2021 Emerging Leaders - Pluto TV's Jeremy Hefter

The Fierce Video editorial team is proud to present its second annual Emerging Leaders Awards, recognizing the brightest young professionals rising up the ranks of the streaming TV industry. Throughout the months of May and June we’ll be featuring these profiles with each of our finalists. We will announce the winners during our StreamTV Show with an awards ceremony June 17 at 3:15 p.m. ET. Not yet registered for the StreamTV Show, running June 15-17? Be sure to register now and save your spot at this free virtual event!

Jeremy Hefter/Pluto TV:

Jeremy Hefter is the lead product manager for consumer product and discovery at Pluto TV. After college at Wake Forest University, he worked at Oracle before starting his own app development company in Boston, which led him to transition into the product management world. Jeremy has previously worked at the NFL, AT&T and ViacomCBS as a product manager.  

What his colleagues are saying:

"Jeremy Hefter embodies the very definition of an emerging leader. Equipped with an innate entrepreneurial and disruptive mindset, born leadership qualities and a unique talent for problem-solving, he has already established himself as a respected leader at Pluto TV amongst his peers, partners and colleagues alike. However, his greatest attribute and gift to all of us lucky enough to work with him, is his truly unrivaled authentic passion and enthusiasm, that cannot be taught or replicated, and is infectious and felt by all around him. These are the marks to look for in any future emerging leader and ones already present in Jeremy." - Jodi Lederman, head of global communications at Pluto TV

"Possessing a strong mission for being innovative and a visionary, Jeremy is exceptionally talented, passionate and driven in all that he pursues in his professional path. Jeremy has proven to be an invaluable member of the Consumer Product team at Pluto, where he has been successful in leading the execution and management of major key product initiatives. He exemplifies leadership values with his ability to drive innovation/ideation, and effectively take lead amongst his internal/external peers when spearheading products from conception to launch. Above all, Jeremy's intellect, instincts, and most of all his unrivaled passion, allow him to truly shine and fuels his growth as an emerging leader in this rapidly-evolving streaming media landscape." - Tad Ro, vice president of product management at Pluto TV

Streaming Industry Q&A:

What streaming services do you subscribe to? 

Since I work in the streaming industry, I tend to subscribe to almost all the services. I love seeing what our competitors are doing, especially since Pluto TV is an AVOD and a complementary service to what is in the market today. 

Describe your biggest career highlight so far.

Being able to launch Pluto TV in over 11 different countries while leading the Roku and Apple team was definitely an amazing experience and highlight so far. With that being said, having the ability to impact Pluto TV’s 40+ million monthly global users with unique features is incredible as it makes us feel like we are making the world a more entertaining place at a price point that everyone loves-- free.

What has been your biggest career learning experience?

Ideas are nothing without execution. Ideas are everywhere, but what sets someone apart is whether they can put those ideas into action even with a lean team working towards just having an MVP or prototype. Whether the product or project succeeds or fails, execution and persistence is key in order to be successful as a product manager.  Innovation can be messy with lots of highs and lows. It takes a village to create a successful business given things always can look easier than they seem and success can mean many different things that may not be initially apparent.

What's next for you in terms of new challenges in streaming TV?

I am constantly thinking about how to push the boundaries of what the streaming world can really become by reinventing what entertainment and television is with a mix of linear and on demand offerings, allowing it to become a constant routine by just dropping frictionless into a linear or on demand experience. With dozens of ways to stream and a multitude of options at your fingertips, you have to continuously look at the drawing board. My goal is to continue to create a high-quality viewing experience for the Pluto TV audience. My team and I are developing new product and tools to allow for a seamless viewing experience with more engagement within the community, increased personalization, further ways to enhance content discovery, new unique platform launches and more.