I’m Dean Kroker — engineer & designer
in the marketplace space, and previously a product lead at Microsoft
ABOUT
My passion lies in building products that people love. I love to sketch new experiences, to bring them to life with code, and to get customers hooked. I started coding when I was 12 years old.
I have a B.S. in Computer Science and Business from Lehigh University. I was the 6th employee of a data software startup that was acquired by Hitachi. I'm currently president of a non-profit, and I own 2 businesses.
PROJECTS
EXPERIENCE
Launched Outpost—a gig marketplace for white collar workers. A place where you can ask experts anything and get a guaranteed response. Designed + built an AI-driven chat messenger app. Awarded #1 on Product Hunt.
CEO/Co-Founder
Western Hemlock
2023 — Present
Founded a consulting company with 5 other product leaders, all of whom have expertise in design, research, and software engineering. We help clients build high-performing, self-sufficient product teams. Served 7 customers, drive $1M+ in ARR through subscription model.
Indie Hacker
spark calls, The Week, Smallest World, Buddy List
2023 — 2024
Designed, developed, launched, and tested 4 iPhone apps: one that sends your friends notifications when you have free time, one that syncs your calendar and shares events with friends, one that is like Tinder but for friendship within communities, and one that combines the three. Drove 10,000+ downloads.
Product Lead
Microsoft
2020 — 2023
Led a team of researchers, designers, engineers, and product managers focused on Azure Cloud Experiences within Microsoft's cloud management portal. I was responsible for experiences that grew from 4M to 10M MAU in 3 years and launched one product with $500M projected first-year revenue and another product that reduced support costs by 70%.
EDUCATION
Bachelors of Science in Computer Science & Business
Lehigh University
Dean's List