CPO · AI-NATIVE PRODUCT LEAD · FINTECH · WEB3
From zero to validated demand and real revenue
I’m Julia Palam, CPO and product lead in fintech and Web3.
I take products from strategy to outcomes: I define what to build and when, assemble and lead the team, validate real demand, prove monetization — and own the business result. I work AI-native: I prototype MVPs with Cursor without waiting on engineering, and I shorten the hypothesis → test → revenue loop. Focus: early stage, high uncertainty, DeFi, fintech, any blockchain and any interface, first paying users, repeatable monetization.
Focus: early stage, uncertainty, DeFi, fintech, any chain & interface, PMF, monetization
My product manifest
“A product without proven revenue is still an experiment. If the market doesn’t choose your product, nothing else matters. I’ve seen launches with millions of users that still shut down. Products the market liked in theory but wouldn’t pay for in practice. Teams that moved fast — in the wrong direction. Funding that went to payroll before PMF showed up. That’s why I focus on one thing: getting to real money before the team runs out of runway and patience. Not “a beautiful roadmap”. Not “closing the sprint”. But going to market, earning revenue — and only then scaling.”
Why strong products die before they prove business value
Most failures aren't caused by bad technology. They happen when product, market, and execution fall out of sync.
- !Teams scale before validating willingness to pay
- !Teams ship without a clear PMF and monetization hypothesis
- !No one owns commercial outcomes end to end
- !Launches drag on for months while competitors capture demand
From product vision to validated demand — without handoffs
I connect product development with market outcomes through roadmap, team, launches, and monetization. Every decision is data-informed and tied to business metrics. No handoffs between strategy and execution — I own both.
01 · Research & strategy
Understand the market before writing code
- Market, competitor, and launch pattern analysis in fintech and Web3
- Jobs To Be Done and user insights
- For research: Perplexity and other AI tools as needed — context, sources, hypothesis checks
- Monetization and unit economics hypotheses before build
02 · Product & team
Turn strategy into execution
- Building and leading cross-functional teams; hiring for outcomes
- MVPs and prototypes with Cursor / AI: from idea to working prototype without engineering dependency for validation
- Personal accountability for metrics and hypothesis → result cycle time
03 · Launch & monetization
Where products usually break — and why CPO ownership matters
- GTM focused on paying users, not vanity signups
- Pricing and unit economics before scaling
- Pilots and first revenue validation — fast, lean
- Repeatable monetization loops without manual heroics
About me
I've been building fintech and Web3 products since 2017. I started as a backend developer and Scrum Master at Sber — I saw the product from inside the engineering team. Then I moved to startups: enterprise blockchain (EasyChain, pilots with Gazprom Neft), digital fashion for metaverses (Gravity Layer, $230K from Outlier Ventures), DeFi and messenger- and web-distributed products (Aqua Protocol, $4M TVL). With my team we won 23+ blockchain hackathons — that’s how we went serious about on-chain products. Since 2025 I work AI-native: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Cursor and AI assistants for prototyping, workflow automation, faster product cycles and researchers. Less dependency on engineering during validation — more iterations and more hypotheses per unit of time.
Accelerators
Education
- Computer Science, BSc — Innopolis University
- Applied Informatics in Economics, MSc — KSTU
Beyond product work, I publish launch breakdowns and case studies in fintech and Web3:
What you get by bringing me into your team
You don't get a box on an org chart — you get an owner. I own outcomes from strategy to revenue so you reach first money faster, avoid burning budget on features without demand, and focus the team on what moves the business.
PMF and first paying users
PMF, first paying users, and repeatable monetization under one owner — not “users showed up” but “money showed up”.
Faster path to revenue
I prototype with Cursor and an AI stack — no waiting on engineering to test hypotheses. The idea → test → first revenue loop is much faster than a traditional CPO playbook.
Data-grounded decisions
Decisions grounded in data and business value — not opinions. A metric only matters when it ties to revenue.
Product built around unit economics
A product architected around willingness to pay and unit economics from day one — not bolted on later.
My product principles
- 1
Product = monetization. It should earn from day one — not “after scale”.
- 2
AI isn’t a buzzword — it’s how I work daily: Cursor for prototyping, Perplexity and other AI for research as needed, automation — shorter path to the first paying user.
- 3
Value and monetization belong in the architecture — not as an afterthought.
- 4
Metrics matter only when they map to value and revenue.
- 5
The CPO owns revenue and product value — not backlog throughput.
Proven results & case studies
CDP Stablecoin on TON
Task
Launch a decentralized collateralized stablecoin (CDP) on a target L1 from scratch, grow TVL, and reach profitability.
$1.3M
TVL (2 wks)
$4M
TVL (1 mo)
1st place
TON Ecosystem Competition for TVL Growth Among New Products
My actions
Shipped end-to-end from idea to mainnet with 11,000 testers. CTO owned engineering — I owned product strategy, tokenomics, partnerships (GemsWall, Storm Trade, Nomis), acquisition, and GTM in the target ecosystem.
Results in numbers
What didn’t work: institutional demand for the CDP stablecoin was weaker than early signals. The market “said yes” but didn’t pay at the required level. The protocol shut down. Lesson: ecosystem hype ≠ paying demand. I now validate willingness to pay before launch, not after.
Web3 Quest Platform (Telegram mini-app)
Task
Launch a messenger-based quest platform from zero and drive it to revenue.
3.4M
Users (1st month)
~$200K
Peak revenue/mo
My actions
Built growth via reward loops, collaborations with partner Web3 projects, and monetization through selling points.
Results in numbers
Users came for rewards — retention wasn’t designed in from day one. The project shut down. Lesson: growth hacks ≠ PMF. 3.4M users showed acquisition worked; missing retention showed value was short-lived.
On-chain Reputation Nomis (TON)
Task
Bootstrap an on-chain reputation project in a target ecosystem.
500K+
Unique users
1M+
Reputation mints (wk)
My actions
Nomis was an existing product without a strong ecosystem entry point. I owned partnerships and GTM. Nomis is still running.
Results in numbers
Lesson: well-structured collaboration across projects beats a solo launch.
Gravity Layer — digital fashion for metaverses
Task
Launch the product and raise investment for NFT fashion infrastructure on-chain.
$230K
Venture raised
Winner (1st place)
Hackathon
Polygon (EVM)
Blockсhain network
My actions
We hired too fast and pivoted too slowly. Payroll burned capital before PMF. When metaverse hype faded, real demand was not there.
Results in numbers
Lesson: funding is not product validation. Hire after first PMF signals — not before.
EasyChain — no-code blockchain for business processes
Task
Take an enterprise blockchain platform to the B2B market.
Gazprom Neft
Pilots
Hyperledger Fabric / Confident
Blockchain network
Startup sale
Outcome
My actions
Enterprises would pilot but not pay. Sales cycles were too long for a startup without runway. The startup was acquired — not a failure, but not scale.
Results in numbers
Lesson: enterprise B2B plus blockchain stacks two heavy cycles. It works mainly under regulatory pressure — which was not there in 2018.
Engagement formats
CPO / Product Lead · Full-time
Full ownership from first hypotheses to PMF and first revenue — strategy, execution, team, and monetization in one role.
Product consultant
Strategic product leadership for teams that need clarity — not task-tracker bandwidth. Direction, monetization logic, decision frameworks.
Product & GTM audit
Fast diagnosis: where money leaks and why the market won’t buy. A clear path to PMF and monetization signals.
Testimonials
“I had the pleasure of teaming up with Yulia as we built the decentralized stablecoin protocol on the TON blockchain. She took ownership of tokenomics, marketing, and user acquisition while I handled the entire technical stack. Yulia’s deep knowledge of Web3 and strong market awareness enabled us to rapidly launch a working prototype and attract early users. I could rely on her completely, which let me focus on tech while she drove growth and positioning. Working with her was comfortable and truly seamless — she brought clarity, energy and reliability to every step of the project.”
Sergey Martinsen
CTO, Aqua Protocol
“I’ve worked with Julia across multiple startup projects, hackathons, and earlier as her manager at Sber. Over more than eight years, one thing is clear: Julia is not a regular employee — she takes on any task needed to move a product forward and delivers results. She learns new domains from scratch with impressive speed. When we moved into blockchain, she mastered everything — from fundamentals to complex DeFi algorithms. In small teams, Julia covers everything beyond development: operations, UX-focused product concepts, investor docs, partnerships, contracts, and growth. For Storm Trade she brought the highest number of active users, and for Upscale she consistently delivers impactful test ideas. AquaProtocol — a decentralized stablecoin project — was fully executed by her. The idea was mine, but Julia turned it into a real product: writing the whitepaper, coordinating technical work, overseeing development, and launching to market. I only mentored — she delivered. Julia’s range sets her apart: she writes scripts for marketing and product tasks, builds partnerships, runs research, crafts whitepapers, and assembles talented teams. She takes products from idea to market quickly and with high quality. If you need a product manager who combines strategic thinking with hands-on execution across any function — Julia is that person. I highly recommend her.”
Denis Vasin
CTO / founder, Upscale.trade / Storm.tg
FAQ
When should an early-stage fintech or Web3 team hire a CPO?
When you have capital or runway but lack clarity on PMF, monetization, and focus — and you need an owner from strategy to first revenue.
How is user growth different from PMF?
Growth without retention and payment is a channel signal, not product-market fit. PMF means people come back and pay — metrics tied to revenue.
Do you focus on one blockchain, or only fintech?
No single-chain lock-in. My work spans DeFi, on-chain products, and distribution across different interfaces (web, messengers, and more) — what matters is demand and monetization, not a specific chain logo.
How do you use AI in product work?
Not only Cursor: depending on the task I also use ChatGPT, Perplexity, DeepSeek, and other tools. Prototyping, faster research and hypotheses, automation — to reach demand and revenue tests faster.
Articles
All articles →Prediction markets: product, economics, and opportunities for new startups
A short hub post linking to a series on prediction markets as a product: mechanics, platform economics, architectures, participants, risks, and startup ideas. Links to Teletype.
Hyperliquid Case Study
A deep dive into Hyperliquid: how a Web3 platform for professional traders grew from MVP to market leader without venture funding or hype. Valuable insights for strategy, marketing, and product thinking.
Prop Trading as a Product: A Deep Dive into the “Attempt” Market
In this article, I look at prop trading as a standalone fintech segment with high margins, fragile trust, and huge upside for strong product teams.
Ready to lead your product to PMF and first revenue?
Tell me your product stage and biggest blocker — I reply within 24 hours.
Discuss working with Julia