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Spenser Skates

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Spenser Skates is the co-founder and CEO of Amplitude, a digital analytics platform that helps companies understand how users engage with their products. Founded in 2012 alongside Curtis Liu and Jeffrey Wang, Amplitude has become one of the most widely adopted product intelligence platforms, used by growth, marketing, and product teams at companies including Walmart, NBC Universal, Ford, and Atlassian to analyze behavioral data and optimize digital experiences. Skates led Amplitude through a direct listing on Nasdaq in September 2021 under the ticker AMPL, a milestone that validated the company's position as a category-defining leader in product analytics. Under his leadership, Amplitude has expanded its platform beyond core analytics into experimentation, customer data infrastructure, and session replay, making it a central tool for marketers and growth practitioners seeking to connect user behavior to business results. Before founding Amplitude, Skates studied at MIT, where he developed an early interest in machine learning and data systems. He has been a vocal advocate for the discipline of product-led growth and the use of behavioral data as a strategic asset, positioning Amplitude at the intersection of marketing technology, product development, and data analytics.

Last updated Oct 24, 2026 by ATDb automated enrichment

Role
CEO and co-founder
Company
Amplitude
Based
San Francisco, California, United States
Boards
1

AI-drafted from public sources1 source cited

Years in industry
13 years

Bio

Spenser Skates is the co-founder and CEO of Amplitude, a digital analytics platform that helps companies understand how users engage with their products. Founded in 2012 alongside Curtis Liu and Jeffrey Wang, Amplitude has become one of the most widely adopted product intelligence platforms, used by growth, marketing, and product teams at companies including Walmart, NBC Universal, Ford, and Atlassian to analyze behavioral data and optimize digital experiences. Skates led Amplitude through a direct listing on Nasdaq in September 2021 under the ticker AMPL, a milestone that validated the company's position as a category-defining leader in product analytics. Under his leadership, Amplitude has expanded its platform beyond core analytics into experimentation, customer data infrastructure, and session replay, making it a central tool for marketers and growth practitioners seeking to connect user behavior to business results. Before founding Amplitude, Skates studied at MIT, where he developed an early interest in machine learning and data systems. He has been a vocal advocate for the discipline of product-led growth and the use of behavioral data as a strategic asset, positioning Amplitude at the intersection of marketing technology, product development, and data analytics.

Expertise & education

Expertise

Product AnalyticsDigital AnalyticsProduct-Led GrowthBehavioral DataMarketing TechnologyCustomer Data PlatformsExperimentation and A/B TestingSaaS

Education

  • BS, Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Speaking topics

Product-led growthBehavioral analytics and data strategyBuilding and scaling SaaS companiesThe future of digital analytics

Recognition

Notable achievements

  • Co-founded Amplitude in 2012 and scaled it to a publicly traded company via direct listing on Nasdaq in September 2021
  • Grew Amplitude to serve hundreds of enterprise customers including Walmart, Ford, and NBC Universal
  • Raised over $300 million in venture funding prior to going public, with investors including Sequoia Capital and Benchmark