Nathan Payne

Nathan Payne

Most product decisions are invisible—until they aren’t.

Context

Over the past ten years, I have built the streaming platforms behind Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN. I started at MLB.com and BAMTECH, joined Disney through the 2017 acquisition, and have spent the last five years leading the Native Client Platform across PlayStation, Xbox, Amazon Fire TV, Linux set-top boxes, and smart TVs.

Approach

The work that matters most is usually at the seam between systems—where a codec mismatch, a certification gap, or a failed-fix loop becomes a support burden at scale. I treat operational ambiguity as a product problem.

Now

The current seam is where AI coding agents meet shipped software. Building products end-to-end with Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor, under an enforcement system I designed to catch the failure modes agents miss. Open to senior product and platform roles—especially where streaming infrastructure, developer tools, or AI-augmented workflows are the center of gravity.

Read my résumé
Last updatedAugust 2026
Projects

Built with Agents

Every project started as a real problem and shipped end-to-end—Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor—within a multi-agent review system I designed to catch the failure modes agents miss.

Live multiplayer bingo that turns a group trip into a shared game—daily themed cards, offline-first marking, and a choreographed finale, live-operated through a nine-night cruise at sea.

A deterministic repository standard that keeps humans and AI coding agents aligned—the enforcement layer underneath every other project on this site.

A financial operating system for Broadway productions—models capitalization and investor returns, manages ownership, and shares live deals with backers without spreadsheet or PDF workflows.

A single web application that tracks partner-device hardware, DRM, codec support, and operational readiness across Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN.

A career CRM for one person running a serious job search—turns work history into structured, reusable evidence, maps it against specific job requirements, and generates applications grounded in demonstrated work.

A swipe-based discovery experiment for Disney+ and Hulu that turns recommendation training and watchlist building into a game—built in vanilla JS over a weekend.

Cloud-synced shared-bill coordination for families and friend groups—turns recurring costs into clear annual invoices, payment tracking, and shareable summaries.

StackBash · TypeScript · Vanilla JS · React · Next.js · Vite · Tailwind CSS · Zod · Vitest · Playwright · Firebase · Cloudflare Workers · Express · GitHub Actions · PostHog · Anthropic · OpenAI · Claude Code · Codex · Cursor · CodeRabbit
Community

Giving & Governing

Community organizing—identifying shared stakes, building coalitions, and sustaining momentum—is a form of product management. I’ve raised over $105,000 for three causes.

  • Larkin Street Youth Services
    $16,684 raised
    $16,684 raised for Safe & Seen—a campaign for LGBTQ+ youth experiencing homelessness in San Francisco, providing housing, education, and healthcare through Larkin Street Youth Services.
  • San Francisco AIDS Foundation
    $80,195 raised
    Three AIDS/LifeCycle rides. $9,166 in 2023. $45,646 in 2024. $25,383 in 2025. $80,195 total for HIV prevention, care services, and housing stability through the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.
  • Jewish Pride Fund
    $8,959 raised
    Raised $8,959 and stayed involved after the check cleared—joining one of the few LGBTQ+ Jewish giving circles in the nation to interview grant applicants and help direct where the fund’s dollars land.
ScopeHealth Access · Housing Stability · Economic Mobility · Community Leadership · Strategic Philanthropy
Connect

Connect

Open to new roles and collaborations. Get in touch · Book time · Résumé

Elsewhere