Pathfinder

As a dedicated business growth strategist, my focus on practical solutions and collaboration enables me to locate and help clients eliminate the obstacles that limit potential and drive long-term success in key areas such as mindset, sales, team building, marketing, operations, and beyond.

Operational Consultant

qopodo

My Visual Art project, where I explore the subject of individuality. I strongly believe that individuality is a unique and the most valuable asset one can bring to any endeavour. In my journey as visual artist, I celebrate the power of individuality and convey the idea to the public.

Main character

EMIREX

As Head of Operations in the cryptocurrency industry, I leveraged my knowledge of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency to drive significant improvements in the areas of team management, business processes, product development, and regulatory compliance.

Some of my key achievements include:

•	Successfully managing a remote team of client support, trading, and acquisition specialists
•	Streamlining and improving business processes, resulting in increased efficiency and better communication across teams
•	Playing a key role in product and service development, including creating functional requirements and analyzing competitors
•	Significantly enhancing token listing services through the identification of new selling points and the establishment of clear listing procedures
•	Developing and implementing regulatory measures such as KYC, AML, and data protection to ensure compliance with industry standards
•	Managing exchange service processes related to matching engine, liquidity providers, trading bots, token listing, assets/liabilities, and reporting.

Head Of Operations

Financial broker

As a professional who has served several FOREX brokers and PSP companies, I have a track record of delivering significant results in areas such as organizational design, team management, marketing research, business strategy development, and product management. Some of my notable achievements include:

•	Successfully opening an office in Vietnam for a Forex broker in 2019, and implementing organizational design, hiring and training local team, identifying strengths and weaknesses of the enterprise, finding solutions, providing directions for future growth, and establishing business processes such as sales and marketing.
•	Conducting and supervising global marketing research in Latin America, Africa, Asia and Middle East, leading to deeper understanding of the target market and its needs
•	Developing and implementing a successful business strategy for the Forex and PSP companies, resulting in increased revenue and profitability
•	Representing Chinese Forex and PSP companies on global market, including successful negotiations with foreign vendors, partners, and clients
•	Product management (MT4/MT5 trading environment, payment system, plug-ins for institutional trading) and played a key role in searching for the teams and individual vendors that can accomplish the technical tasks, conducting and supervising business analysis, approving technical requirements, establishing negotiations within stakeholders, and supervising testing.

Private Business Consultant

Libertex Group

As a leading member of the team that built the China operations of Libertex, a brokerage services provider, I have a proven track record of driving significant growth and success. Some of my key achievements include:
•	Increasing revenue 4x, the customer base 4x, and deposits 4x despite a highly competitive market
•	Developing business with a large percentage of high net worth clients, gaining their confidence in the turbulent business climate
•	Analyzing the business risks in China and ensuring the safety of clients and employees
•	Managing the budgeting and forecasting, establishing the business structures, and growing the employee base
•	Developing new services, including trading instruments
•	Leading the development of a new website and localizing the trading platform
•	Cultivating relationships with strategic partners, including websites for foreign exchange and foreign stock markets
•	Building a successful sales team and creating the sales infrastructure
•	Building and managing the marketing department, overseeing successful marketing campaigns.

Head of China Business Unit

Project Manager, Dealing Department Specialist

I built the support team for the China market from scratch, and created the business infrastructure and technology ecosystem that enabled us to manage all China operations from Russia.

•	Established one of China’s few online payment services.
•	Built and managed the IT operations.
•	Taught the IT and technical support teams to work with China from Russia.
•	Managed strategic and tactical marketing.

Head of Chinese clients support team

 Freelance

I provided several companies with strategies for innovation, business development, and change management. 

•	Helped several Russian businesses develop strategic partnerships in China.
•	Built relationships with Chinese partners in several industries, including telecom, manufacturing, travel, and business services. 
•	Helped optimize logistics for several companies. 
•	Promoted Russian businesses by organizing events.

Freelance Business Development Consultant

•	Sold payment cards and credit services to some of the largest businesses and government organizations in Vladivostok when the products were new in the local market.
•	Transferred to the client department, and convinced large businesses to accept credit.

Senior Specialist of Corporate clients Department

•	Developed business for credit cards when they were new in Russia.
•	Managed a team of finance and business development professionals, and taught them to establish trust with customers at all levels of financial literacy.
•	Oversaw the group’s operations, and streamlined workflows.

Specialist of Payment cards Department

Russian Standard Bank

•	Managed group of 10 people, and developed business for credit cards when they were new in Russia. 
•	Taught team members to establish trust with clients (most clients were financially unsophisticated and had never used credit cards before). 
•	Oversaw the group’s operations, and streamlined workflows.

Senior Specialist

VladIce

•	Planned and established new network, and upgraded servers.
•	Provided daily LAN, hardware, and software administration.

System Administrator

Picture a world where founders are free to unleash their strategic and creative brilliance, unburdened by the operational obstacles that hinder their progress. ✨ This is the world I'm dedicated to creating.

I'm Nick, a global adventurer currently based in Argentina, but my journey has taken me to live and manage projects in extraordinary places like China, Vietnam, Montenegro, Georgia, Malaysia, and Russia. 🌍 Along the way, I've discovered my true calling: empowering entrepreneurs who grapple with operational obstacles within their companies.

My passion lies in helping visionary founders like you overcome the hurdles that impede your business growth. 🔥 With over 14 years of experience in various industries, I've developed a keen understanding of the intricate workings of companies facing operational complexities. It's through operational excellence that I unlock your full potential.

As a Business Advisor, I embark on each project as a captivating story, with you as the protagonist. Together, we navigate the twists and turns of your entrepreneurial journey, unraveling the challenges that hinder your success. 🚀 I specialize in delving deep into the heart of your organization, identifying the bottlenecks, and designing innovative solutions that fuel sustainable growth.

I firmly believe that true transformation occurs when mindset and business issues are addressed in unison. That's why I take a holistic approach, combining strategic thinking, creative problem-solving, and operational acumen. By aligning your business objectives with operational excellence, we pave the way for remarkable achievements. 🌟

But it's not all business for me. Outside the realm of entrepreneurship, I find solace in the world of art. Drawing has become my sanctuary, allowing me to see the world from fresh perspectives. 🎨 Through my artwork, I explore the fascinating interplay between individual development and the centralized forces that shape our lives. Additionally, I find balance and inspiration through activities like kundalini yoga, surfing, reading, skating, and cycling. 🌊📚🛹

I'm passionate about forging connections with fellow adventurers like you. Together, we can unravel the operational challenges that hold your company back and set it on a transformative path. If you're ready to unlock your strategic and creative brilliance, I invite you to join me on this remarkable journey. Let's connect and create a story of operational excellence that leaves a lasting impact. 🤝💡

Nick Kovalchuk

Mark V. Smetanin

Unlock Success for Airbnb and Short-Term Rental Business. Recently by Improving the Product - Increased Engagement by 42% , conversion rate by 74%, and acquired 2.5M new users.

As a product management leader with over eight years of experience in payments, e-commerce, Airbnb business, property management, I am a fan of technology and its application to drive business growth.My expertise lies in product management, agile coaching, portfolio management, and strategic planning.I have experience in increasing user engagement, optimizing technical processes and leading high-performance teams.

Key Highlights:

Director of Product Management: Enhanced user engagement by 16% and improved product value description by 14% through strategic market research and collaboration.

Senior Product Portfolio Manager: Managed a $1.2M project, leading to an $8M revenue projection and a 17% increase in Net Promoter Score. 
Risk assessment methods were applied, which reduced project disruptions by 24%.

Head of Product Strategy: Increased customer engagement by 42%, improved conversion rates by 74%, and acquired 2.5M new users—reduced marketing expenses by 28% by addressing critical pain points.

Skills and Expertise:

Product Management/Product Owner: Agile Frameworks, Scrum, Kanban, SAFe
Technical Proficiency: Jira, Asana, Hubspot, Salesforce
Industry Expertise: Fintech, E-commerce, Property Management, Vacation Rentals
Certifications: PMI-ACP, PMI-PMP, CSM, CSPO

Professional Experience:

Nine years in product management, agile transformation, and strategic planning
I have experience in leading cross-functional teams to deliver high performance products.
Skilled in negotiating and managing key partnerships and stakeholders

Interests:

The God's Flow State, Coffee, Stand-up comedy, Kite surfing, Skiing, Music, martial arts (2 black belts), Reading, and Hiking.

Technology Stack:

Jira, Jira Service Desk, Hubspot, Asana, Zoho Projects, Microsoft Project, Basecamp, ClickUp, Todoist, PipelineCRM, Freedcamp, Hive, Monday, Trello, Time tracker, Pivotal Tracker, Slack,Excel, Powerpoint, MS Sharepoint, MS Visio, MS Project, MS Access, Prezzi, Numbers, Pages, Photoshop, Lightroom, Planview, Linux, FreeBSD, Quality Center, ZohoCRM, ZenDesk, Zoho Desk, Fresh Desk, Vivantio Help Desk, FreshService, Salesforce Service Cloud, Hootsuite, WordPress, HTML, CSS, OBS, Mindmaps, Focus Matrix, Dropbox Paper, Skitch, Insightly CRM, Payment Gates (Visa, Mastercard, AMEX, Square, Braintree, Stripe, Paypal, Authorize.net, 2checkout, Payoneer, Bitpay, Shopify Payments), Google Analytics, Google Search Tool, Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, MCP, Rentals United, Avirato, Expedia, Booking.com, Airbnb, VRBO, PMS, Glovebox, Coterie, Risk Advisor, AWS, Crowe CRM, Salesforc

Lead Product Manager / Product Owner / Consultant

•     Improved a Product using a customer journey map, understanding and prioritizing the most critical pain points in the most profitable segment. Provided clear concept and design strategy. Collaborated with Dev and UX teams. Increased customer engagement by 226%, Improved conversion rate by 74%, and acquired 2.5M, new users.

•     Planned and facilitated an extraordinary spike for (AI) Artificial Intelligence tools and prompts. Fixed and resolved seven major issues when team members just felt stuck. 

•     Raised team confidence after the last check-in. Positive emotions and gratitude are on our happiness radar. The current sprint is 100% happiness VS 78% at the previous sprint. 

•     Organized the most efficient communication with stakeholders and implemented advanced product backlog refinement, reducing the backlog by 16%.

•    Stepped forward with special coaching from our Unique Coach and very advanced Scum Master. Differentiated workflow steps, business rule variations, variations in data, and interface variations, polished and deepened INVEST criteria. Dramatically improved the slicing of our vertical stories. Delivered value ~20% faster with the smallest increments to our customers. 

•   Implemented automated test script, additional smoke test after the build is released to QA, and code review by peers. Armed new Definition of Done (DOD) for our dev team. Changed Sprint Planning Agenda. Raised team confidence level in delivering the sprint goals to 94%. 

•    Implemented automated test script and code review by peers. Armed new Definition of Done (DOD) for our dev team. 

•     Collected the data via Web-tracking and customer interviews,  tested and validated assumptions with the development team. Provided much precise anatomy of personas. Redesigned current marketing campaign reducing waist by 28%

Spikes:
Sustainable and environmentally conscious business practices
Enterprise Agile: Changing your culture

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The Battle

Nick Kovalchuk

Mark V. Smetanin

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