Marc von Holzen

30 Years of Engineering

I’ve designed and built systems at every scale—from startup MVPs to consumer applications serving 80M+ monthly active users. I’ve architected network measurement features, data pipelines, and integrations that have run reliably for a decade.

Large-Scale Consumer and Enterprise Experience

At Ookla, I defined the architecture used to integrate 7 acquired products, including consumer applications, SDKs, data collection and ingestion (1B+ data points/day), query APIs and analytics applications. I’ve built systems that balance consumer simplicity with enterprise requirements.

Hands-On Technical Depth

I’m not an ivory-tower architect. I’ve written kernel code at SGI, built OSS/BSS systems processing $100M in revenue, and authored reference methodology documentation for Speedtest. I understand the trade-offs because I’ve implemented them.

Timeline

2013–2024 · Ookla

VP of Engineering, leading ~100 engineers across Speedtest consumer apps, enterprise SaaS products, APIs, SDKs, and embedded network testing solutions.

2010–2013 · Consultant

Agile Coach, Software Architect, Technical Project Manager for Telecom companies (Hawaii Telcom, XO Communications).

2004–2010 · Speakeasy

Software Architect, building ISP infrastructure, VoIP services, and business offerings.

1999–2004 · iCopyright

Full-stack engineer at a Seattle startup, building web frameworks, backend systems, and infrastructure.

1996–1999 · Silicon Graphics

OS Engineer, building internationalization and security features for IRIX kernel and user space.

1994–1996 · ELCA Informatique

Application developer.

1994 · EPFL

Master’s degree in Computer Science from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland.

Who I Am

Engineer

I love to build. I grew up in Switzerland, building toys, soapbox cars, machines, electronics. I spent afternoons after school at the local electronics store, learning to program my first computer, a Commodore 64, which eventually led me to earn a Master in Computer Science from EPFL in 1994.

Leader

I find myself gravitating toward organizing groups for efficiency while maintaining cohesion and respect. When a team runs smoothly—picking up tasks from each other, discussing approaches, cheering each other on—it’s one of the best feelings. At Ookla, I led ~100 engineers across 4 major products.

Explorer

I love to hike, backpack, and camp, carrying everything I need into remote locations using only my own strength. It teaches organization, risk management, and the value of friendship. Nature has a grounding effect—essential for understanding where we come from and what matters.

Musician

I play drums and DJ occasionally. Music’s ability to affect moods is incredibly powerful.

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