Product Manager | Venture Investor | Health Tech Leader
Howdy! I’m Max. I’m an entrepreneurial leader helping emerging companies become product-led organizations. I’ve worked around the globe to launch and grow products that positively impact people.
Here are some of the projects that I’ve worked on:
Compass Pathways
is an early-stage biotechnology company accelerating patient access to evidence-based innovation in mental health using a psilocybin based treatment program. As Product Manager, I build patient facing applications to provide psychoeducation support and capture health related data from personal device sensors, voice, and usage behaviors. In collaboration with data scientists, we’re working to identify biomarkers with the goal of creating a precision approach to mental healthcare and improving outcomes.
Medic Mobile
is the creator of the Community Health Toolkit, an open source software that assists in delivering primary healthcare to people in underserved areas in Africa and Asia. As Product Manager, I established a new product management methodology with the team, managed product roadmaps, and communicated product improvements through a new documentation site.
Health Data Alliance
is a partnership between the venture capital arm of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC Enterprises), the University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences, and Carnegie Mellon University Computer Science. I joined the inaugural team to establish a new investment program commercializing digital patient health solutions, develop investment theses, and deploy over $3 million to pre-seed stage projects.
MEDIvate
was a virtual medication assistant that reduced preventable medication errors during patient transitions between healthcare settings. I am a co-inventor of the technology and was the lead Product Manager. We established a partnership with one of the largest health institutions in the US, achieving electronic health record data interoperability, clinical workflow integration, and product validation with patients recently discharged from heart surgery.
Riverview Towers
is a non-profit providing affordable housing and supportive services to seniors. As a past Board Chair and Executive Committee member, I spearheaded a recapitalization campaign for the total rehab of outdated facilities to meet current day needs. The campaign secured $18 million of funding through public/private partnerships as well as a clear pathway to long-term financial stability. The Organization was subsequently acquired.
SenSevere
produced chemical sensors used in real-time environmental monitoring. As Product Manager, I evaluated and developed a new market for this seed-stage spinout from Carnegie Mellon University research. We completed trials for waterway contaminants monitoring near natural gas drilling sites for early identification of threats to public health.
Innovation Works
is a seed-stage investment firm advancing the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Pittsburgh, PA. I joined as an investment Associate responsible for deploying a $10 million fund to alternative energy startups. Coaching and collaborating with technology leaders from Carnegie Mellon University, I helped emerging entrepreneurs refine product roadmaps and develop data-driven decision frameworks for initial product validation.
MBS - Hill District
is a community-scale real estate development project transforming a historic neighborhood into quality, affordable living where people can thrive. As a Project Manager, I collaborated with public and private partners to execute projects that brought more equitable access to housing, work, healthcare and schools. The project included completion of financing and construction of a $125 million mixed-use development that boasts more than 325 units of sustainable rental and for-sale housing for families and seniors.
I use my skills to accelerate the people and ideas around me.
Featured
I’m a 10+ year product management and venture investment veteran.
My career is focused on nurturing emerging company success through aligning technology and business model innovation. Over time, I developed a human-centered approach to problem solving and often leverage public/private partnerships to build products that address big health and environment challenges. Here’s a little more of my story:
Pittsburgh Mindset
Being raised in Pittsburgh nurtured my appreciation for the influence that innovation has on reinvention. I’ve participated in and learned from the City’s renaissance from a has-been steel town to a model laboratory in its own right. Now considered one of America’s most livable cities, Pittsburgh is a small epicenter of prominent healthcare and emerging tech companies thriving in a hodgepodge of quirky neighborhoods—what a comeback story!
Community Builder
A fascination with communities led me to become a builder early in my career, literally. My professional journey began redeveloping inner-city neighborhoods through affordable housing. One of the greatest challenges in urban development is stepping into the shoes of families who have lived in neighborhoods for generations. Learning to understand the deep-rooted cultural traditions and current barriers to upward mobility helped me develop a sense of empathy in defining "user needs". I gained fluency in the language of community and the essential roles that public and private capital play in investing in the future. I honed a talent for listening and defining win-win strategies that bring together diverse stakeholders to address deep rooted challenges with sustainable solutions.
Scalable Impact
Eager to have a bigger and more scalable impact on global communities, I shifted my focus from inner-city real estate to technology for greater good. Getting my feet wet as an impact investor, I empowered entrepreneurs through pitching business opportunities that told stories from the users perspective. As my knowledge of technology grew, I became an evangelist for data-driven decision making, again, putting the user first. Spending time in the trenches as a product manager, I learned to tell creative stories with numbers to boost the market viability of software.
Guiding Principles
I’ve invested in and built products in multiple markets, inspiring me to establish a few universal guiding principles:
Customer Problems are solved by combining a deep understanding of user needs with an iterative testing process.
Success Probability is greatly improved when harnessing an established market trend rather than attempting to predict a new one.
Talented People need to understand the impact of what they are working on to commit their full energy.
Product Prioritization requires transparency, data, and candid discussion to create space for collaborative risk taking.
Long-Term Success comes from continuous exploration, maintaining a mindset in the present, and luck.
Motivated Teammate
I thrive working with entrepreneurs—visionary builders who inspire teams to give their all to create scalable businesses that make a difference in the world. I’m motivated by dreamers and thinkers. Are you also someone on a quest to do more, learn more, see more? Let’s connect!
Here are a few things that people have said about me:
“Max stood out as a product leader who was able to focus on the most viable opportunities from a combined technology and business perspective and helped push our program as an innovator in the marketplace for combining world-class research and early-stage venture investment.”
“Max is a collaborative leader who understands how to evaluate and advise the management teams of early-stage companies.”
“The market analysis process that Max developed enabled us to map our market, providing invaluable insight into the key challenges and concerns of our potential customers as well as how to present our technology solution to them.”
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