Sēkr Chief Product Officer 2021–2023

Growing Sēkr: Speed, Community, and Monetization

As CPO, rebuilt the frontend, launched social chat, shipped a paid subscription, and connected to the largest public campground data source—leading to acquisition.

  • 30–50% month-over-month revenue growth after launching paid subscription
  • 50% increase in engagement after launching social chat features
  • ~10x improvement in app load speed via React Native rebuild
  • Real-time API integration with the largest source of public campgrounds
  • Company acquired
  • CPO
  • mobile
  • React Native
  • social
  • SaaS
  • marketplace
  • acquisition

Sēkr vanlife app showing campsite map with the vanlife community in the background

The Situation

Sēkr was a vanlife platform with a passionate niche audience and a real product problem: the app was slow, the engagement was shallow, and there was no revenue model. The core promise—a map-based tool for finding campsites, planning road trips, and connecting with the van-dwelling community—was strong. The execution needed work.

I joined as Chief Product Officer to fix that.

Rebuilding the Foundation

The most urgent problem was performance. The existing app loaded slowly enough that users were abandoning it before it finished. We rebuilt the frontend in React Native, which delivered roughly a 10x improvement in app load speed. For a map-heavy product where users are often on slow connections in the middle of nowhere, this wasn’t a nice-to-have—it was the baseline for the product to work at all.

Connecting the Data

A campsite finder is only as good as its data. I led the integration of a real-time API connection with the largest source of public campground information in North America. This meaningfully expanded the platform’s coverage and kept listings current without manual curation—giving users confidence they were seeing accurate, up-to-date information.

Sēkr map view showing hundreds of campsites across the California coast Map layers screen showing LTE cell coverage by carrier and federal BLM and Forest Service lands

Turning Utility Into Community

Sēkr had always been a useful tool. What it lacked was a reason to come back every day. I launched the social chat features—community hubs, messaging, and the people map—that turned solo utility into shared experience. The result was a 50% increase in engagement.

The vanlife community is tight-knit and tribal. They already wanted to find each other, share advice, and stay connected on the road. We built the space for that to happen inside the product rather than on external forums or Facebook groups.

Community screen showing SēkrHubs, upcoming vanlife events, and connection requests Get Local hub showing regional SubHubs for Colorado, east coast, national parks, and more

Monetization

With a faster app, richer data, and an engaged community, we had the foundation to charge for it. I launched Sēkr’s paid subscription tier, which included offline map access and premium campground information—features with direct, tangible value for users who rely on the app in areas with no cell service.

Revenue grew at 30–50% month-over-month after launch.

Offline maps screen showing downloaded map tiles for off-grid navigation without cell service CampShares listing for Cuyama Oaks Ranch showing photos, description, and Request Stay button

Outcome

Sēkr was acquired. The combination of a rebuilt technical foundation, a monetized user base, and a differentiated social layer made the product an attractive target.