People. Tech. Empathy
Hi, I'm Elliot, a product manager with a background in entrepreneurship, UX design, and web development. I specialize in developing strategies for teams that require rapid prototyping and market testing to launch new products. I love creating products that leverage technology to genuinely solve people's problems.
Simply throwing a product full of technologies at customers isn't the best way to attract them. It's crucial that a product takes an empathetic approach, genuinely moving customers. To achieve this, you need someone who can seamlessly integrate business requirements, technical aspects, and customer needs all at once.
While it's rare to find the right combination of skills, my experience as a startup founder—communicating with dozens of stakeholders daily—combined with my background in UX design and web development, has equipped me to bridge these gaps. Check out the testimonials from past colleagues below to see how I've performed as a leader.
Primary Skills
Product Management
Having successfully managed apps with user bases ranging from 1,000 to over 3 million, I find product management much akin to solving a three-body problem of product, business, and user. It is a perpetual process of formulating the right strategy by leveraging my knowledge in technical frameworks, market insights, and user behavior. This comprehensive literacy across domains is what sets me apart in the competitive landscape.
Data Literacy
Leveraging data-driven decision-making minimizes mistakes and drives systematic, measurable improvements. With a strong foundation in data literacy, I make informed decisions that align product goals with business objectives and market opportunities. I'm proficient in using tools like ChartMogul, RevenueCat, and Google Data Studio to measure key financial metrics such as MRR churn, ARPU, and LTV/CAC. For user analytics, I excel in cohort analysis using Mixpanel, Amplitude, and Google Analytics to track anything from acquisition to referral.
Market Literacy
Every morning, I kick off my day by checking email newsletters and exploring app marketplaces to catch up on the latest in business, tech, and finance—a routine I've followed for years. This habit keeps me attuned to market trends and sentiments, which I incorporate into my decision-making process to keep our product ahead of the curve and ready for new tech developments. While some might see this as extra work, for me, it's genuinely fun and something that gets me out of bed in the morning.
Technical Literacy
A successful product manager bridges the gap between design and engineering. Having utilized technologies from both fields to build products, I bring hands-on experience to the table. I'm well-versed in agile methodologies and principles, and my background in physics has also equipped me with advanced modelling techniques. This diverse skill set ensures effective communication and collaboration with both designers and engineers to drive product success.
Leadership
There are many ways to practice leadership, but effective leadership fundamentally boils down to two key aspects: reliability and scalability. Reliability involves aligning the team and fostering education, ensuring everyone is unified in their efforts and closely coordinated with their leader. Scalability encompasses the routinization of tasks and their rigorous prioritization, allowing the team to manage their responsibilities efficiently even as they grow.
Alignment
When team members don't receive timely answers to their "Why?" questions, they feel that their leader is losing control, leading to demoralization—a significant risk in HR management. By providing a clear product vision, well-defined OKRs and KPIs, and a detailed product roadmap, I was able to maintain team cohesion throughout every project I led.
Education
For alignment to persist, a leader must prioritize educating their team, especially in the fast-paced IT industry. It's crucial to keep the team updated on market developments and the competitive landscape. To achieve this, I organized regular workshops and lessons and created an internal glossary to ensure everyone was on the same page at all times.
Routinization
A key to leading large project teams is implementing routinization—creating systems that handle tasks efficiently. As the organization expands, it's impractical for the leader to be involved in every detail. Routinization ensures tasks are processed through established workflows and follow standard procedures. In a scalable environment, the leader only needs to intervene when a pipeline is blocked or when no routine is in place.
Prioritization
Another crucial element of scalable leadership is prioritization, which involves ruthlessly eliminating non-essential tasks. The true form of prioritization can be seen in startup founders who make company-saving decisions under the intense pressure of impending bankruptcy. Having navigated such circumstances, I can confidently say that rigorous prioritization leads to improved scheduling, better cost management, and ultimately greater survivability.
Secondary Skills
UX Design
UX design goes beyond simply making users happy; it is a strategic framework that drives substantial business growth. By focusing on logical and measurable improvements, it aligns every interaction with key business metrics, ensuring the product's survival and success in the market. For example, a product that delights users but fails to convert them into paying customers or loyal advocates is not strategically sound. When executed properly, however, UX design is pivotal in bridging the gap between user satisfaction and business objectives.
User Research
The first step in designing an effective UX strategy is truly understanding your users. I took the initiative in user research for every product I've built, conducting over 60 sessions with groups ranging from 5 to 500 participants. While the methods—group interviews, field research, and surveys—are straightforward, the real challenge lies in uncovering the genuine needs of potential customers, which are often hidden by biases and habitual use of familiar products. For instance, when asked, 'Do you think you'll use this app when it comes out?' most people respond with 'Yes,' regardless of their true intentions. The art of user research lies in distinguishing between people who are ready to "use" the product and those willing to "pay".
Interaction Design
Interaction design goes beyond applying psychological principles and design heuristics to create aesthetically pleasing user interfaces and animations. It plays a crucial role in converting user engagement into revenue. For example, a well-designed decentralized exchange allows users to effortlessly browse token pairs, control slippage, and swap tokens efficiently. As more users interact seamlessly with the platform, transaction fees accrue, boosting revenue. While many designers can produce wireframes and prototypes, not all can translate their work into tangible financial benefits for the company.
Information Architecture
One of my key strengths is quickly identifying patterns within large amounts of information. Throughout my career, I've designed and written hundreds of presentation pages, contributing to successes in M&As, contracts, design awards, accelerator programs, and securing investor funding. My ability to translate complex requirements into clear infographics and concise text has earned praise from both peers and executives. This rare skill in information architecture has been the "invisible hand" guiding our team's success.
Web Development
Starting from ones and zeros in Electromagnetics course, I progressed from understanding logic gates and instructions in Digital Systems to learning sockets and encryption in Network Programming, eventually mastering the development of Single-Page Applications through my startup experience. Over the course of my career, I've developed dozens of websites and web apps, and I feel confident enough to explain how a web app works to a five-year-old.
Stacks and Frameworks
I began my journey with the MEAN and LAMP stacks but soon encountered limitations that prompted me to explore alternative technologies. I found my stride with Vue/Nuxt (sometimes Svelte) with Node, which were relatively easy to pick up. I developed a strong proficiency in CSS and Sass, eventually creating standalone design systems. During this period, team engineers frequently sought my assistance with fine-tuning and debugging UI components. More recently, I have become familiar with React/Next and Tailwind, using these tools to build this portfolio in just three weeks.
APIs and Services
As I transitioned from building static websites to developing dynamic web applications, I grew accustomed to working with APIs. Over time, I became capable of integrating any API required for a project. I also learned to create API blueprints using Swagger and test them with Postman. This experience allowed me to lead a collaborative project with SK Telecom, where I worked closely with our developers to deliver and manage API requirements. As I continued building fully dynamic web applications, I also gained experience using services like Docker for scalable project management, GitHub Actions for CI/CD, and other tools that enhance the development process.
Hobbies
Breaking
Swimming
Skateboarding
Drawing
Photography
Travelling
Gaming
Harassing GPT