Julien Lee

Engineering Manager at Yahoo

Jess Lee is a prominent figure in the tech industry, currently serving as a Senior Engineering Manager at Yahoo. Her career trajectory has been marked by significant achievements, particularly in product management and leadership roles.

Career Overview

Early Career: Jess began her professional journey at Google in 2004 as an Associate Product Manager, where she worked on notable projects like Google Maps. Her mentor during this time was Marissa Mayer, who later became the CEO of Yahoo.2 4
Polyvore: In 2008, Jess co-founded Polyvore, a social commerce platform that allowed users to create and share fashion collages. She initially joined as the first product manager and eventually became the CEO. Under her leadership, Polyvore grew significantly and was acquired by Yahoo in 2015.3 5
Yahoo: Following the acquisition, Jess transitioned to Yahoo, where she served as VP of Product for the Yahoo Lifestyle team before taking on her current role as Senior Engineering Manager.1 5

Contributions and Impact

Jess Lee is also known for her commitment to diversity in technology. She co-founded All Raise, a nonprofit organization aimed at improving the representation of women in tech and venture capital.1 5 Her experience spans various roles, from software engineering to executive leadership, making her a well-rounded leader in the tech community.

Education and Background

Jess holds a degree in Computer Science from Stanford University, where she initially pursued engineering after her aspirations to attend art school were discouraged by her parents.2 3 She grew up in Hong Kong and moved to the U.S. for her education, where she discovered her passion for technology and product management.

Her journey reflects a blend of technical expertise and a strong focus on community and mentorship, positioning her as a role model for aspiring entrepreneurs and tech leaders.

Highlights

Oct 1 · twitter

This thread is full of gems 💎on startups and leadership. @bhalligan scaled @HubSpot from nothing to $25B market cap. He got incredibly candid with the @sequoia Arc founders about his personal journey from founder to CEO to Chairman, and wrote down all his lessons learned here:

Aug 1 · twitter

Thrilled to see @sequoia Arc making a difference for an exceptional founder like @oegerikus. Oege is a former Oxford professor turned 2x founder, who sold his first company Semmle (now GitHub Advanced Security) to Microsoft, then co-created GitHub Copilot. Now he is working on XBOW, which is building pioneering AI for offensive security. At Arc, I learned Oege is both a technical genius and an exceptional storyteller. He was also incredibly generous jn opening up his network to fellow founders in his Arc cohort, paying it forward as a second time founder.