STANISLAV (SLAV) STANKOV

Hands-on Lead Product Manager

Biased towards action and making daily impacts. Scrappy mindset, iterative, focused on business results.

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Stanislav (Slav) Stankov photo

About me

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For the last 10 years, I've honed my skills as a Product Manager at various Silicon Valley companies, including Upwork and Synergy Sports, as well as contract roles at Xero and Microsoft significantly influenced my approach how products are build and grown. I ventured into entrepreneurship with a PLG B2B SaaS startup, leading the development and scaling of products from the ground up.

Now, I apply my acquired knowledge to build products that customers love and that drive business revenue. My approach is centered on product and business strategy, roadmap development, metrics analysis, and enhancing user experience to create sticky products. While keeping the broader objectives in view, I optimize processes daily for growth and steer metrics toward the right trajectory.

How I work

Expertise

Certifications

CompTIA Security+ Certification
Product Leader Certificate
Senior Product Manager Certificate
Project Management Professional (PMP)
Professional Scrum Product Owner I (PSPO I)
Professional Scrum Master I (PSM I)

Continual Learning Journey

As a product manager, I view lifelong learning as essential for success. I aim to complete either an additional course or certification every six months, or undertake one significant certification annually.

CompTIA

CompTIA Security+ Certification by CompTIA

January 2024

Taking the first step to showcase my expertise in the security domain, complementing my role as a Product Manager. I'm beginning my preparations for the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification, solidifying my domain expertise in security.

Shopify

Shopify Foundations Certification by Shopify

December 2023

After 3+ years as an app developer and store consultant in the Shopify ecosystem, I recently completed the new Shopify certification for partners. I recommend this certification to all partners and even store owners. It provides a broad understanding of the Shopify ecosystem, including its operations with partners and clients. I wish I had taken this course earlier to better utilize Shopify's infrastructure. The material offers significant value, and the paid procured exam is optional.

Nika

Building AI-powered Products 101 by Nika

June 2023

A practically focused course for deep understanding of AI Product Management. It provides a comprehensive grounding in AI fundamentals and the product development lifecycle. String points about collaborate effectively with technical teams about model training and data-driven decision-making.

Leah Tharin

Product-led Growth Foundations by Leah Tharin

June 2023

The course deepened my understanding of what product-led growth (PLG) is and how to apply it in both B2C and B2B contexts. Topics included defining PLG ideal customer profiles, detecting customer success signals, implementing PLG through data-driven goal setting, leveraging PLG for efficient resource use, and preparing the grounds for enabled sales.

Shreyas Doshi

Managing your PM Career in 2023 & beyond by Shreyas Doshi

March 2023

The course was designed for senior product managers and leaders and focused on enhancing product management career skills - systematically growing competence, developing frameworks for decision-making, leading hard conversations, mentoring others, and balancing trade-offs.

Product School

Product Leader Certification by Product School

February 2023

The course focuses on the development and refinement of a comprehensive product strategy, teaching how to craft, communicate, and translate this strategy into clear objectives (ORKs) for your team. It emphasizes the importance of effective communication, alignment, and persuasion, vital for building and sustaining high-performing teams and driving strategic success. The course guides through the creation and iteration of advanced product processes, including leading productive meetings and becoming an effective mentor. Furthermore, it bolsters abilities to make data-informed decisions, tying product strategy to key business metrics, and understanding financial modeling and P&L.

Product School

Senior Product Manager Certification by Product School

September 2022

The course focuses on enhancing the critical skills of senior product managers - understanding product strategy fundamentals such as user research and innovation. It emphasizes the maximization of product-market fit (PMF) and the use of analytics and data for discovery and prioritization. It covers product execution and optimization, as well as understanding outcomes, impact, and techniques to maximize team performance. Furthermore, it explores the development of influence and relationships, product evangelism, performance promotions, and effective presentations.

My Insights

In my posts, I focus on sharing practical and valuable insights that were challenging to obtain or required considerable time to gather. My aim is to provide tactical, actionable knowledge derived from real-world experience, avoiding any superfluous content.

Growing Shopify App - experience from trenches

February 25, 2023

Experimenting with Channels and Tactics for Product-Led Growth on Shopify App Marketplace: Lessons Learned

Growing Shopify App - experience from trenches

Prioritizing and Resolving Issues in Under 10 Minutes with Custom Error Context

September 2, 2022

Sharing me experience and technical insights how we are able to provide great error-free customer experience and prioritize product decisions…

Prioritizing and Resolving Issues in Under 10 Minutes with Custom Error Context

This is why developing a shipment tracking SaaS is so hard!

June 30, 2022

Rush is a shipment tracking app which provides post-purchase solutions. This is my experience as a product manager with Rush. First things…

This is why developing a shipment tracking SaaS is so hard!