Twitch Hires Ex-Pandora Exec Sara Clemens as COO
Twitch has tapped Sara Clemens, a tech and media veteran who most recently COO at Pandora after working at LinkedIn and on Microsoft’s Xbox team, as chief operating officer.
In addition, the Amazon-owned video-game streamer announced the hiring of Mark Weiler, a former Microsoft and Rubicon Project exec, as SVP, head of platforms and services, and Amir Shevat, who joins as VP of developer experience after heading developer relations at Slack.
“With our focus on listening to our community and providing the products and services to fuel their success, it’s important that we continue to invest in a leadership team that will ensure we are bringing these things to market in a timely and effective manner,” Twitch CEO Emmett Shear said in announcing the hires. “To that end, Sara Clemens, Mark Weiler, and Amir Shevat are all recognized leaders in their respective fields and extend Twitch’s role as a leader in social video.”
With Clemens’ appointment, Twitch co-founder and former COO Kevin Lin will continue to report directly to Shear. The company said Lin will have a “significant role” leading culture, strategy and innovation, responsible for Twitch’s original content initiatives and corporate strategy.
At Twitch, Clemens will oversee all commercial, operations and go-to-market teams and will be responsible for expanding the company’s business functions internationally. She left Pandora in February 2017 after three years at the internet radio pioneer. Previously, Clemens was VP of corporate development at LinkedIn, where she led the company’s entry into China. At Microsoft, she led product and partnerships for Microsoft’s Xbox division and was a founding member of the team that created HoloLens, Microsoft’s augmented-reality headset. Earlier in her career, Clemens worked for Telecom New Zealand.
“Twitch is a uniquely creator-centric company as demonstrated by the level of social engagement on the service,” Clemens said in a statement. “My goal is to apply my global experience from the technology, gaming and entertainment industries to optimize how the teams at Twitch work together to further the brand’s mission of enabling creators to connect with fans and build amazing real time experiences.”
Weiler will be responsible for all engineering and technical operations at Twitch, including product development, infrastructure, and information security. Most recently, Weiler was SVP, head of engineering at Rubicon Project overseeing the advertising exchange’s team of 120-plus engineers. Prior to Rubicon Project, Mark was CTO of Ampush, a social advertising technology platform. He started his career at Microsoft building email and networking products.
Shevat will oversee Twitch’s developer products, services, and adoption. Kathy Astromoff, founding leader of Twitch’s developer program, will stay on as VP of developer relations, reporting to Shevat.
Before joining Slack in 2015, Shevat worked at Google for more than four years. His roles at Google included global startup outreach lead at Google Play; managing core programs such as Google LaunchPad and Developer Experts; and co-founding Google’s campus in Tel Aviv. Prior to that, he helped build a developer ecosystem at Microsoft Israel and founded several startups in Israel and New Zealand.
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