I'm AJ — a product manager based in Munich with a background in founding, venture capital, and product. I combine engineering rigour with entrepreneurial speed to take products from zero to launch and beyond.
Built the strategic case for repositioning Omega-3 from a single SKU to a multi-product platform targeting life-stage specific needs, starting with the prenatal segment.
The business had hit structural growth limits with a single, undifferentiated Omega-3 SKU. High churn in the 28-35 female cohort revealed a major life-stage gap in the portfolio that competitors were already exploiting.
Repositioned Omega-3 as an ingredient platform. Identified algae-sourced DHA as a key differentiator to unlock vegan and premium segments. Developed a 3-phase GTM roadmap starting with a prenatal "Complex Hero" product.
Portfolio matrix analysis · Customer feedback mining · Amazon market analysis · Bottom-up market sizing · GTM roadmap
Replaced a manual stack of ERP exports, spreadsheets, and emails with a custom PIM for 3,000+ SKUs across four regulated industries.
PrecisionSense relied on ERP for transactional data, but product descriptive and compliance data lived in scattered systems, requiring 20 hours/week of manual gathering. Data update speeds were slow and audit trails didn't exist.
Led product definition for a custom PIM designed around a "vanilla architecture" principle to minimize external dependencies. Focused on 5 core modules: ETL onboarding, parent-child data model, RBAC and audit trail, asset management, and full export capability.
Build-vs-buy analysis · Architecture design · Requirement scoping · ETL migration · Go-to-market rollout
Priya Foods Distribution managed ₹42 lakhs of perishable stock with manual logs. I led the product definition of ColdGuard, an IoT monitoring system that cut failure response time from minutes to seconds.
A regional distributor relied on manual temperature logs and a slow-to-start generator to protect ₹42 lakhs of perishable stock, resulting in major financial losses from undetected refrigeration failures.
Led product definition for an IoT monitoring system (ESP32 sensors, AWS, TimescaleDB) to automate temperature logging and create real-time alerting based on sustained condition breaches instead of single spikes.
IoT Architecture definition · User interviews · Alert logic design · AWS IoT/TimescaleDB strategy · Stakeholder management
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How I work
Good product work starts with understanding the problem clearly before reaching for a solution. The rest tends to follow.
User interviews, support tickets, data — everything gets read before a spec is written. I spend more time here than most, because it pays off later.
Good ideas don't always get funded. I write honest ROI estimates and clear risk analysis — the kind that make decisions easier, not harder.
Specs engineers want to read, design context that unlocks creativity, blockers cleared before they become fires. Delivery is a team sport.
Every launch is a learning opportunity. I document what worked and what didn't so the next team doesn't start from zero.
What I'm good at
From SQL to Figma to stakeholder presentations — I cover more ground than a typical PM because I've built, invested, and shipped.
I'm Ajay Vaidhyanathan Swaminathan — most people call me AJ. I started as an engineer, founded a mobile
product studio in Chennai, moved into venture capital in Munich, and landed firmly in product. That path gives
me something most PMs don't have: I understand how founders think, how investors evaluate bets, and how
engineers actually build.
Most recently at DreamDriven (B2C venture builder), with prior experience at Mountain
Alliance (PE/VC) and Colayer. Before that, I founded Fluxdart
Technology, where I owned the full product lifecycle for 5+ mobile apps. Based in Munich,
Germany — open to hybrid or remote roles across Europe.
I've been the founder. I know what it feels like to own the whole product — discovery, trade-offs, and shipping under pressure. I bring that ownership into every PM role.
I've evaluated investments. Time at Mountain Alliance means I think in unit economics, market sizing, and competitive dynamics — not just user stories.
I build and I analyse. SQL, Python, Figma, ReactJS — I can work directly with data and design, not just manage people who do.
I work in two languages. English and German (B2) — comfortable in international and European teams.
I read every message personally and reply within a day. If you're building something interesting in Europe and need a PM who can think like a founder — let's talk.
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