About

Cyrus Legg

I majored in Electrical Engineering at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. After working as a research and development engineer on medical electronic products for Bioelectric Research Corporation, I contracted as an electrical engineer for nearly two years, working with production automation, consumer product, and electronic design companies.

Eventually, I received an offer from Audeze—a Hi-Fi headphone company specializing in planar magnetics—to work as a program manager/design engineer. Managing the SINE Headphone, EL-8 Headphone, and Deckard Headphone Amplifier projects allowed me to develop my management skills and understand the process of developing mass-manufactured consumer electronics. In addition to skill development, I had the opportunity to collaborate with innovative companies like BMW Design Works (for industrial design) and Apple (for MFi Licensing and distribution).

After two years at Audeze, I was offered a Senior Product/Program Management position at Shinola Detroit. I helped open Shinola's Audio Research and Development facility in Los Angeles and bridged the timezone gap between our Detroit and Hong Kong teams. In total, I managed four products from inception to market: the Runwell Turntable, Shinola Bookshelf Speakers, Canfield On-Ear Headphones, and Canfield Over-Ear Headphones.

My management approach—no matter the product—is about generating excitement in the project team and maintaining that excitement throughout the product lifecycle. To me, the project team is the backbone of any product's success, and without them, I could not do my job.

I believe a team's enthusiasm about a project seeds unique and creative solutions because an enthusiastic team member will naturally tend to put the product first. This focus creates a more collaborative team environment, leading to brainstorming sessions without the risk of ridicule but rather effective solution finding. It's about questioning why and why not, and not asking what's in it for me but rather, what's in it for the product?

Creating products is truly a group effort, and I have been fortunate to work with some inspiring engineers and designers. You could say that the only reason I've been lucky enough to build great products is because I was given the unique opportunity to build amazing teams.