About
Kelly Watkins is an advisor and board member at Watkins Advisory who has held leadership roles including CEO and COO at Abstract and Postman, and has served on the boards of Docket, Honeycomb, and Buoyant. Her experience includes leading marketing functions at GitHub and Slack, as well as consulting work focused on go-to-market strategy, organizational operations, and stakeholder communication. She works with companies on strategic messaging, operational efficiency, and facilitating difficult conversations among leadership teams.
Experience
- Watkins AdvisoryAdvisor & Board Membercurrent2019 — present
- BuoyantMember, Board of Directorscurrent2026 — present
- Adverb VenturesAdvisorcurrent2026 — present
- Honeycomb.ioMember, Board of Directorscurrent2022 — present
- ReforgeReforge Partnercurrent2022 — present
- PostmanHead of Operations2025 — 2026
- Curmudgeon VenturesFounding Partner2020 — 2025
- All Hands ClubCo-Founder2024 — 2025San Rafael, California, United States
- UnblockedCOO2024 — 2025
- MadKuduAdvisor2020 — 2025
- Stripes GroupExecutive Advisor2018 — 2023
- DocketMember, Board of Directors2020 — 2022
- AbstractChief Executive Officer2020 — 2022
- AbstractMember, Board of Directors2020 — 2022
- BonuslyAdvisor2019 — 2022
- First Round CapitalFast Track Mentor2019 — 2021
- BennuAdvisor2019 — 2021
- SlackVice President, Global Marketing2016 — 2019
- SlackHead of Product Marketing2016
- SlackSenior Product Manager2016
Education
- Abilene Christian UniversityTheology/Theological Studies1999 — 2006
Skills & more
Graphic Design11Photography9Social Media13Nonprofits10Non-profits6Strategic Communications3Marketing4Branding & Identity3Editing4Research3Non-profit Consulting1International Development1
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Product MarketingCreative DirectionBrand DevelopmentPublic RelationsBrand DevelopementBrand ArchitectureWeb StrategyCrisis CommunicationsStrategic PlanningStrategyWritingAdobe Creative SuiteFrom Kelly's professional profile.
Colleagues at Adverb Ventures
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April Underwood
Managing Director at Adverb Ventures
Gary Pesola
Investor at Adverb Ventures
Jackie Dao
Chief Financial Officer at Adverb Ventures
Jana Messerschmidt
Investing Advisor at Adverb Ventures
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Jessica Verrilli
Managing Director at Adverb Ventures
Liza Gurtin
Investor at Adverb Ventures
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Rebecca Miller
Community and Events Advisor at Adverb Ventures
Frequently asked questions
- Where does Kelly Watkins work?
- Kelly Watkins is Executive Advisor at Adverb Ventures.
Same school
Also attended Abilene Christian University3
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Shared employers
Also worked at Honeycomb.io11
Eric AndersonPartner at Scale Venture PartnersMeghan GillVenture Partner at Ansa CapitalJacob CongerInvestor at HeadlineTae Hea NahmManaging Director at Storm VenturesArun PenmetsaPartner at Storm VenturesBen FuPartner at OMERS Ventures
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Also worked at Abstract2
Also worked at Slack51
Mamoon HamidPartner at Kleiner PerkinsHans TungManaging Partner at Notable CapitalDave MunichielloInvestor at GV (Google Ventures)Neha JewalikarDirector of Communications at Scale Venture PartnersGlenn SolomonInvestor at GGV CapitalJules MaltzInvestor at IVP (Institutional Venture Partners)
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Also worked at GitHub23
Nat FriedmanCo-lead of Meta Superintelligence Labs; co-founder of NFDGErica BresciaManaging Director at Redpoint VenturesGrey BakerGeneral Partner at Y CombinatorEric LiawInvestor at IVP (Institutional Venture Partners)Tom LoverroInvestor at IVP (Institutional Venture Partners)James LeeVP of Finance & Operations at Asymmetric Capital Partners
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