Vetted Product Strategy Professionals

Meng Yang

Screened ReferencesStrong rec.

Staff Software Engineer specializing in distributed systems, cloud platforms, and IoT

Columbus, OH21y exp

“CTO/Chief Architect who rebuilt an IoT platform from a fragile legacy stack into an AWS-based, multi-tenant cloud-native system supporting 50k+ connected devices and 10M+ monthly events, then layered in real-time data pipelines and ML anomaly detection. Known for tightly aligning roadmaps and OKRs to business KPIs (onboarding speed, uptime, velocity) and for scaling teams into domain-focused pods; previously led a shift from LAMP to event-driven Node.js microservices using MQTT and message queues.”

“Seasoned entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience who has raised capital for both his own companies and others, primarily through private equity and angel investors. Currently exiting his last company and open to either launching a new startup or stepping into a leadership role, with a strong bias toward disruptive, high-growth businesses that can leverage AI.”

Vladimir Novick

Screened ReferencesStrong rec.

Executive CTO and Software Architect specializing in AI systems and cloud platforms

Israel, Israel22y exp

“Startup-minded technical founder currently running Novicklabs and building Itervox.dev, an AI agent orchestration platform for developer teams. Previously served as CTO at EventLoop and shows strong insight into multi-agent tooling, observability, security, and the open-source-to-cloud path for developer infrastructure products.”

“Founder-operator with investor experience who has built a seed-stage company to live usage, meaningful DAUs, a large waitlist, and roughly $1.2M raised. Has operated on both sides of the startup ecosystem—as a Techstars founder raising from firms and as a VC deploying capital—and brings a rigorous, user-first approach to evaluating and scaling new ventures.”

Dewayne DeRozzo

Screened ReferencesStrong rec.

Executive Strategy & Operations Leader specializing in SaaS, AI, and GTM transformation

New York, NY13y exp

“Ops/tech program leader who supported the national rollout of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by building an enterprise OKR system and implementing Asana + real-time dashboards across technology, operations, clinical support, and communications. Has led a 15-person team and repeatedly improves executive productivity through pragmatic tool rollouts (HubSpot, SharePoint/Confluence, Slack/Zoom) and lightweight integrations.”

“Seasoned entrepreneurial operator who has raised $185M across ventures in seed treatment, drone spraying, gene editing, and biofuels. Has worked closely with accelerators including AgLaunch and Iowa Startup Accelerator as both a participant and later a mentor, and is now open to either founding a new impactful company or stepping into an experienced CEO/C-suite role.”

William Roy

Screened ReferencesModerate rec.

Executive sales leader with 13 years in SaaS, technology, and consultative growth

South Bend, IN13y exp

“Sales and operations leader who helped take Executive Career Partners from $2M and in the red to $4M in sales, while owning roughly $1M personally/team-wide and modernizing CRM, reporting, training, and pricing operations. Unusually hands-on across both frontline selling and back-office systems, with additional experience in government proposals, SaaS line creation, ecommerce integrations, and company-wide rebranding.”

“Founder of an AI + blockchain software startup in the cryptocurrency space, positioned around authenticity and MiCA regulatory compliance for crypto companies. Has participated in 6 accelerators and mentors in VC-backed programs, using a feedback-driven MVP approach and validating product-market fit through direct user outreach and payment commitment.”

“CEO & co-founder of Spotlight Creators, a digital platform for visual artists, which they took from idea validation (100 artist interviews) to a live product with 50+ artists and 50+ customers. Drove GTM through hands-on social content across Instagram/YouTube/TikTok, ran local artist spotlight events, and pursued fundraising via cold outreach and acceptance into Launch NY while building skills in pitch decks, financial projections, and ARR modeling.”

“Mobile F2P product leader (11+ years) who has built and published multiple games—most notably Hexa Sort—into multi-million-dollar IPs with publishers like Lion Studios (AppLovin), Voodoo, and Tango. Known for rigorous, data-driven monetization and engagement optimization (months-long multi-variant testing, activation milestone discovery, ROAS-focused launch tuning) and for leading cross-functional teams across product, growth, and data.”

Joseph Barba

Screened

Executive Venture Builder specializing in company formation and go-to-market execution

Nashville, TN14y exp

“Startup operator and investor with experience as a partner at 4th Quarter and former Head of Business Development at Savage Ventures, where they ran the most profitable division across a 20-company portfolio. Currently building multiple ventures under their own studio, with several functional MVPs already developed and early signs of product-market fit.”

“Sourcing/Product Development professional with deep China-based manufacturing experience who launched an eco-friendly cleaning brush line made from 100% recycled fishing nets and delivered on an Earth Day deadline. Built cost and tariff calculators to drive decisions and profitability, including improving Target private label net margins by 6 points, and runs a compliance/QC-heavy vendor qualification process (BSCI/SMETA, golden samples, third-party inspections).”

“Cross-functional operator/chief-of-staff style leader who took a product from prototype to a live pilot in 3 months, spanning public-sector data normalization, an ML matching engine, a secure API, and KPI/investor demo instrumentation. Strong focus on executive alignment and productivity via Notion-based operating systems plus automated reporting (Python/Power BI), with experience supporting fundraising and go-to-market narratives.”

Dawood Shaik

Screened

Senior Product Marketing Manager specializing in GTM, channel enablement, and pricing analytics

Minneapolis, MN9y exp

“Growth-creative/performance creative specialist focused on UGC-led paid social across Meta, TikTok, and YouTube. Uses structured creative testing (e.g., hook/angle matrices) and modular asset systems to iterate quickly; cited a campaign that lifted efficiency (25% CPA improvement, ROAS 1.8x→2.4x) and then scaled spend ~60% while maintaining performance.”

“Early-stage venture/accelerator operator and co-founder (Decade Ventures) with a systems-driven approach to high-volume founder sourcing and pipeline management. Built non-obvious dealflow channels via international trade missions and embassy networks (Canada, Israel, Netherlands, Singapore, Australia) while running a corporate accelerator at Spring (UK water-sector innovation center). Strong in founder discovery, evidence-based evaluation, and creating standardized partner updates that reduce decision friction.”

“Engineering leader who modernized infrastructure by migrating a ~100-server co-location setup to AWS/GCP with IaC, auto-scaling, and fault-tolerant design, reducing hardware upgrade burden. Also led a key analytics architecture shift from MySQL to ClickHouse to enable highly granular ad revenue attribution and profitability insights, while scaling the dev org from 2–3 to ~12 with stronger CI/testing and review processes.”

Muhammad Mufti Aziz

Screened

Mid-level Product & QA Specialist specializing in FinTech payments and growth

London, UK6y exp

“QA tester with console game experience across PlayStation/Xbox/Nintendo, focused on online multiplayer stability and monetization/reward flows, with pre-launch defect prevention. Brings a regulated fintech compliance-testing background and applies structured triage, SQL-based server/client validation, and AI-assisted workflows to accelerate coverage and debugging.”

Richa Jindal

Screened

Senior Product Manager specializing in SaaS CRM, MarTech, and GenAI products

India8y exp

“Product/LiveOps leader who applies free-to-play mechanics to live consumer products; led monetization and engagement for Pavo (video-based Gen Z dating app on iOS/Android), addressing weak D7 retention and low free-to-paid conversion. Implemented progression, nudges, soft paywalls, experimentation, and real-time moderation, driving 3.2x DAU and ~60% lift in early engagement while improving conversion without harming retention.”

Mark Eagle

Screened

Executive Technology & Operations Leader (CTO/COO) specializing in scaling SaaS and enterprise software

Denver, Colorado29y exp

“Operations leader and advisor (former COO at College Partnership; also worked with Founders Advisors) who rebuilds and scales early-stage operations using Lean Startup experimentation and KPI-driven execution. Notably centralized a call-center function, implemented scripts/SLAs/metrics, and iterated staffing based on conversion and response-time data while mentoring non-ops founders on MVPs, SMART goals, and tactical operating plans.”

“Entrepreneur and turnaround operator who recently sold a patented mobile + connected TV (CTV) technology startup. Took the product from concept and use-case definition through market testing, product planning, and GTM traction, ultimately converting a prospective client presentation to a European regional digital media company into an acquisition; also advises on turnarounds including stalled VC investments.”

“Cloud/distributed-systems engineer who has shipped real-time, offline-capable ledger/expense infrastructure and solved tricky cross-layer production bugs (carrier handoff retries causing duplicate writes) using packet captures and device logs. Also built modular Python ETL/catalog pipelines for e-commerce with config-toggled plugins for customer-specific pricing/SKU rules, and iterated product changes directly with on-site fulfillment operators using feature flags.”

“Built and launched his own free-to-play mobile trivia games (Unity/Xcode/Android Studio), monetizing through IAPs and multiple ad networks (AppLovin/Chartboost/AdMob). Combines hands-on implementation with growth and analytics rigor—Facebook Ads + ASO, and daily tracking of retention, crashes, conversion, and LTV:CAC—plus a clear approach to A/B testing and live events tooling.”