STANFORD, Calif. – We sat down with Kristin Dahl Acker, the Vice President at Zillow, managing product development, to talk about her time at Stanford and how she has progressed from being on the Farm to working at Zillow.
Acker rowed all four years at Stanford, starting in the novice eight as a freshman and moving to the varsity eight for her final three seasons. She was an All-Pac-10 selection in 1988. She received her degree in economics and political science from Stanford in 1988 and began working at Microsoft in 1989 where she stayed for 10 years. After working for PictureIQ Corporation, Expedia and Pure Networks, she found her home with as the second employee to work for the new startup Zillow in 2004.
GS: You had a great talk with Stanford women’s rowing, is that something you enjoy doing?
KA: One of the things I am passionate about is trying to get more women to go into computer science. I do a lot of work in Seattle with the University of Washington and high school groups who ask me to speak to women’s groups. There are so few women executives in technology companies. There are lots of women in business roles within companies but not as many in product development roles. I am trying to figure out more ways to draw women in and try it out.
GS: What was it like speaking to the team?
KA: It was a lot of fun. I just spoke at a high school career day at an all-girl’s school to try and convince them to try tech. To think of that talk was one angle but to remember rowing and what it meant to me, the team and Stanford was a fun subject to talk about. I was so blessed by my time here and learned so much at Stanford.
GS: What are some things you learned at Stanford that have helped you in your professional and personal life since?
KA: I learned the value of hard work. I learned how to be spoiled by working with really intelligent people. At Stanford you are at a place where ideas fly fast because people get them quickly. I learned lessons of humility when people helped me get better by showing me imperfections of my ways. I thought I was going to be great at math but I couldn’t keep up with others at Stanford. I learned at Stanford that you aren’t always going to be the brightest person in the room because I was surrounded by smart people. There is a humbling in the excellence of Stanford which is really helpful.
GS: On the academic side, what were some opportunities that Stanford presented to you?
KA: I did an internship in Washington D.C. with Invest in America, which was a think tank I found through the career center. Stanford does such a wonderful job supporting its students now, providing them with so many opportunities.
GS: How did you get started in the technology field?
KA: A year after graduating from Stanford, I was working with a cruise line and wanted to move to Seattle. I was talking with a friend of mine and Stanford teammate Felicia Keesing, who studies symbolic systems and was working at Microsoft. She was leaving to go teach English in China and offered me her job. There was no possible way I was qualified to do her job, but she convinced me to try it. I started off writing tutorials on how to use Windows and that led into designing software interfaces and eventually managing teams.
GS: How has it been being at a hugely successful company from the start of it?
KA: I call Zillow my internet baby. It is amazing on so many levels. It is amazing to have built something from a couple of people sitting in a room and thinking about ideas to something 100 million people use every day. It is amazing to hear your companies name used as a verb. The thing I am most proud of is we have created a place where over 2,000 people have jobs now. A lot of them love it there. I am proud of the work culture we created and so many of the people have been working there a long time.
GS: How did being in a team sport like rowing help you your professional life?
KA: There aren’t standouts in rowing because you are seeking to do something together that can’t be done unless you work in unison. Most teams don’t work in unison outside of rowing but you are all still bringing your strengths together and appreciating others and what they bring is what rowing teaches you. You can’t move the boat by yourself, you can’t win a race by yourself and you can’t move a company forward by yourself. You need to learn to trust in and rely on your teammates and co-workers. Software development is a team effort with lots of people contributing their skills to make great software.
GS: What led you to want to become a generous supporter of Stanford women’s rowing?
KA: Because Stanford gave me so much, I wanted to give back. My husband and I were in a place where we could. When I was at Stanford the women’s crew team did not have benefactors. Stanford rowing is a place where I thought our donations could have an impact and was something very special to me.
GS: You have three children, are they rowers as well?
KA: Owen is 18, Simon is 16 and Calvin is 14. Owen is going to go to college next year at Western Washington. Simon will be a junior in high school and Calvin will be a freshman. They play a lot of basketball and lacrosse. Calvin went to a rowing camp and Owen rowed for a semester but it didn’t stick. My husband and I have a double and take it out occasionally.
GS: What advice would you give to the Stanford women’s rowers who are about to graduate?
KA: They are smart and powerful when in the boat and they can be smart and powerful in whatever they choose to do. That smart and powerfulness is them figuring out that whatever organization they work for, how to move that company forward and to really want that to happen. Also just like in rowing, you need to work well with others to do that. The importance of team is huge and lessons they are learning can be applied to make amazing teams moving forward.