Team Spotlight: Lex Cooke, Co-Founder and CEO of StackMap
Lex Cooke’s love for libraries didn’t come out of nowhere. Growing up in Connecticut, his mother worked as a Library Media Specialist in local school libraries and made continuous efforts to teach him about academic resources and research. His connection to libraries was rekindled in 2011, when some college friends showed him a software concept they were working on which would become StackMap’s original product: Collection Mapping. At his first library conference that same year, the effusive reaction from librarians about StackMap gave him the confidence to spearhead the expansion of this software that’s now used in hundreds of libraries worldwide.
My favorite thing about the library is how it democratizes information. In a way, libraries are at the forefront of the American dream; they provide free, high-quality educational resources for people to gain knowledge, raise themselves up, and be better equipped to navigate a rapidly changing economy. Without libraries, we run the risk of denying important resources to some of the most vulnerable people in our society.
That said, for some people it can be intimidating to scribble down a call number and then wander the stacks to find a book or ask someone for help on how to find it. I’ve often heard the narrative of people walking out of the library empty handed because they couldn’t locate their item, and they didn’t feel like taking the time to ask for assistance. I think that psychological bent is pretty common, but those people are missing out on great resources that are sometimes only available in print. For me, it’s really important to create this digital experience to assist people in navigating the physical space of a library and finding the resources that they need, otherwise they might get left by the wayside.
I started my career at Intuit doing product management work. Since day one at StackMap, product management has been at the heart of what I do. I work to be a constant advocate for our users and drive the direction of our product development so that it strikes a balance between not disrupting the things that we are already doing well and advancing our capabilities to help as many people as possible.
What I love most about my job has shifted over time. My answer today is cultivating, participating in, and then seeing the rewards in the growth of our team. I enjoy collaboration and pinpointing peoples’ skills and interests and seeing where they’ll be a good fit. I’ve been amazed at each member of our team’s ability to grow and gain autonomy in everything that they do. I try to ask more questions than give directions because it is often the case that the team member’s expertise surpasses mine in the area in which they’ve been working for awhile. When this happens, it’s a great indication to me that our team is growing and expanding the boundaries of what is possible for us to accomplish together.