CEO, Co-Founder, & Design Lead
September 2020 – September 2024
Product Design Leadership: Spearheaded Adalo’s product design and vision from ideation through acquisition, solidifying its reputation as the most accessible and intuitive no-code app builder.
- Grew Adalo to over 1 million makers, with 30,000+ monthly active users building their own apps on the platform.
- Enabled customers to publish 25,000+ live apps with active user engagement, reaching over 5 million end-users, alongside 1 million+ unpublished test apps created on the platform.
- Balanced high-level strategy with hands-on design contributions, creating mockups and guiding the product roadmap to continuously enhance user experience.
- Led the design for an AI feature set that helped makers create and manage their apps' databases, simplifying one of the hardest tasks for first-time, non-technical users, which led to a 3.8x increase in conversion to paid.
- Collaborated with cross-functional teams (engineering, product, growth) to ensure alignment between design, product vision, and go-to-market strategy, contributing to Adalo’s success in scaling from a startup to acquisition.
- Led a comprehensive design of Adalo’s onboarding experience, increasing new user conversion rates and improving overall retention by focusing on simplicity and intuitive design.
- Conducted regular user testing, A/B experiments, and usability research, gathering insights from users and internal stakeholders to identify friction points and iteratively improve the platform’s UI/UX, driving higher engagement, usability, and conversion rates.
- Defined and championed the development of a scalable design system, enabling the team to maintain consistent design patterns across the platform and accelerate new feature development.
Growth & Scaling: Drove Adalo’s rapid expansion to five-figures in total customers within five years, generating mid seven-figures in ARR and surpassing eight-figures in total sales.
- Elevated brand visibility to 300,000+ monthly site visitors and realized a 10x YoY growth rate during peak expansion phases.
- Achieved mid four-figure monthly active paying customers contributing to consistent revenue growth.
- Maintained a lifetime value (LTV) of $1,172 per customer and an average revenue per user (ARPU) of $66.85, reinforcing strong customer retention and value.
- Boosted component marketplace activity, reaching five-figures in additional monthly revenue from over 750+ monthly component purchases.
Business Strategy: Successfully guided Adalo through a strategic acquisition in 2024, enhancing financial stability and long-term growth potential.
- Secured $9.7M in total funding from prominent investors, including Tiger Global, establishing strong investor partnerships and building credibility in the no-code industry.
- Reached profitability in September 2023, marking a key financial milestone and reinforcing Adalo’s sustainable growth model.
- Directed budgeting and comprehensive financial planning, optimizing resources to support scaling efforts and maintaining fiscal health.
- Cultivated and managed investor relations, ensuring alignment with company growth objectives and reinforcing Adalo’s value proposition to stakeholders.
Team Leadership: Built and led a diverse, remote team of 40+ employees across 10 countries (U.S., Canada, Ukraine, Mexico, Brazil, Columbia, Georgia, Netherlands, UK, and India), fostering a collaborative and purpose-driven culture that aligned with Adalo’s vision.
- Directly managed a team of 4 designers and 4 leadership team members, conducting regular 1:1s, mentoring junior designers to help them grow in their roles, and collaborating as peers with senior leaders.
- Led offsite team-building activities to foster alignment and ensure continuous personal and professional development across the team.
- Spearheaded recruitment and onboarding processes, attracting top talent worldwide and cultivating a team with varied backgrounds and perspectives.
- Developed and implemented a comprehensive change management strategy to support scalability and adaptability, ensuring smooth transitions through growth phases and strategic shifts.
- Regularly introduced engaging company-wide activities, such as virtual board games, quizzes, friendly competitions, and cultural exchanges, to strengthen team bonds and enhance remote collaboration.
Design Co-Founder
January 2018 – September 2020
Design: Led all aspects of design from the ground up, establishing Adalo’s cohesive and recognizable brand identity across multiple channels.
- Designed the product from inception, creating initial mockups and iterating based on feedback, with a strong emphasis on user experience. Conducted user testing to gather insights from real users, refining functionality and usability to ensure Adalo’s seamless and user-friendly app-building process.
- Created Adalo’s brand identity, logo, and visual guidelines, setting a consistent tone that supported user trust and recognition.
- Designed all marketing assets including the website, product pages, tutorials, videos, and event materials, ensuring alignment with Adalo’s branding and growth objectives.
Sales & Marketing: Developed and executed the initial sales strategy, generating early revenue and establishing a foundation for Adalo’s scalable, self-serve model.
- Personally sold, designed, and built complete apps for the first 12 customers, creating tailored solutions priced from a few thousand dollars up to over $10,000 per app, demonstrating product-market fit and establishing early customer trust.
- Transitioned from custom services to a self-serve platform, enabling users to independently create and launch their own apps and driving sustainable, scalable growth.
- Created targeted marketing assets and conducted SEO experimentation, social media ads, and Google search ads to enhance brand visibility, attract a dedicated early user base, and establish Adalo as a leader in the no-code space.
Thought Leadership: Established Adalo as a pioneering voice in the no-code movement, advocating for accessible technology and empowering makers and non-developers.
- Speaker at No-Code Conf in 2019 (in person) and 2020 (virtual), sharing insights on no-code’s impact and future with a wide audience.
- Authored influential thought pieces, including The Future is No-Code, helping to position Adalo as a thought leader and inspire a growing community of no-code enthusiasts.
- Engaged with industry leaders and early adopters, building partnerships and strengthening Adalo’s influence within the no-code ecosystem.
Initial Fundraising & Launch: Led Adalo’s public launch in November 2019, emphasizing ease of use and accessibility based on insights from custom app development services. The launch was met with strong market reception, establishing Adalo’s presence in the no-code space.
- Won the 2019 ArchGrants competition, securing $50,000 in equity-free funding to further support Adalo’s growth.
- Designed and created all product launch materials, including the website and an introductory video that garnered 490,000+ views, driving awareness and engagement.
- Successfully raised $1.7M in funding within the first three months post-launch, capitalizing on the momentum and market demand generated by Adalo’s successful entry.
