Hi, I'm Sushant

As a designer, strategist, and leader, I help companies turn design into a competitive advantage—driving customer acquisition, retention, and revenue.

Former Head of Design at Yahoo Sports, Red Ventures, CNET (acquired) and MetroLyrics (acquired).

Expertise

Design-Driven Growth
Turn design into a competitive advantage for acquisition, retention, and revenue.

User-Centered Innovation
Create intuitive, differentiated experiences that drive adoption.

Scalable Design
Build high-performing teams and efficient design systems

Executive Partnership
Drive strategy by embedding design at the leadership level

Driving YoY Revenue & Growth Through User-Centric Design: Yahoo Sports

+ Record Drafted Teams
+ Grew User Acquisition & Retention
+ Increased Engagement
+ All-time High Direct Sales

Reaching New Users and Revenues Through Award-Winning Design: CNET

+ Record users, engagement, revenue
+ 86% daily UVs,+87% sessions, +42% PVs
+ Launched Market-Leading Products
+ Record Conversions

Tackling Complex Multi-Product Design at Scale: CBS Interactive

+ Record 225M User Growth
+ Record Engagement & Revenue
+ Market-leading products
+ Accelerated Product Delivery

Launching to Strong Demand Through a Powerful Brand Story: Anyu

+ Strong Market Debut
+ 300% Growth in Bookings First 60 Days
+ Market-Leading Aesthetic
+ Sustained Customer Demand

Services

For Startups Without Design Leadership

Strategic Product Vision Establish a clear design direction to build products that resonate with your target audience

Lean and Agile Expertise Rapidly prototype and iterate to meet tight timelines and evolving needs

Foundational Design Systems Create scalable design systems that set your startup up for long-term success

Investor Appeal Strengthen your product’s marketability with polished, user-centered design

For Mid-Sized Companies and Large Enterprises

Customer Growth Design Enhance user experiences to drive engagement, retention, and revenue growth

Scalable Processes Implement design operations and workflows that grow with your organization

Cross-Disciplinary Expertise Blend product and brand design to ensure a cohesive customer journey

Team Development Mentor internal design teams, building capabilities and fostering innovation

For Venture Capital Firms and Investors

Portfolio Support Fractional design leadership to portfolio companies, helping them build strong design foundations and achieve rapid growth.

Risk Mitigation Identify and solve design and user experience challenges early before they escalate and reduce risk of product failure

Enhanced Valuation Strong design leadership strengthens portfolio companies’ market positioning through improved user experiences and brand consistency

On-Demand Expertise Quickly deploy senior-level design talent to address specific challenges without the need for a full-time hire

About Sushant Sund

I’m passionate about user-centered design that drives growth and innovation. With over 20 years of experience, I’ve delivered market-leading solutions across Technology, Media, Sports, Music, and Commerce. Key highlights include:

MetroLyrics: Led design for this startup, growing to 50M users/month, leading to an acquisition by CBS Interactive in 2011.

CBS Interactive (CNET Media Group): As Head of Design, I drove design for iconic brands like CNET, GameSpot, and Metacritic, reaching 225M+ users, and contributing to a $500M acquisition by Red Ventures in 2020.

Red Ventures: As VP of Design, I led the award-winning redesign of CNET.com, resulting in a 2022 Ozzie Award for Best Site Redesign.

Yahoo: As VP of Design, I transformed Yahoo Sports & Yahoo Fantasy, driving record growth in users, engagement, and sales.

Today, I leverage my design expertise to help companies craft compelling brands, user experiences and strategies that drive sustainable growth and market differentiation.

I help senior leaders balance ambitious goals with limited resources, to assess market-fit, rapidly evolve products, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to bring innovative ideas to life.

I’m committed to servant leadership—empowering my teams through empathy, candid feedback, and growth opportunities.

Based in beautiful Vancouver, BC, I work with teams across North America and Europe.

Let’s connect if you need help with design strategy or mentorship—

Book a strategy session

ADP List mentorship - Book a session

Endorsements

“Sushant is an excellent partner for Product and Business teams, his depth of understanding of the brands and products he works on, coupled with a strong business acumen, makes him an exceptionally valuable counterpart. “

— Sarah Priestley, GM Yahoo

“Sushant's creativity, partnering style and dedication to excellence would be an asset to any organization looking to do big things. ”

— Marc McCollum, President Red Ventures

“What truly sets Sushant apart is his talent for building teams that ship outstanding results, but also foster a collaborative and positive work environment. His strategic approach and interpersonal skills ensure that he assembles diverse groups that work cohesively and achieve strong business results.“

— Patrick Sullivan, VP of Product, Yahoo

“Sushant is a thoughtful and creative design leader who consistently delivers. He excels at partnering with other groups such as product, PMO, developers, engineers, marketers and other key stakeholders.”

— Matt McMahon, General Manager, CNET media group

“I've been lucky over the course of my career to work with some great creative talent and creative leaders. The best are compassionate coaches that combine a passion for the craft, strong leadership, and a discerning eye. Sushant is among the best I’ve worked with”

— Eric Duehring, EVP Marketing, Red Ventures

“Creativity is a wonderful gift, which Sushant has in spades, but the ability to motivate and inspire others to understand and share in your creative vision is where he truly excels. That’s his super power!

— Jason Trester, VP Engineering , CBS Interactive

Press & Accolades