Brian Watson views technology as a vehicle for creativity. It can help to inspire, enable, and execute a founder’s most ambitious ideas. “Humans have a fundamental desire to express themselves,” he says. “Technology can provide the tools and framework for them to do it more effectively.”
While growing up in Florida, Brian cultivated a love of media and technology. After studying engineering management systems at Columbia University, he applied those passions as an analyst at Union Square Ventures where he worked with teams building the cutting edge of internet culture. “I began to hone in on companies that were helping to empower people to create,” he says. In 2014, Brian left USV to lead product and partnerships at the photo taking app VSCO. Most recently he was a product manager at Apple where he quickly rose through the ranks to oversee the evolution and scaling of some of the company’s most-used products including the Camera app, Photos, iMessage and Memoji.
Brian’s deep experience with leading consumer product development makes him a natural collaborator for early stage companies looking to mature their ideas into impactful products. As an investor at Spark, he’s excited to rewrite the rules around venture and who gets to build the next generation of technology. “I view my role as a curator more than anything,” he says. “I want to be a facilitator of ideas and help people connect to others.”