Grew up in a small town and had to work extra hard to get my foot in the door working on cool tech startups. My first job at age 15 was fixing iPhone screens in the mall. Then I scooped ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery and bussed tables at a local airport restaurant to pay for college. 

After football practice in high school I'd be learning how to code on CodeAcademy. People thought I was a nerd. 

Fast forward 10 years -- I've built multiple apps, b2b SaaS, internet businesses, websites, and e-commerce businesses that have generated over $100m collectively. 

I got to work remotely, travel to 12+ countries, invest in real estate and stocks and built a fruitful living for myself. 

Learning how to build apps changed my life. Now I’m on a mission to teach 10,000 people how to build apps.

Alim Charaniya

In 2019, I joined PrizePicks as employee #19, Head Mobile Engineer, when the app only had 5000 users.

This weekend, we celebrated PrizePicks acquisition by Allwyn for a mind boggling $2.5 (potentially $4.15) BILLION DOLLARS!!! 

Ready for the story? Let’s go!

At the time I joined, we were regrowing through a hyper-scale phase — and there were no sports on TV.

Post-COVID, my parents thought I was crazy for joining a sports startup when the entire sports world had shut down.

But my little brother and I played $50 worth of PrizePicks… and immediately hit our first entry for a $150 profit.

That was the moment I knew: this thing was going to be big..

I still remember the call with Jay Deuskar  and Adam Wexler :

“Can you rebuild the entire PrizePicks mobile app in 10 weeks before football season?”

I said, “You bet I will.”

For the next 10 weeks, I worked 14-hour days rebuilding the entire mobile app from the ground up. At the time, we had about 2,000 weekly active users, and the business was staying alive through esports action.

We rebuilt:
• The entire onboarding flow
• The monetization engine
• The core mobile experience

The app only had 20 screens.

20 screens.

But those 20 screens powered the next $100M+ in revenue while I was hands on the app, every single day. 

I was watching thousands of users join PrizePicks every day, and our payment processor blasting, via an app that I built with Ziyan Prasla and Adam Blaschke  

From there, it was an absolute movie. A rollercoaster. Every month the chart just went up and to the right.

But what people don’t see are the downturns.

The stress.
The uncertainty.
The moments we could have sold.
The moments we didn’t know how much bigger this could get.

Adam Wexler  is one of the most relentless founders I’ve ever met. A visionary with ruthless conviction over the product. There were many times we could have exited early — but Adam always believed the TAM was bigger than anyone realized.

And he was right.

Over three years, we scaled from a scrappy team of 19 to 300+ employees. I eventually departed when the company had grown beyond the stage where I thrive most.

But that ride changed my life.

It changed my family’s life.

It rooted me in Atlanta — a vibrant, business-forward city where I plan to build for years to come.

I’ve met incredible investors.
Made lifelong friends.
And still to this day, people don’t believe me when I say I rebuilt the PrizePicks app.

I’ll wear PrizePicks on my chest for the rest of my life.

Before signing off, I need to thank:

My mom, my dad, my little brother, and my fiancée — for believing in me when the cash salary wasn’t glamorous and the bet felt risky.

Shoutout to Andrew Steinberg , Aaron Holland , and Robert S Beadle  for making the introduction when I needed a change after my first startup.

And most importantly, thank you to Adam Wexler  and Jay Deuskar  for taking a bet on me.

Shoutout PrizePicks.
Shoutout Atlanta.

On to building the next one. 🚀

Founder, CloserCoach.ai | Scaling Sales Teams With AI | Ex-PrizePicks Early Engineer

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Careerist

Led operations at a Y-Combinator-backed ed-fintech company revolutionizing the online career training industry. Careerist empowers job seekers to launch and grow their tech careers through immersive training, 1:1 Career Coaching, built-in internships, and job search automation tools.

As the Chief Operating Officer, my main responsibilities included the following:
• Achieved a 45% revenue growth in H1'23 (YoY).
• Implemented a management reporting system and cohort analysis system for products,
resulting in a 20% reduction in OPEX, a 12% decrease in Churn Rate, and a 15% increase in
Gross Margin.
• Created and implemented a product metric tracking and development system, leading to a
25% increase in CSAT.
• Executed targeted marketing campaigns, resulting in a 12% increase in targeted leads in
Q1'23 and an 18% increase in Q2'23 (YoY).
• Optimized sales processes, leading to a 15% increase in lead conversion to paying customers.
• Recruited highly skilled managers for key positions in sales, marketing, and analytics
departments, resulting in a 52% sales increase in Q1'23 (YoY).
• Revamped the affiliate marketing system, including integrating and expanding new
advertising networks and restructuring the referral program, leading to a 60% increase in
partners and a 25% increase in referral revenue in H1'23 (YoY).
• Implemented a flexible pricing strategy adaptable to contract types (upfront, split, credit
sales), increasing lead conversion to paying customers by 8% and AOV by 15% in Q3'23
(QoQ).
• Developed and implemented a new performance-based incentive system aligned with
business goals across various departments

Chief Operating Officer

Skillbox

Skillbox is the market leader in online vocational education in Eastern Europe, offers a diverse range of courses tailored to meet the demands of today's job market. With a focus on cutting-edge digital professions, our educational offerings include comprehensive programs in UX design, Cybersecurity, QA Engineering, product management, internet marketing, programming, motion design, game development, etc. 

As of 2022, the company has developed over 500 educational programs in collaboration with leading experts in each of the respective knowledge areas for over 400 000 students. 

Being named as Top 10 Chief Commercial Officer in 2021 and 2022 by Kommersant, my main responsibilities for 2.5 years include the following:
• Revenue Optimisation (+300% in 2020);
• Marketing Tool Automation (built IT solutions with the marketing team);
• GTM Strategy Development and Execution;
• Marketing Budget Management ($30M+);
• Churn Rate Decrease (1000% in 3 years);
• Investor Relationships (board member);
• Preparing a company for an IPO.

The transformation from CMO in 2017 to CCO in 2019 allowed me to identify the company’s weak sides from a marketing and sales perspective. As a result of that, I have managed to significantly improve the product launch cycle and marketing department operations resulting in higher sales and international market expansion with new products.

For more information about Skillbox's educational program and online learning process please go to www.skillbox.com

Chief Commercial Officer

Skillbox educational platform focuses on new and much-in-demand professions and gives students an opportunity to study online from the comfort of their home or on a go. All courses consist of a theoretical part, practical tasks, and a final assignment to present in front of field experts in person. Skillbox opens doors to over 160 different professions and bachelor’s/master's degrees in the leading universities in Eastern Europe through 5 professional programs.

As the Chief Marketing Officer, my main responsibilities for 2.5 years included the following:
• Marketing Department Management (250 people in performance marketing, commercial analytics, content marketing, CRM, brand marketing, and PR);
• Partnership and Affiliate Programs Launch (+15% in total revenue for 2021);
• Reduced Marketing Costs (end-to-end analytics tool development);
• GTM Strategies Development;
• Boosting revenue (from $800K to $14M in 12 months).

For more information about Skillbox's success stories and company’s awards please go to www.skillbox.com

Chief Marketing officer

Mentorama

Mentorama is an online mentoring platform in Brazil connecting students with industry professionals through comprehensive online education programs. Successfully participated in the company's exit as a managing partner and shareholder.

As the Managing Partner, my main responsibilities included the following:
• Scaled the company from $0 to $190K monthly revenue while reducing marketing budget from 90% to 22% of revenue.
• Managed P&L together with the CEO to ensure sustainable growth and profitability.
• Built and led a cross-cultural marketing and sales team of 17 people, with 70% local talent from Brazil/Portugal.
• Expanded product portfolio achieving 25% revenue share from new offerings.
• Oversaw multi-channel marketing strategy across Meta, Google, TikTok, Influencers, and affiliate marketing.
• Successfully localized the product for the Brazilian market by engaging local industry experts for course content development.

Managing Partner

Company name Retail Rocket

Retail Rocket’s team consists of 100+ engineers, marketing specialists, designers, and managers. Retention Management Platform is our core product. It provides a set of tools for systematic work on clients retention, boosting LTV, and repeat purchases. The Platform includes 4 modules: Data Warehouse, AI Personalization Engine, Customer Intelligence Platform, and Campaign Management System. 

As the Chief Marketing Officer, my main responsibilities for 2.5 years included the following:
• Revenue Optimisation (+100% in 2016);
• Local Marketing Strategies Development (Chile, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands);
• GTM Strategies Development;
• Income Stream Development (new accounts acquisition).

For more information about Retail Rocket’s past achievements and all services please go to www.retailrocket.net

Ashmanov&Partners

Ashmanov and Partners are one of the leading digital agencies in Eastern Europe Founded in 2001, it was one of the first companies promoting websites at the Runet search engines. The company hosts two annual conferences which are pivotal for Internet marketing in the CIS and also publishes books on Internet marketing and hosts a monthly workshop.

As the Head of UX, my main responsibilities for 2.5 years included the following:
• UX Department Team Management;
• Leading the Design Solution Meetings;
• Clients’ UX Project Management;
• Reporting and Presenting Results;
• Public Speaking at Conferences;
• Workshops Organisation and Moderating.

For more information about Ashmanov and Partners' past achievements and all services please go to www.ashmanov.com

Head of UX

RBS corporation

RBS Corporation is a community of Internet marketing professionals, providing search engine optimization and website promotion, contextual advertising, marketing audit, and website creation. RBS Corporation was established in 2004, and today holds one of the highest positions on the Internet marketing market.

As the Head of UX, my main responsibilities for 2.5 years included the following:
• Website Development and Promotion;
• UX Team Coordination;
• Website Audit;
• Digital Design Solutions;
• Reporting and Presenting Results.

For more information about RBS Corporation's past achievements and all services please go to www.bdbd.ru

🌟 Accomplished business leader with a strong track record of scaling high-performance revenue teams and reinforcing data-driven approach. Over 10 years of experience in senior leadership roles, driving transformative growth for companies. Most recently at Careerist (Y-Combinator backed), served as COO overseeing strategic initiatives focused on operations and revenue optimization.

🌍 Extensive edtech industry expertise spanning Central and Eastern Europe, the U.S., and Latin America, established as an expert in efficient team operation and business growth, delivering exceptional results since 2017.

🚀 Prior to Careerist, as the CCO at Skillbox, a leading Russian edtech company, showcased my ability to drive revenue growth and lead high-performing teams. Recognized as a Top 10 Chief Commercial Officer in Russia in both 2021 and 2022.

🔝 Earlier in my career, held key leadership positions, including Head of UX at Ashmanov and Partners and RBS Corp. These roles allowed me to refine my skills in product development, international sales, and marketing strategy. Additionally, as the CMO at Retail Rocket, formulated and executed a successful go-to-market strategy, resulting in a significant revenue increase.

📚 If you're interested in scaling operations, revenue optimization strategies, or building successful tech companies, let's connect to exchange insights and experiences.

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