Open to opportunities

Paul Chen

@paulchen

Product manager and builder for 0-to-1 e-commerce, retail ops, and AI products, aligning teams around user needs and business goals.

United States

Message

What I'm looking for

I’m looking for PM roles in e-commerce, retail platforms, fashion tech, and manufacturing operations tools at small to mid-size companies.

Product manager and builder with 5+ years in product strategy and end-to-end delivery, from 0-to-1 e-commerce platforms to retail operations tools and AI-powered experiences. I lead cross-functional teams and align engineering, design, marketing, and executives around user needs and business goals.

As Founding Product Manager at Virtutela, a deep-tech fashion operations platform, I set the product strategy and 24-month roadmap that anchored a pitch drawing $10M+ in funding interest. I hired 2 engineers, ran agile sprints from PRDs and user stories, and shipped the 0-to-1 MVP in 6 months: an AI storefront, gen-AI virtual try-on, and a multi-tenant brand ops dashboard. GTM work drove 300+ shopper and 30+ brand partner signups before launch. When the launch-readiness KPI readout came in, I made a no-go call to harden the platform before going public.

Through Paulsible Co., I build full-stack tools for startups and small businesses. I partnered with Peak Design’s SF store team on an open-box management system, shipped in 2 weeks with an AI-native workflow. Open-box sell-through went from 22% to 84% in two months, inventory search got 4x faster, and 7 releases followed with zero core-user churn. I also led user research on AI agent adoption that shaped a first prototype.

Earlier, at UXReactor, I owned scope-to-delivery for enterprise B2B SaaS clients, including a cross-tenant triage view for a $100M+ ARR networking platform, projected to cut MTTR by ~40%.

AI makes it easier than ever to build, which also makes it easier to build the wrong thing. I push for new ideas, then check them against the basics: a real customer problem, a business that works, and a product people can use on day one.

I’m looking for PM roles in e-commerce, retail platforms, fashion tech, and manufacturing operations tools at small to mid-size companies.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Current

Product Builder Consultant

Current

Freelance

Apr 2023 - Present (3 years 6 months)

Build full-stack web tools for startup and small-business operations, from discovery through shipping and validation.
❖ AI-native workflow to build and ship full-stack web apps in weeks
❖ Lifted open-box sell-through from 22% to 84% in two months and cut inventory search time 4x for Peak Design’s SF store
❖ End-to-end product development, solo or with a team: discovery, PRDs, build, validation, la

Founding Product Manager

Virtutela

May 2024 - Jul 2026 (2 years 2 months)

Owned product strategy and execution for a deep-tech fashion operations platform.
❖ Set strategy and a 24-month roadmap that anchored a pitch drawing $10M+ in funding interest
❖ Hired 2 engineers and shipped the 0-to-1 MVP in 6 months, with 300+ shopper and 30+ brand partner pre-launch signups
❖ Owned discovery, PRDs, agile sprints, and launch-readiness KPIs end to end

Founding Product Lead

Virtutela Inc.

May 2024 - Jul 2026 (2 years 2 months)

Owned fashion e-commerce platform spanning AI-driven storefront, order management, and integrated production and fulfillment workflows. Synthesized founder's research into product strategy, drove MVP from specs to fundraiser-ready in 6 months, and built marketing landing page gathering 300+ customer and 30+ partner signups.

Product Strategy Product Roadmapping Agile Development AI UX Research Marketing

Product UX Consultant (Promoted from Design Apprentice)

UXReactor

Dec 2021 - Apr 2023 (1 year 4 months)

Product strategy consultancy; owned scope-to-delivery for enterprise B2B SaaS clients.
❖ Aligned client leadership and engineering in a 2-day workshop, unlocking a 13-week engagement
❖ Mapped the multi-tenant monitoring gap for a $100M+ ARR networking platform; projected ~40% lower MTTR
❖ Discovery, user interviews, competitive analysis, and workflow prioritization against adoption targets

Current

Gear Expert

Current

Peak Design

Jul 2024 - Present (2 years 3 months)

Retail sales and customer experience at Peak Design's SF flagship store

❖ Top-3 sales on a 6–8 person team
❖ Multi-channel customer retention

Product UX Designer

Kids & Art Foundation

Mar 2021 - Dec 2021 (9 months)

A nonprofit supporting pediatric cancer patients and their families. I co-created the "Amaeyzing Artkits" onboarding experience for a high-sensitivity user group.

❖ 20+ monthly signups
❖ Empathetic onboarding flow
❖ SF Design Week 2021 Honorable Mention

Visual Designer

Duality Robotics

Oct 2021 - Nov 2021 (1 month)

Digital Twins simulation company. I partnered with the PM on visual design for technical white papers.
❖ Complex product capabilities → clear 2-page technical white papers

Graduate Teaching Assistant

California College of the Arts

Jan 2020 - Dec 2020 (11 months)

Design History instruction. I facilitated critiques and kept students engaged through the COVID remote transition.

Operation Ambassador

California College of the Arts

Sep 2019 - Dec 2020 (1 year 3 months)

Admissions operations. I led campus tours and supported prospective-student engagement.

❖ Admissions data + outreach → enrollment growth

Web Designer

EllevateYou

Aug 2020 - Sep 2020 (1 month)

Coaching consultancy website. I worked with a brand designer on a visual revamp.
❖ 10 page layouts revamped
❖ Brand aesthetic + usability lift

Industrial Design Intern

Wistron Neweb Corporation

Jul 2019 - Aug 2019 (1 month)

ODM for network hardware (AT&T, Verizon 5G modems). I supported the industrial design team.

❖ Design thinking workshops
❖ Competitive analysis → network product direction

Senior Student Ambassador

California College of the Arts

May 2017 - Dec 2018 (1 year 7 months)

Admissions operations. I led campus tours and supported prospective-student engagement.

Design Intern

San Francisco Arts Education Project

Apr 2018 - Oct 2018 (6 months)

Arts education nonprofit. I translated org strategy into designed communications.

Industrial Design Volunteer

St. Anthony Foundation

Jan 2018 - May 2018 (4 months)

Public soup kitchen serving people experiencing homelessness. I researched and prototyped product solutions.
❖ Prototyped for real constraints: safety | cleanability | manufacturability

Education

Degrees, certifications, and relevant coursework

UX DesignOps: Working with Developers

Aug 2024

Agile User Experience Design and Research

Jul 2024

Project Management Foundations: Requirements

Aug 2024

Stanford Online

XDGT210 - Transforming the User Experience through Artificial Intelligence

Nov 2023

Design Thinking: Data Intelligence

Nov 2023

California College of the Arts

Master of Design, Interaction Design

Grade: 3.8/4.0 w/ distinction

Activities and societies: Product UX Designer, Kids & Art Foundation (Mar – Dec 2021): designed onboarding experiments in pediatric oncology healthcare that drove 20+ monthly signups; honorable mention at SFDW 2021.

MDes in Interaction Design with distinction, GPA 3.8/4.0.

California College of the Arts

Bachelor of Fine Arts, Industrial Design

Grade: 3.6/4.0 w/ high distinction

Activities and societies: Industrial Design Intern, Wistron Neweb Corporation (Jul – Aug 2019): facilitated design thinking workshops and drove competitive analysis to inform network product lines.

BFA in Industrial Design with high distinction, GPA 3.6/4.0.