Steven J.

About Steven J.

Approach: I believe Product Management is fundamentally a leadership function, defined by sound judgement and fueled by customer understanding. Playbook: Great roadmaps anticipate needs and solve problems. As products age and ownership models change, the needs and problems that need to be addressed by the roadmap become more complex. Revenue aspirations in a pitch deck become revenue expectations in a board deck. Simmering technical debt boils over to stress new feature timelines or elevate risk. Well-meaning client requests seemingly distract from more strategic work. Before long, tools like the Now, Next, Later roadmap are being asked to do a lot more heavily lifting in terms expectations than they were contemplated to manage and innovation suffers. Through product management experience in startup, scale-up, transformation, and BAU organizations across education, healthcare, and financial IT verticals and with the good fortune of working with and for great thinkers, I have developed an strategic product framework that quickly assesses the overall health and investment profile of an organization’s product(s), inclusive of the new, the old, and the acquired. This framework accommodates an organization’s evolving complexity through:> Rule of 40 investment analysis that allocates dollars based on company life stage, product P&L, CAGR, market condition, stack health, etc.> Decision framework that considers strategy, timing, revenue, and cost consistently across strategic and tactical roadmap opportunities.> Progressive planning cadence combined with interrupt-driven change management to remain responsive to business needs and timing, notably for go-to-market calendars.> Full transparency between product, finance, sales, and other stakeholders that may not be as familiar with the ins and outs of an SDLC.> Flexibility to start light and industrialize as the organization grows, including M&A activities.A roadmap should be comprehensive evidence of an organization’s commitment to its vision, and it is most effective when underpinned by transparent decision making that reflects stakeholder input and manages expectations. Being proactive in planning reduces noise and keeps the focus on solving real user problems to delight customers and create enterprise value. And that’s what we are all truly after. Specialties: Portfolio Product Management, End-to-End Product Research & Development, B2B2C Product Dynamics, SDLC Management, Enterprise Client Management, Market Research, Product Sales Training

Experience

1. Chief Product Officer - Revtrak

   Vanco

   Dec 2025 — Present

   Drive enterprise value through top line growth and cost optimization filtered through the client value chainDeliver solutions to optimize school\'s district operationsDelight parents, guardians, and supporters of school districts as they interact with the school\'s activity ecosystem with personalized, intuitive experiences

Education

• Xavier University

  Bachelor of Arts, English

  1996 — 2000

• Saint Louis University

  Masters of Arts, English Literature

  2000 — 2002

Skills

• Publishing
• Online Publishing
• Digital Media
• Marketing
• Training
• Program Management
• Academic Publishing
• Product Management
• User Experience
• Content Strategy
• Marketing Strategy
• Editorial
• Social Media
• Sales Presentations
• Teaching
• Strategy
• Product Development
• Content Development
• Market Research
• Editing
• Market Planning
• Management
• Team Building
• Ebooks
• Digital Publishing
• Leadership
• Content Management
• E-Learning