Product Management, Fintech, API, SaaS, International Expansion
Hi! I'm Jan, a technology entrepreneur, executive, and strategic advisor based in Manila, Philippines. With over two decades of experience spanning enterprise technology, SaaS, product management, digital transformation, and business operations, I've built my career at the intersection of technology, business strategy, and innovation. I am currently the Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Smile API, a technology company providing financial data connectivity, verification, and credit and fraud risk intelligence through a unified API platform. At Smile, I lead product strategy, development, and operational execution, helping financial institutions and businesses make better-informed decisions. I also spearhead Smile Checks, an AI-powered employment background screening platform that helps organizations make faster, more informed hiring decisions. Previously, I held regional leadership roles in enterprise technology consulting and cloud software product management, advising C-level executives on digital transformation, technology strategy, and enterprise solutions. I also spent eight years leading product management across Asia Pacific for a global cloud ERP provider, driving regional product strategy and adapting enterprise solutions to diverse market requirements. My entrepreneurial journey includes founding a software development company that was subsequently acquired by a mid-sized systems integration firm with operations across Southeast Asia, where I later served as Senior Vice President. I continue to serve as an advisor on its Board of Directors. As a fractional technology executive and strategic consultant, I have helped businesses modernize operations, build scalable systems, and develop new digital ventures spanning e-commerce, prepaid digital services distribution, conversational commerce, and warehouse marketplaces. My professional interests focus on artificial intelligence, digital transformation, product innovation, business automation, and the practical application of technology to solve real-world problems. I enjoy connecting ideas across disciplines, building products and businesses, and helping organizations translate ambitious strategies into measurable outcomes. I am a Certified Public Accountant, a certified Professional Scrum Product Owner and Scrum Master, and hold an ITIL Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management. I earned my undergraduate degree in Business Administration and Accounting and a Master's degree in Entrepreneurship from the Asian Institute of Management. Above all, I believe technology creates the most value when combined with human experience, sound judgment, and a deep understanding of the problems we are trying to solve.
Can share my own experience bootstrapping a startup and stretching funds to build and grow a business. I had previously started my own company at 21 with minimal funding, and was able to eventually sell it. I have also built and managed a martech company and was able to grow the business with no outside funding.
I have managed my own company, building a team across all functions from scratch. I have also built a team within a large corporation, so can share the similarities and differences between building a team in a startup/small company and a large company.
I can help give feedback on linking UX with business and product strategy, doing UX research, validating assumptions with users, designing user journeys and others. Can also share some perspective on building the User Experience for niche audiences/users such as vertical-specific or API-only products.
Can share my personal experience in defining and executing the GTM strategy for my current and previous startups I've worked with. I can share my own personal experience in defining the total addressable market for your business, defining a target market segment, defining an ideal customer profile, acquiring the first set of customers, and factoring in nuances in doing this in different types of markets.
Can share my personal experience how we validated our ideas, how we validated our assumptions, and the decision criteria we applied on which ideas to pursue.
I can share my own personal experience using various Low Code/No Code tools to build a product or service. Can share some of the best tools I've found and use, some pitfalls, and some opportunities possible with these types of tools.
This is my bread and butter: can share my knowledge and experience around the discipline of product management, building a product strategy, defining a roadmap, hiring and managing product managers, and many others. In my previous roles I have been a product manager and have managed other product managers as well, and have trained and mentored other product managers.
Have been an active user of Zapier and have built various automation flows using Zapier. Have built automated lead funnels, data integration flows, and various other automations using Zapier.
Have been a user of Zoho One or almost all of the products in the Zoho Suite including Zoho CRM, Zoho Creator, Zoho Analytics, Zoho Campaigns, Zoho Books and many others.
Leveraging Codex day-to-day to optimize core operational workflows, automate routine processes, and rapidly prototype, build, and deploy custom internal tools and customer-facing web applications.
Using Claude Code as a daily driver to architect systems, drive automated operational workflows, and rapidly spin up robust internal tools and production-ready web apps from scratch.
Using Lovable as my go-to platform to quickly prototype, build, and launch full-scale web applications and digital products with incredible speed. It allows me to test ideas, iterate on user flows, and ship production-ready tools seamlessly without getting bogged down in complex boilerplate code.
Jan Pabellon: SaaS, B2B, enterprise software, fintech expert with 20+ years' experience. Chief Operations & Product Officer at Smile API, Independent Director at Geniusto, and roles at DXC and Oracle NetSuite. Proficient in product management, Internationalization, and Go-to-market strategies.
Jan Pabellon's expertise in business information systems, including ERP, CRM, and KM, has been instrumental in various roles. At NetSuite, he streamlined operations for emerging market businesses. At Smile, he developed APIs for seamless data sharing. In roles at DXC Technology and IT Group, he aligned IT solutions with business objectives, driving growth and innovation.
Jan Pabellon is a fintech expert with over two decades of experience. As Chief Operations and Product Officer at Smile API, he facilitated real-time access to employment and income data for banks, streamlining processes. His role as an Independent Director for Geniusto emphasized his commitment to revolutionizing the financial sector. Jan's fintech proficiency and strategic acumen drive innovative solutions that enhance financial services in Asia.
Jan Pabellon is an information services expert with a focus on alternative credit data. With two decades of experience, he revolutionized access to employment and income data in Asia at Smile API, enabling banks to use alternative credit scoring data. He has a passion for and dedication to empowering individuals through data-driven solutions in emerging markets.
• I am part of the founding team of Smile, a technology company providing employment and income data via API to clients in Asia based in Singapore. • At Smile I am responsible for product strategy, design, and development, and driving go-to-market strategy. • I helped grow the company from zero to 1, working with the other members of the founding team to build the product from scratch, raise seed funding, and acquire our first set of customers.
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• ITG Inc, is a regional IT Solutions Integrator with almost 200 employees, with offices in Manila, Jakarta, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. • I sit on the board advising the company on strategy and management.
• I was a co-organizer for Product PH: a non-profit organization started in 2016 which seeks to create a critical mass of digital product management professionals in the Philippines through education, networking and mentoring.
• As the Chief Technologist for Southeast Asia at DXC, a global systems integrator, I was the most senior solution consultant/technology advisor role in the region. • In this role, I worked with the senior IT executives of our clients on their digital transformation journey, developing their transformation roadmap specifically in the areas of Agile Development, Cloud Computing, IoT and Automation.
• In this venture funded startup, I oversaw a 20-person team of product managers, product designers and software testers. • I oversaw the design, documentation, and testing of Salarium's 2 major products: Salarium HR management and payroll software, SALPay e-wallet and app-based banking service. I developed the product roadmap, led user research, and introduced agile delivery methods into the organization.
• I led product and go-to-market strategy for Oracle NetSuite in the Asia Pacific region, overseeing all of Asia Pacific region including ANZ, SE Asia, China, India and Japan. • I also led a team of expert product managers based in China, Japan, India and the Philippines: to drive localization, compliance and certification initiatives for the company in the region. Together we launched 5 new products in the areas of payments, taxation, and financial reporting across the region, and achieved product certification/accreditation for compliance in 4 countries: the Philippines, Singapore, China, and India. • Was also instrumental in the identification and development of strategic partners to deliver regional or country-specific product offerings from partners in more than 6 countries. • I was also part of a handful of executives in the region that was entrusted to be the spokesperson for local product launches and PR activity.
