Manuel Morales

Founding team member and head of product for a global education technology SaaS venture that has raised $40MM in venture capital and grown to over 4MM B2C users, hundreds of B2B customers, and over 100 employees. Manage a team of 3 product managers, overseeing a 30-person cross-functional team of software engineers, designers, content publishers, and marketing professionals to drive features from conception to release and iteration. Increased engagement and retention, and improved customer satisfaction by delivering product features that include: curriculum personalization engine, curriculum publishing platform, data pipeline and customer analytics dashboard, video-powered live classes, automated speech recognition, geo-targeted lessons, and image recognition. Conduct ethnographic user research, customer interviews, market research, and data analysis to inform prioritization and design decisions. Successfully served as Interim VP of Technology and also as Interim VP of Marketing during times of organizational change.

Wrote product cases, supported with quantitative and qualitative user and market data, and developed specifications for features prioritized for development. Worked closely with stakeholders, designers, engineers and marketing to ensure released features met user needs and business objectives. Defined project deliverables and timelines, coordinating across business, product and engineering teams to facilitate on-time deployment of features Performed usability testing, user acceptance testing, QA testing, and localization testing for all releases across web, iOS and Android platforms.

First hire at seed-funded venture, I led all aspects of monetization and retention, including marketing automation, community management, landing page optimization, SEO/SEM and global payments.

Performed a cost-benefit analysis of instituting a proposed payment-at-time-of-service process throughout the network of hospitals at the nation’s premier cancer center. Analyzed current collection rates on patient balances to forecast potential savings from new processes. Presented analysis findings and process recommendations to the Director of the Physician Billing Department.

Managed a team of six Loan Consultants for the largest microfinance institution in the United States, ensuring team members met loan origination and delinquency goals. Worked closely with Underwriting and Finance departments to facilitate the development of a proprietary credit scoring model to increase loan origination and reduce delinquency rates. Analyzed and underwrote 225 microloans, worth nearly $800,000 with a delinquency below organization targets. Led recruitment, training and ongoing professional development of Loan Consultants.

Performed due diligence on small businesses through New York City, originating over 230 microloans worth more than $2.4MM in undercapitalized communities and maintaining delinquency rates below organization targets. Developed and led an annual marketing initiative targeting New York City taxi drivers designed to counter predatory lending in the industry and resulting in a 20% increase in loan production. Established and developed new relationships with bank and community partners, increasing referrals in a targeted Brooklyn neighborhood by 90% and helping to secure a critical grant.