Dave Ram Mohan
|
Hi, I'm Dave! I love building things that make people smile — whether that's a growth feature at work, a chess video, or an iOS app about cats. I'm currently a Product Manager at OPENLANE in Evanston, Illinois, and I spend my evenings chasing cats, chess puzzles, and new ideas.
Where I've been building
From analytics to growth to 0→1 products, I've chased interesting problems across big tech and startups.
OPENLANE
CurrentProduct Manager
July 2026 – Present
- Building delightful products for the U.S. Marketplace, focusing on Payments & Post-Sale Experience
Product Growth Analyst
July 2025 – June 2026
- Led product growth for IG Teen Accounts & Parent Experiences, working across PM, Design, Engineering, DS, and PMM.
- Owned launch strategy for PG-13 Instagram Teen Accounts, one of Instagram's largest H2 2025 launches; exceeded H2 goal by 17% through ML audience targeting and surface expansion.
- Built the H1 2026 roadmap for Teen Accounts & Parent Experiences, identifying initiatives projected to improve parental sentiment by 10%+.
- Quarterbacked an ML propensity model to personalize parent marketing frequency, driving 2x+ impact versus BAU targeting.
- Drove two confidential 0→1 initiatives, including one AI-personalized experience and one community engagement product.
Product BizOps Associate — Ads Marketplace & Premium
July 2023 – June 2025
- Partnered with PM and Engineering leaders to shape FY26 strategy for LinkedIn Event Ads, tied to a $250M+ in-year opportunity.
- Built an ML-based event classifier to segment LinkedIn event supply and identify webinars as the highest-potential opportunity.
- Developed Creator Marketplace monetization strategy, identifying a $100M+ FY26 opportunity space.
- Delivered generative AI competitive benchmarking to LinkedIn's CEO, identifying $25M+ in annual revenue opportunities.
Chesswala
Founder / Product Manager
August 2022 – August 2024
- Founded a chess education marketplace connecting learners with master-level coaches for affordable mini-lessons.
- Secured $3.2K in non-dilutive funding through Notre Dame IDEA Center pitch competitions.
- Built and launched a no-code MVP in Bubble, acquiring 100+ learners and validating marketplace demand.
- Led engineers to ship a production version using React, Python, and AWS; reduced infrastructure costs by 95% with AWS Lambda.
Abercrombie & Fitch
Strategy & Analytics Intern
June 2022 – August 2022
- Analyzed digital campaign performance across Hollister and kids brands; built dashboards for weekly leadership reviews.
- Presented a product-line expansion strategy to the CTO using null-search data, identifying $17.8M in revenue potential.
- Recommended a personalized flash-sale experience in the myAbercrombie app based on cart-addition behavior.
FloVision Solutions
Product Analytics Intern
August 2021 – December 2021
- Automated client reporting workflows with Python, pandas, NumPy, matplotlib, and Google Cloud.
- Built Slack and Google Cloud automations that saved internal teams ~8 hours per week.
Chess.com
Business Analytics Intern
November 2020 – February 2021
- Analyzed subscription behavior in Amplitude and identified beginner users as a fit for a lower-priced subscription tier.
- Produced conversion analysis showing Game Analysis as a key paid-membership driver.
Education
University of Notre Dame
BBA, Business Analytics
Notre Dame, IN · May 2023 · Summa Cum Laude · GPA 4.0
University of Pennsylvania
MS in Computer and Information Science (part-time, candidate)
Philadelphia, PA · Expected May 2027
Honors
Valedictorian Finalist
Selected as 1 of 17 candidates in the Notre Dame Class of 2023.
Hamilton Award for Business Analytics
Awarded to the top graduating senior in Business Analytics.
♟️ My chess world
From tournament halls to YouTube thumbnails, chess is my favorite combination of art and logic.
National Master
0+ USCF
I've been obsessed with chess since I was a kid and earned the National Master title from the U.S. Chess Federation, with a peak rating above 2200 — placing me in the top 0.5% of U.S. players.
Giraffe Chess
On my YouTube channel, Giraffe Chess, I share the fun side of chess: openings, tactics, lessons, and the occasional rant about losing rating points.
Watch on YouTubeCan you find the mate?
White to move. Mate in 1.
Apps I've built
A mix of side projects, experiments, and apps that make everyday moments a little more delightful.
Pathlings
Making your daily walks more fun
- Cozy Tamagotchi-style app where every walk helps you raise your little digital buddy.
- Focused on building healthy habits in an enjoyable, rewarding way.
- Features rigged asset animations and a complex, service-oriented architecture, built entirely with Swift.
HappyTabby
A little daily joy for cat people
- App designed for cat owners to track care, moods, and moments.
- Built with Swift and a focus on simple, delightful interactions.
- Integrated with Supabase for the backend, PostHog for analytics, and EAS for hosting.