Brendan Sullivan
Home About Me Consulting
I’m a product strategist and designer based in New England.
I’ve built teams around the world and designed products used by millions of people.
My professional career spans product management, design, and journalism, and I love combining all three of these disciplines to solve complex business problems.
These are a few of my favorite projects.
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I’d love to hear from you.
01 Facebook for Every Phone
Developing a version of Facebook that worked on any device, and used significantly less data.
As Facebook’s popularity exploded across the globe, the company faced a huge problem: the app had been designed by people who had expensive phones and unlimited data. Most of its users had neither of those things.
My team launched a version of Facebook that worked on any device, using 20x less data than earlier versions of the app. This was the result of over a year of research across the globe with people, telecom companies, and business leaders to better understand the unique infrastructural challenges in major markets.
Product Marketing, User Research
Facebook
London, UK
2016
02 The Winter Garden, Paris
A proposal to create a greener, gentler, more culturally integrated hotel in the world’s most popular tourist destination.
Problem: Climate change and overtourism threaten many of the world’s most cherished places.
Outcome: I explored how architecture and tourism are experienced through social media, and how challenging cliches can lead to more culturally rich experiences. I developed an intervention of the archtypal Parisian Hausmannian
building that could be scaled city-wide in order to reach climate goals.
Design and Social Media Strategy
Harvard GSD
Cambridge, USA
2022
03 TikTok Creative Partners
Creating a community of creators and technology companies to help scale TikTok during the pandemic.
TikTok’s popularity took off just as the pandemic set in, leaving content creators struggling to keep up. Making new videos constantly is difficult - especially when their shelf life might only last a day or two.
I developed a program to connect content creators with technology providers that make it easy to create great TikToks, and understand the types of videos that resonate best with their target audience.
Product Partnerships, Product Marketing, Business Development
TikTok
New York, USA / Beijing, CH
2021
04 Lola Travel
Years before Chat GPT was a household name, I lead the product team at an AI-powered travel agency.
Business travelers hate using corporate travel software.
Lola, an AI-powered travel agent that could do all the things you hate: remember your frequent flyer number, make sure you got an aisle seat, and booked you on a high-floor at a hotel where you collect loyalty points. In 2021 Lola was acquired Capital One.
Product Management
Lola Travel
Boston, USA
2018
05 RI Open Studios: A New RISD Museum Lobby
A proposal to showcase RISD’s creative diversity by welcoming people to use art to engage with Providence’s past, present and future.
The Rhode Island School of Design Museum locks its incredible collection behind a door of exclusivity and bland institutionalism.
My proposal challenges RISD to embrace a more open approach. It welcomes many members of the community and showcases RISD’s diversity of creativity. The lobby sets the tone for the museum- and explores how to create art that engages and acknowledges history, place, and the changing dynamics of humanity.
Design and Marketing
Rhode Island School of Design
Providence, USA
2023
06 Facebook Argentina
Establishing Facebook’s first office in Spanish-speaking Latin America
Facebook struggled to support users and advertisers in Latin America.
I relocated to Argentina, to help hire and train the team in Buenos Aires, while setting the strategic direction of the office. Critically, we established a culture of kindness and hard work that set the tone for the company’s presence in the region.
Business Strategy, People Management
Facebook
Buenos Aires, AR
2012
07 Landit
Increasing the success of women and diverse groups in the workplace
Careers don’t come with a playbook. Landit aims to solve that. Offering career coaching and advice via a slick web experience.
I helped Landit build towards its mission by helping its CEO to reconceptualize the product user experience and launch a new and improved version of the playbook.
Product Management
Landit
New York, US
2020
08 Adapting a 1930’s Home to the Modern Age
When we purchased a 90-year-old home, it looked its age. With its tiny rooms and dated decor it was built to last, but was designed for a different era.
I redesigned the home using CAD and rendering software to fit the needs of a family in the 2020s. I utilized biophilic principles to increase the connection with its natural surroundings, updated the home’s technology to make it more efficient, all while honoring the original structural details of the home.
Design
Private Residence
Boston, US
2018