We want to make growing and running a creative business as simple as possible for creators, which is why we’re building out our mobile offering. As part of that mission, we’re also welcoming Shannon Ma to Patreon as the Director of Engineering for our Mobile teams. With extensive experience working on large-scale mobile applications, including Instagram, Facebook, and Apple, Shannon brings a wealth of knowledge and insight into the mobile world of engineering. Shannon and the entire team are diving in to create a world-class mobile experience built to best serve creators, so they can showcase what they do best.
Throughout your career, you’ve worked with three companies that have helped set the bar for mobile products. What drew you to Patreon as your next step?
Computers were a big hobby of mine growing up. I’m fortunate to have turned my passion into a career that’s provided a great future for my family.
Today’s creator industry has many similarities to the computer industry when I was growing up. It’s still in its infancy and will reach scale with the next generation. Working at Patreon, building tools that enable financial stability for the creator economy allows me to help give back what was given to me.
I’ve also worked in big tech for most of my career, most recently at Meta for the last nine years. I wanted to experience an earlier stage company to get back to my roots. Patreon was the company that stood out because, in addition to this, it had a strong competitive advantage and a mission I believed in.
What are you most excited about for your team?
I spent the last 13 years in mobile and during that time, I had the chance to work on a few teams that helped shape the industry. The first was CoreLocation at Apple, the second was Paper & Instant Articles at Facebook, and the most recent was Instagram. I felt lucky to have experienced one of these opportunities in my career, let alone three.
The mobile team we seeded at Patreon is the most talented one I have worked on in my career. Many of us worked together previously and we’re going to have a lot of fun building the next generation of Patreon on mobile. I’m looking forward to building both a team and product that’s a reference point for the industry.
What are you most excited about building?
I’m excited about making Patreon mobile the most engaging place folks can interact with their favorite creators. Today, many members engage with their creators through email and web. We know mobile is a better medium for engagement because of its accessibility and immersive experience. So there is a big opportunity for us to help creators and unlock value for members.
One of the areas I’m most excited about is making the Patreon app the Netflix equivalent for being entertained by your exclusive content subscriptions, especially for video and podcasts. Across these bets we will differentiate by leaning into the close-knit audiences creators built on Patreon. This will require us to solve challenging technical problems to make these experiences scale and feel interactive.
For mobile engineers looking to join Patreon, what advice would you give them?
It’s a great opportunity for folks who want to get back to their roots of having fun while building great software. Follow your heart and don’t overthink your next move.
