Cate Riegner

I'm a market research strategist with over 25 years of experience working with the world's leading technology companies — Google, Airbnb, eBay, Meta, Netflix — on the questions that matter most: who are your customers, what do they need, and how do you reach them in a way that actually resonates? My work spans both B2B and B2C, from mid-market and SMB products to enterprise and consumer platforms.

My work spans the full range of research disciplines — segmentation, brand tracking, UX, concept testing, pricing, competitive analysis — executed at global scale across more than 30 countries and 40 languages. I've always been drawn to the complex, the ambiguous, and the high-stakes.

Most recently, I led the evaluation of AI-assisted methodologies and synthetic respondent platforms — giving me an unusually clear view of how traditional research organizations think, where they resist change, and what it takes to move them forward. What excites me about this moment is that behavioral and attitudinal data have never mattered more. As AI reshapes the business landscape, the hunger for authentic human insight — real ground truth — is only going to grow. My work, and the work I do with clients, sits squarely at that intersection.

I founded NetPop Research in 1997 and built it into a trusted strategic research partner for Silicon Valley's most demanding clients. Before that, I led strategy and research for advertising campaigns at Lai, Venuti & Lai and Foote, Cone & Belding during the dot-com era — where I developed the qualitative and quantitative foundations I still rely on today. I hold an M.A. in Communication from the Annenberg School at the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. from Smith College.

One thing that distinguishes my approach: I treat research as an alignment tool, not just an answers tool. The most valuable work I've done brings together product, marketing, engineering, and the C-suite around a shared picture of the customer — and turns that picture into decisions.

Who I work with: Technology companies — from market leaders to ambitious startups — seeking rigorous research to understand their customers, sharpen their positioning, and inform product and competitive strategy.