Joe Talaiver
Director of Product · K-12 EdTech · 17+ Years Building Products That Matter in Classrooms
Baltimore, MD · joe@talaiver.com
Professional Summary
VP-level product leader with 17+ years in K-12 EdTech, owning multi-product portfolio strategy, integrated roadmaps, and lifecycle management across student instruction, educator tools, and professional learning. Led cross-functional teams of 25+ to deliver market-leading products including ActivPanel 9 and industry-first ActivSync, generating $1M+ in incremental revenue in year one. Deep expertise in K-12 procurement cycles, RFP processes, state purchasing, and district decision-making. A third-generation educator who has delivered professional learning in K-12 classrooms and built practitioner-level insight directly into product decisions.
Experience
Director of Product
At Vivi I own the full product portfolio — wireless presentation, digital signage, emergency alerts, device monitoring, and live captions — translating district needs and market signals into sequenced, measurable releases across cross-functional teams. A big part of the work has been building the operating infrastructure that didn't exist: structured processes connecting Product, Marketing, Sales, and Customer Success, and an AI-powered market intelligence system integrating ProductBoard, HubSpot, and Atlassian that grounds portfolio investment decisions in quantified churn risk and adoption signals rather than whoever's loudest in the room.
Director of Product Marketing & Sales Enablement
Before moving into the product seat, I owned competitive positioning, market messaging, and GTM strategy across Vivi's full K-12 portfolio. The core output was translating product capabilities into language that actually worked in district conversations — battlecards, demo scripts, launch collateral — and building the competitive intelligence workflow that fed strategy across Product, Sales, and Customer Success.
Senior Product Manager
I led the global launch of ActivPanel 9 and ActivPanel 9 Premium with a cross-functional team of 25+, maintaining a market-leading position for two consecutive years across US and international districts. Beyond the flagship hardware, I commercialized ActivSync — an industry-first classroom synchronization technology — generating $1M+ in incremental revenue in year one. The work was grounded in direct customer research: 100+ teacher and administrator interviews that fed directly into 10+ firmware and software enhancements, with measurable results in educator adoption and retention.
Skills & Technical Proficiency
Product Management
Portfolio strategy, integrated roadmap ownership, lifecycle management, GTM strategy, competitive differentiation, market-product fit, user research, adoption and retention metrics, revenue generation
K-12 Domain
State and district procurement cycles, RFP processes, K-12 decision-making hierarchies, EdTech compliance, educator effectiveness, student instruction products, professional learning platforms
Leadership
Cross-functional team leadership (25+), executive stakeholder management, matrixed organizations, culture of accountability, team mentorship and development
Tools & Platforms
Jira, Confluence, HubSpot, ProductBoard, Intercom, Salesforce, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, AI/LLM tools, Agile methodology
Full resume available as PDF — contact me if you'd like the extended version.