Vova Ermolaev

Vova Ermolaev

12 yrs of Product dev 33yo ex‑SWE

Love creating UX-friendly, technically robust products in physical world. Shipping profit, not just features.

Key Achievements

$2.3M
Gross Profit Generated
Yandex Drive, 6 months
$5.8M
EBITDA for Yandex + Yango e-Scooters
3 startups
Launched as PM 0 → 1
Anytype, Scooters Franchise, Ozon.Invest
3x founder
Partn.ai, Feedle.ai, Inkers

Work Experience

2024 – present

Chief Product Officer · Yandex Drive

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• Set product strategy + research-led quarterly prioritization & OKRs → MAU growth >20%, retention ATH + team's turnover 0% with 28% promotions (+22% vs avg)

• Lifted market share +10 pp by tightly managing product, marketing, operations and performance teams

• Launched risk‑priced insurance → +231% gross profit in 6 months

• First time in industry: sold tariff naming as branding to Winline & launched native BNPL

• Achieved stronger retention by rolling out a Superapp Mode unifying sharing, rental, and subscription

2023 – 2024

Franchise Director · Yandex Scooters · CIS

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• Built franchise from scratch: developed strategy → launched 16 000 e-Scooters in 12 cities across 4 countries → generated >$10M GMV

• Launched tax optimization → $2M annual OPEX savings.

2022 – 2023

Head of Product · Yango Wind · Israel

• Stabilized the business and regained share: Israel market share up from 29% to 38%.

• +$3.8m net impact by optimizing opex and new UX – executed a legacy-to-Yango tech migration and designed brand new Yango Wind app.

• Secured +12% GMV uplift by launching new minute packages and updated zero-unlock passes.

2019 – 2022

Senior Product Manager · Anytype · Worldwide

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• Designed offline-first knowledge-graph app – Anytype. Lead 14-person team & community of 3,000+ users who contributed 1,500 bug reports and feature requests.

Achieved product-market fit and scaled user retention → helped to secure $13.4M investment from Balderton Capital and 2nd place in PoTM on Product Hunt

2019

Product Manager · Ozon.Invest

• Built everything in crowdlending platform from scratch.

• Successfully implemented a business model for Ozon.Invest, delivering $5M to lenders, 10.5% returns to investors, and covering development costs in a year with a 2% fee

• Personally struck first loans offline.

2018

Product Owner · Alfa-Bank

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• Developed new UX of daily banking app for 2M users – app propelled from 8th to 1st in the Markswebb Mobile Banking Rank.

2013 – 2017

Software Developer · Alfa-Bank

• Developed banking app using Java and Kotlin, writing logic on microservices architecture.

Entrepreneurial experience

2025 – now

Founder · Partn.ai · Online

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• Built low-code AI automation studio – got 130k LinkedIn impressions → paid consultations sold

• My AI PM‑Copilot cut PRD cycle 360 min → 30 min

2024

Founder · Feedle.ai · Offline

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• Built recommendation feed SaaS.

• Sunsetted after zero sales – will validate market before product next time.

2014 – 2016

Co‑founder · Inkers · Offline

• Bootstrapped 700 units @ 30% margin

• Learned brand craft & ops – discovered apparel wasn't my passion.

Case Studies

2025 – now

Partn.ai: 48-Hour Launch

From AI PM agent idea to viral LinkedIn post with 100k impressions and first paid consultations.

Partn.ai Case Study

AI PM agent rapid launch

4 min read

2024 – present

Yandex Drive: Scaling to Profitability

How we achieved 231% gross profit growth and built Russia's first native BNPL for mobility.

Yandex Drive Case Study

Risk-based insurance, BNPL, and more

8 min read

2024

Feedle.ai: Lessons in Market Validation

Building a personalized "For You" feed SaaS and learning the hard truth about product-market fit.

Feedle.ai Case Study

Failed SaaS validation

5 min read

2023 – 2024

Yandex Scooters: Breaking Out of Moscow

Designing a franchise model and securing 0% VAT status through Skolkovo for nationwide expansion.

Scooters Franchise Case Study

Building franchise network

5 min read

2019 – 2022

Anytype: Finding Product-Market Fit

How I transitioned Anytype from a simple notes app to 50% PMF score by solving student needs.

Anytype Case Study

Student-focused PMF research

7 min read

2018

Alfa-Bank: From 8th to 1st Place

How cognitive-load research and design sprints transformed Russia's most complex banking app.

Alfa-Bank Case Study

Mobile banking redesign

6 min read

Publications

2025

Basic Framework for Product Manager

My lean four pillar framework with minimal theory and maximum impact.

Four Pillar Framework diagram

Basic Framework for Product Manager

5 min read

Education

2008 – 2014

Bauman Moscow State Technical University

BSc in Computer and Information Systems

Books & Resources that Influenced Me

Thinking in Systems book cover
Donella Meadows Systems Thinking

Thinking in Systems

How to create and improve systems in business and life.

The Effective Executive book cover
Peter Drucker Management

The Effective Executive

Timeless principles and decision-making techniques that shaped my approach to product management.

The Startup Owner's Manual book cover
Steve Blank & Bob Dorf Startup

The Startup Owner's Manual

The step-by-step guide for building a great company.

Good Strategy Bad Strategy book cover
Richard Rumelt Strategy

Good Strategy Bad Strategy

The difference between good and bad strategy and why it matters.

Zero to One book cover
Peter Thiel Innovation

Zero to One

A classic collection of essays on business and innovation.

Let's Talk

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