Preston Smalley is a product and technology leader. He has a strong background in streaming TV entertainment, two-sided marketplaces, and mobile apps used daily by millions of people.
As VP of Product at Roku since Sept 2021, he leads the product team that shapes how 63M households worldwide discover and stream content on their Roku players and TVs. Thru product discovery, experimentation, and ML, his product teams seize opportunities around browse, search, and mobile to create win-win solutions with 3rd party content providers. And the consumer experience is evolving substantially, including the introduction of Live TV Zone and a personalized What to Watch experience.
Before Roku, as VP of Product at Comcast, his team led the expansion of streaming apps on its cloud-based X1 TV platform and introduced its first streaming device (Flex) and retail-sold X-Class TV. His teams shaped next-generation TV experiences, including how to reach sports fans, and integrate Internet content from the likes of Netflix, Hulu and YouTube, alongside traditional networks and streaming apps. He led the acquisition of sports technology company, OneTwoSee, and Comcast Cable’s approach to the Rio Olympics, which saw viewership up in X1 households by 27% vs. other TV platforms in the US. While at Comcast, he also led the Xfinity Stream mobile team, a top 10 video app used 19 times/week on average and served as general manager for Plaxo for 2 years.
Prior to Comcast, he led User Experience Design at eBay where he touched many aspects of its buyer and seller experiences over his seven years there, including the launch of its mobile app in 2008 (a $10B business today).
Preston speaks on product management topics and actively participates in the product community at various conferences (Mind the Product, Product Leader Summit, Collaborative Gain). Preston guides the international scaling of products within established market sets, develops better processes and product strategies, and empowers his teams through internal restructuring and key hires.
In the Town of Danville, where he lives, he serves on the advisory board of his children’s K-8 school and helps coach youth sports. To raise awareness and funding support for multiple sclerosis (MS), he often rides its 120-mile BikeMS event.
He holds an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley, and a BS in computer engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.
See and learn more about Preston’s work: