Taylan Pince

Passionate technical leader with 21 years of experience leading product and engineering teams across fintech, edtech, healthtech and blockchain startups. Proven track record of driving innovation in B2B and B2C products, delivering successful digital solutions for real-world problems, leading complex technical teams and securing market growth. Specialized focus on SaaS, team leadership and growth, product vision and hands-on technical guidance. Deep understanding of AWS infrastructures, mobile and web app development cycles, React, React Native, Swift, Python, Django and Docker.

Skills

  • Strategic Product Leadership: Over 10 years of experience leading product strategy with data driven insights and empathy, particularly under ambiguous market conditions. Skilled in working closely with marketing, sales and community counterparts and leading partnerships.
  • Team Building and Growth: Skilled in leading, mentoring and scaling mission-driven, passionate teams with a strong focus on nurturing personal growth. Led global teams across 12+ time zones.
  • Technical Architecture and Product Design: Career-long specialization in understanding technical constraints and designing architectures that match business and market goals. Proficient in Python, Dockerized AWS infrastructures, Swift, React, Django, SQL and HTML.

Experience

Pera Wallet

CEO & Head of Product, Feb 2022 — May 2023 | Remote

Led a new, user-friendly crypto wallet from initial launch to massive community adoption. Oversaw business and revenue strategy, regulatory compliance, product vision, marketing and community outreach. Established strong revenue streams and a culture of end-user focus.

  • Grew user base to 650K active customers and reached 82% adoption in the Algorand ecosystem within 16 months, using guerilla marketing efforts and community engagement.
  • Negotiated and signed successful referral deals with 20+ partners.
  • Increased user retention rates by 3.2x compared to first quarter post-launch.
  • Doubled product team cadence to comfortably and efficiently releasing 2 new versions per month.
  • Oversaw the launch of a new feature that generated $500K of revenue within 6 months.

Hipo

CEO & Founder, Jan 2009 — Dec 2021 | Remote

Founded a boutique product consultancy for early stage startups. Grew organization to 65 full-time employees across 12 time zones and $5M+ yearly revenue. Established product studio model, acquiring equity in emerging startups and working closely with founding teams. Was responsible for product ownership and mobile team leadership.

  • Helped launch 50+ successful products in fintech, edtech, e-commerce, social and smart home verticals. Highlights with personal involvement include:
    • Robinhood: Developed initial iOS and Android apps, won an Apple Design Award, driving large-scale adoption of the first consumer focused trading platform.
    • Coinlist: Developed mobile apps for the first successful ICO platform with 8M users and over $1B USD in token purchases.
    • Bauer: Developed revolutionary iOS and Android apps that used computer vision for matching customers with the correct hockey equipment and sizes.
  • Operated on a positive cash flow for over 11 years, reaching $5M+ yearly revenue in the last 4 years.
  • Grew team from 1 to 65 over 10 years, while maintaining a healthy workplace culture and very high tenure rates (average 5 years).
  • Transitioned to a silent partner role as of December 2021.

Vesta Equity

CTPO, Sep 2021 — Jan 2022 | Toronto, Canada

Architected and built an innovative fractional real estate ownership platform on the Algorand blockchain. Was responsible for all platform architecture and product UX. Hired, trained and scaled technical and product teams.

  • Worked closely with COO to convert complex regulatory requirements into a compliant technical implementation.
  • Assisted CEO with fundraise efforts and helped raise $2.4M USD in funding.

Unwrapit

CTPO & Co-Founder, Oct 2019 — Sep 2021 | Toronto, Canada

Built and launched an innovative digital gifting solution for events and companies. Was responsible for platform architecture and product UX and flows. Hired and trained product and technical teams, led product development efforts.

  • Worked closely with co-founding team to scale sales and reached sustainability within a year.
  • Helped company achieve B-Corp status in 2021.
  • Transitioned to a technical advisory role as of September 2021.

Avocare

CTPO & Co-Founder, Apr 2016 — Sep 2019 | Toronto, Canada

Worked closely with healthcare practicioners to design and build a clinic communication platform for patients and physicians. Was responsible for all platform architecture, product and technology team hiring and customer support.

  • Scaled product and business to 50 practicioners and over 20,000 patients.
  • Established and operated customer support program with 94% satisfaction rate.

Early Career

Software Developer, 2002 — 2009 | Toronto, Canada

Worked as a software developer in various agencies and startups. Specialized in HTML, CSS, Flash, Python and Django development.

Education

York University

Bachelor of Fine Arts, 2002 — 2006 | Toronto, Canada

Studied art history and practical visual arts, with a strong focus on interactive arts and software-driven immersive installations.

Personal and Professional Development

Avid runner, hobbyist astrophographer and tinkerer in DIY electronics and 3D printing. Professionally, mentor and speaker at various product and development conferences:

  • Mentor, AXL Ventures Accelerator Program, 2023 (Remote)
  • Speaker, Decipher — 2022, Dubai, UAB
  • Speaker, Blockchain Forum Italia — 2022, Milan, Italy
  • Speaker, 360iDev — 2018, Denver, Colorado
  • Speaker, Devoxx — 2017, Antwerp, Belgium
  • Speaker, NSSpain — 2016, Logrono, Spain
  • Speaker, NSConference — 2015, Birmingham, UK
  • Speaker, AltConf — 2015, San Francisco, California