @ Stanford University Jan 2003 – Jan 2004 | Stanford, Ca I was fortunate to have worked with the brilliant Dr. B.J. Fogg in his research lab. I functioned as an in-house designer, helping Dr. Fogg and his students create prototypes for various ideas and experiments related to computers as persuasive technology. ## Education ### B.A. in Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities Lewis & Clark College ### University of Oregon ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/ryandonahue --- Source: https://flows.cv/ryandonahue JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/ryandonahue/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-13