Jeevan Padiyar. Product guy. Investor. Lover of skiing, paintball, technology, education and cats.
Jeevan Padiyar. Product guy. Investor. Lover of skiing, paintball, technology, education and cats.
Hello. I'm Jeevan Padiyar. Welcome.
I've spent a good portion of my career building things. From the first tech startup that helped establish podcasting as an industry, to 4 years building ed-tech products for an education focused investment firm, to creating applicant tracking, selection, and financial management tools for a $700MM scholarship fund, to growing 60 person product and engineering team from scratch for the nations largest debt settlement company, I've learned a lot about what makes products work. I've also run headfirst into many a solidly built wall. But that is for another day and a few more drinks.
My takeaway is that it all boils down to listening. Listening to your customers, who often get frustrated by what you think is brilliant, but love the simplest of improvements; Listening to your team by giving them the freedom to innovate; And listening to the market, who despite overwhelming marketing, won't buy a gold-painted turd.
I have been humbled to have many teachers who have shown me that only by constantly iterating can you zig-zag your way to being worthwhile. And I have been inspired by people who have taught me that only by embracing my inner child, can I overcome my preconceptions.
As I continue my work, I am constantly reminded that I have much more to learn and am amazed at all of the new things I discover along the way.
Current and recent positions (see LinkedIn profile for more detail):
Manage salesforce engineering, data science and analytics, and product management for the nation’s largest debt settlement company across 5 core areas of the business: marketing, sales, customer success, debt negotiations, payments and all technology required to manage a >2000 person call center. First Product leader hired by the company. Grew P & E teams from 1 to >50 with minimal attrition over 5.5 years.
Manage all software development for $700MM foundation serving high achieving low income students. Portfolio includes all technology for marketing, conversion optimization, call center, applicant evaluation, algorithm development, scholar tracking, payments and forecasting, data analysis, research and strategic initiatives.
Private equity focused single family office that invests in education. Owned roadmap, idea validation, user testing and go-to-market strategy for all consumer facing products
Product studio for early stage SaaS, e-commerce, research tools, and media distribution companies. Managed product and go-to-market strategy for multiple portfolio companies, including self-service website building tool, mobile car research and shopping platform, a FINRA-registered private sercurity trading exchange, a text book rental company and NYC Entrepreneur Week.
Managed all technology for NY State Attorney General candidate. Also served as team leader for internet based advocacy. Managed campaign website, video distribution, email messaging and blogger outreach. Early pioneer of the use of Youtube videos for political campaigns. One of our videos was featured on the global frontpage of youtube (under the most viewed category). This was a short term, part-time contract role, but still fun.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellow, Albert Einstein Research Fellow, Published -The primary Mechanism of Attenuation of bacillus Calmette-Guerin Is a Loss of Secreted Lytic Function Required for Invasion of Lung Interstitial Tissue (PNAS 2003:100(21) pg. 12424), Bio-Safety Level 3 Certified. USMLE 99% percentile.
Phi Beta Kappa 1999, Phi Lambda Upsilon Senior of the Year (National Chemistry Honors) (1999), Phi Lambda Upsilon Travis Miller Outstanding Student in Chemistry (1998), Edward and Lucille McCosh Memorial Cancer Research Award (1998), Tau Beta Pi (Engineering Honors Society) 1997, Phi Kappa Phi (1996), Gamma Sigma Delta (National Agriculture Honors) 1999, Golden Key (1995), Phi Eta Sigma (1995)
On Long Island Sound in Westchester County.
This is my personal and professional site. It's a place for me to think out loud and learn, talk about things that inspire me, and share my observations with the world. If you like my musings or believe they are misguided or just plain wrong please feel free to reach out and correct me. I would relesh the opportunity for discourse. Thanks for visiting.