ANTARES
About Skills Work Why PM Teardown Contact

Product Manager, San Diego, CA

Frank
Lopez

Founder and operator who validates, builds, and scales. Over nine years, I've launched products, led teams, and driven growth, most recently expanding a business from a single-service flooring company into a full-scale remodeling operation.

I don't just think in products. I think in problems worth solving.
Background
Built from
the ground up.
9+
Years Industry Experience
4
Years as Business Owner
40%
YoY Revenue Growth
$3.5M
Annual Revenue

I built a flooring and remodeling business in San Diego from nothing, handling every function from sales and operations to finance, hiring, and product strategy. When I saw an opportunity to expand, I didn't wait for permission. I researched the market, secured licensing, trained my team, and launched an entirely new product and service line.

That experience gave me the full-stack perspective of a product manager: I've been the strategist, the operator, the researcher, and the closer, all at once, all accountable. I'm now bringing that hands-on, end-to-end thinking into the tech industry.

Core Competencies
What I bring
to the table.

Earned through years of real-world execution, not just theory.

Product Strategy

Opportunity identification, market sizing, competitive analysis, and go-to-market planning, executed under real business pressure.

Market Research GTM Planning Competitor Analysis
Data-Driven Decisions

Built pricing and demand models using Yelp analytics, Google Trends, mystery shopping, and real-time competitive bid data.

Pricing Strategy Analytics Demand Modeling
0-to-1 Launches

Took a business from a single service to a full-service operation, handling licensing, supplier sourcing, team training, and launch marketing.

Product Launch Licensing Supply Chain
Cross-Functional Leadership

Led sales, operations, finance, scheduling, and field teams simultaneously, aligning everyone toward shared outcomes.

Team Management Stakeholder Alignment Servant Leadership
Process & Tools

Implemented Jira for project updates and team communication, used Google Calendar for scheduling, and built operational workflows that scaled with the business.

Jira Google Calendar Project Updates Workflow Design
Negotiation & Partnerships

Negotiated pricing with manufacturers, labor rates with contractors, and closed deals with clients on projects from $5K to $100K.

Vendor Negotiation B2B Sales Partnership Building
Case Studies
The work
that defines me.

Three real problems. Three real solutions. All measurable outcomes.

01
0-to-1 Product Launch
Full-Service Remodel Expansion
From flooring specialist to full-service remodel contractor
Read Case Study
Opportunity
Spotted untapped revenue while on flooring jobs, other contractors were doing work we could be doing. Validated demand through client interviews, competitor research, and pre-launch bids before committing.
Research & Validation
Conducted quantitative research via Yelp analytics and Google Trends to size market demand. Analyzed competitor GCs, their websites, business structure, and product offerings. Validated through direct customer interviews, and found the strongest signal of all: clients were already asking us for remodel services before we had the chance to ask them.
Speed to Market
Launched in 6 months, licensing, compliance, supplier negotiations, website redesign, social content, and staff training. First sale closed the same month licensing was approved.
Traction & Retention
4 to 8 new remodel customers per month. 50% repeat client rate through referrals and return customers, a direct signal of strong product-market fit.
40% YoY Growth
Revenue grew from $2.5M to $3.5M, 50+ new products, 10+ new services, 50% repeat client rate
02
Data-Driven Strategy
Competitive Pricing Intelligence
Building a repeatable system to win bids and protect margins
Read Case Study
The Problem
200 inbound leads per month, a 6-person sales team, and margins that needed protecting. I needed a pricing system that won jobs without giving money away.
Intelligence System
Mystery-shopped competitors daily for materials and labor pricing. Monitored Yelp click volumes to gauge market demand. Used 9+ years of industry knowledge to flag unfavorable supplier terms and trigger renegotiation.
Pricing Strategy
Switched from line-item to lump-sum pricing, a simple change in how we presented bids. That single adjustment grew our close rate to 65% by removing sticker shock and keeping the focus on value over cost.
Results
65% close rate across 200 monthly leads. $6,000 average project value. Margins grew from 30% to 50% through daily competitive intelligence and disciplined pricing.
30% to 50% Margins
Margins grew from 30% to 50%, through daily competitive intelligence, disciplined pricing, and a single presentation change that drove a 65% close rate
03
Cross-Functional Leadership
Scaling a Team Through Expansion
Upskilling a team of 12 through a major product and service expansion
Read Case Study
The Challenge
Upskilling a team of 12 with zero background in plumbing, electrical, tile, and full remodeling, across 50+ new products and 10+ new services. They needed to sell confidently to customers fast.
Training & Enablement
Led group sessions on product knowledge, installation mechanics, and sales role-play. Paired each team member for one-on-one live sales call shadowing. Full team selling independently within 1 month, 30% increase in sales per person.
Servant Leadership in Practice
Stayed accessible in-store daily, visited job sites with lunch, held one-on-ones with the scheduler, and organized regular team dinners and game nights. Always asked: "How can I support you?" Result: zero staff turnover since opening.
Operational Scale
~50 projects per month at $6,000 average value. Grew the team by 2 during expansion while maintaining culture and performance.
0% Staff Turnover
Team of 12, 30% sales growth per person, ~50 projects/month, zero turnover since opening
Why Product Management
The reason
behind the pivot.

Every great PM has a story. Here's mine.

The Realization
PM is entrepreneurship
inside a company.

When I discovered what PMs actually do, validate ideas, rally teams, and bring products to market, I realized I had been doing exactly that for years. It felt less like a career change and more like finally finding the right title for what I already am.

The Moment It Clicked
I had already launched
a product. I just didn't
know it yet.

When I decided to reinvent my company's entire product and service line, going from floors only to full-scale remodeling, I did everything a PM does. I identified the opportunity, interviewed customers, researched competitors down to their CA Secretary of State filings, secured licensing, rebuilt the brand, trained the team, and closed the first sale 6 months later while leveraging AI throughout. That was a product launch. That was the moment I knew.

What Excites Me
Solving complex problems
for millions of people.

Solving complex problems cross-functionally and knowing that if we get it right, the company wins too. I want to build products people around the world use every day. That gives me the same rush as opening a business, but at a scale I have never had before.

The Vision
Senior PM. Principal.
Owner of products that
move the needle.

3 to 5 years in the PM role I see myself growing into a Senior PM role, and within another 3 to 5 years, into a Principal of Product. I want ownership of a core product, not a side feature, but something central to a company's mission, and I want to turn it into something that has a measurable impact on the company's bottom line. I've done it once as an entrepreneur. I'm ready to do it again at scale.

"I want to work on products that matter to millions of people. I've built from zero before. Now I want to do it at scale."
, Frank Lopez, Founder to Product Manager
Product Teardown
How I think
about products.

A critical analysis of Yelp, from the perspective of a $100K/year advertiser and power user.

TD
Product Analysis, Home Services Platform
Yelp for Business
Analyzed from the perspective of a $100K/year advertiser in the San Diego home renovation market
The Product

Yelp is a two-sided marketplace connecting consumers with local businesses. As a $100K/year advertiser for 9 years, I operated on both sides, as a business owner competing for leads and as a power user who understood the platform deeply.

✓ What Works Well
High-Intent Demand Generation

Attracts high-intent consumers actively looking to hire. Leads convert far better than social or display ads.

Competitive Intelligence

Competitor click volume tracking gave me real-time market data to adjust pricing and ad spend daily.

Budget Elasticity

Increasing budget produced immediate lead volume gains. A clear signal of strong supply and demand matching.

AI-Powered Quote Requests

AI-powered quote intake made requests more precise, reducing back-and-forth and improving lead quality.

Business Tools and Trust Signals

License verification, ratings, and social integration build trust at the exact moment customers are deciding who to hire.

✗ What Needs Work
Lead List UX Bug

After responding to a lead, the app resets to the top of the list instead of returning to where you were. A small bug with a big daily cost for high-volume businesses.

Aggressive Review Filtering

Legitimate 5-star reviews removed as non-organic despite zero solicitation. Penalizing honest businesses while bad actors find workarounds.

Forced Digital Tracking Number

Yelp-generated tracking numbers show on callbacks instead of your real number. Customers do not answer and trust drops.

Hidden Multi-Bid Feature

The multi-bid request feature, Yelp's core value proposition, is not prominent enough in the consumer experience. Customers miss it constantly.

The Biggest Opportunity

Yelp's review filtering hurts the businesses that fund the platform. Authentic reviews get removed at scale while bad actors find workarounds. This erodes advertiser trust and threatens retention of Yelp's highest-value customers. If I were the PM, this is where I'd focus.

If I Were the PM, My Solutions
Verified User Badge

Let consumers privately verify their identity with Yelp while staying anonymous publicly. Verified reviews bypass aggressive filtering, rewarding authenticity without exposing personal data.

Geo-Verified Review Signal

Use opt-in geolocation to confirm a reviewer visited a storefront. A passive, low-friction authenticity signal that requires nothing extra from the customer.

Transaction-Backed Review Appeal

When a review is flagged, let businesses submit transaction proof, invoice, payment, or booking record. A fair, data-backed appeals process instead of a black-box removal system.

Partner-Integrated Purchase Verification

Bake purchase verification into Yelp's T&C with payment and booking partners. Authenticity signals become automatic, scalable, and invisible to the end user.

$100K/Year Advertiser Perspective
9 years of daily use. $100K in annual ad spend. Hundreds of leads managed per month. This isn't surface-level critique, it's built from the inside.
Get In Touch
Let's build
something.

I'm actively exploring product management roles in tech. If you're looking for someone who ships, leads, and thinks in problems worth solving, let's talk.