Based in the UK

Christopher
Blumzon

Product leader & Game development

I lead Helios at Elsevier and built the product function from scratch at Figshare. I also run Play It Faster Games and founded Silka.

Selected work

Digital Science · 2014–2023Product Manager → Product Director

Explore Figshare

Figshare

From research tool to enterprise platform

Researchers used Figshare to share their work. I helped extend the product to serve institutions, publishers and funders, while building the team responsible for it.

Building the product team

I was the first UK hire outside the founding team. I went on to manage a Product Owner, Designer and Scrum Master within a wider team of around twenty. My remit spanned everything from user research and early freemium experiments to enterprise strategy, commercial services, team building and delivery.

Company annual recurring revenue~£4m

Up from under £200k during my tenure.

2 days → 10 min

Time needed for operational onboarding.

£500k / year

Annual revenue from a custom-work service I helped develop.

RELX · Dec 2023–Present

Helios

Senior Product Manager

From zero to critical business infrastructure.

I took Helios from a multi-million product initiative to an integral system supporting critical business processes at Elsevier. It records the company’s technology and who is responsible for it.

I led the product from its earliest stages through launch and now own its ongoing development, including reporting on enterprise AI usage, licences and costs. I also contribute to the parts of Backstage that use Helios data.

Music merchandising & ecommerce · 2011–2013

Firebrand Live

Product Manager

~£300kless in platform costs, every year.

I moved the online stores to a new platform and changed how we bought and delivered custom development. The work covered music merchandise, digital content and new sales channels.

Games & apps

Sisyphus: The Walk Down

Independent game

Sisyphus and his stone on a painted terracotta mountainside

I designed, built, wrote and performed this game.

It takes place on a painted terracotta mountain.

Play The Walk Down

Play It Faster Games

Independent games company

In development

The Martian
Paperclip Protocol

Gameplay screenshotGame website

I started the company with a team of four.

We’re developing a tactical card-and-board strategy game with campaign progression and deck management. It runs in the browser and as a desktop app.

Play the browser demo

Free to play in your browser

Founder & Product Lead

A little help
staying close.

An iPhone app that reminds you to reconnect with people you care about. You choose the rhythm of contact.

About Silka

silverscript

Silver Script Games · Freelance project

Enlarge

I worked with voice directors to build a desktop tool that matched recordings to scripts. I was its sole product manager and developer; the tool was used in live audio production. It’s now open source.