Entrepreneurship, Product & Software Development

Building thoughtful digital products.

I'm Stefan — 16+ years across product, operations, eCommerce and entrepreneurship, focused on building software-driven products. I love turning complex problems into clean, useful experiences.

Portrait of Stefan Balaz
Profile

About me

With 16 years of experience in the online industry and an entrepreneurial mindset, I focus on building and optimizing digital products, systems and processes. My background spans product management, operations, business development and eCommerce, giving me a strong foundation in both strategy and execution.

Over the past years, I have been actively developing and shipping software-driven products, combining product thinking with hands-on engineering. My work centers around digitalization, efficiency and the use of modern technologies — including AI — to streamline workflows and create scalable solutions.

As an entrepreneur and builder, I bring together business perspective, product expertise and technical execution to design and deliver impactful digital products.

  • 16+
    Years in digital business
  • 4
    Disciplines mastered
  • Curiosity for craft
Portfolio

Selected work

A small selection of products and projects I've shaped or built.

AMATE Webshop logo

AMATE Webshop

End-to-end development of a conversion-focused eCommerce platform for a beverage brand — from product concept and UX to architecture and implementation, with a strong focus on performance, scalability and revenue optimization.


ProductUX DesignArchitectureReactTypeScriptTailwindAWS AmplifyStripeeCommerceConversionOperations
Puncto — HR Tech Platform logo

Puncto — HR Tech Platform

Built a modular HR platform for time tracking, employee and contract management, combining product discovery, UX prototyping and full-stack development. Focused on creating efficient workflows and validating usability through qualitative user research.


Product DiscoveryUX DesignFigmaPrototypingNext.jsTypeScriptAWS AmplifyTailwindTanStackUser ResearchProject ManagementJiraConfluenceScrum
Testing & Optimization Tool logo

Testing & Optimization Tool

Developed a flexible experimentation application for A/B and multivariate testing of paid traffic landing pages, focused on data-driven optimization, usability and rapid iteration. Covered analysis of existing funnels, product concept, UX design and full implementation to enable scalable testing workflows.


A/B TestingMultivariate TestingConversion OptimizationUX DesignUser ResearchQuantitative AnalysisProduct StrategyReactTypeScriptTailwindAWSExperimentationLanding PagesPerformance MarketingFull-Stack
Zähnsationell — Landing Page System logo

Zähnsationell — Landing Page System

Built a scalable landing page system for a dental practice to support paid traffic campaigns, enabling rapid creation of topic-specific pages with unique URLs. Combined a headless CMS setup with a flexible component architecture to allow non-technical users to create, modify and publish pages instantly without deployment.


Landing PagesConversion OptimizationHeadless CMSContentfulReactTailwindNetlifyModular ArchitectureNo-CodeScalability
Delivery Price Calculator logo

Delivery Price Calculator

Developed an operations tool for a beverage manufacturer to calculate delivery pricing, including bottle quantities, returns and crate handling. Automated pricing logic and customer communication by generating structured email summaries, improving efficiency and reducing manual errors.


OperationsAutomationReactTypeScriptEfficiency
Career & Education

The path so far

From product, operations and entrepreneurship to building scalable software products.

Career

  1. 2023 - Present

    Software Developer

    Digital Commerce (Company & Independent Projects)

    Building production-grade web applications with modern tooling. Working on real-world products while continuously advancing skills through hands-on development and iteration.

  2. 2016 - Present

    Entrepreneur / Co-Founder

    Consumer brand & digital products

    Building and scaling a beverage brand — from positioning and go-to-market to partnerships and sales. Developing digital tools and systems to support operations, marketing and growth.

  3. 2011 - 2023

    Product Manager

    eCommerce & digital products

    Owned product strategy and execution across multiple verticals. Optimized conversion funnels, defined features and shipped data-driven products.

  4. 2008 - 2011

    Operations & Business Development

    Various online businesses

    Built operational foundations for online businesses — processes, partnerships and scaling structures.

Education

  1. 2023 - Present

    Software Development — Continuous Learning

    Training programs, professional work & projects, self-directed learning

    Modern web stack: TypeScript, React, AWS, full-stack patterns and clean architecture. Ongoing learning through professional experience, side projects and real product development.

  2. 2001 - 2007

    Business and Management Studies

    Charles University (Prague) & Humboldt University (Berlin)

    Foundation in management, economics and analytical thinking shaping product and business decisions.

Skills

Tools of the trade

A working toolkit shaped by years of building, shipping and learning.

Development

TypeScriptJavaScriptReactNext.jsNode.jsExpressAWS (Amplify, S3, Lambda)MongoDBSQLTailwind CSSHTMLCSSFull-Stack DevelopmentAPI DesignGitGitHubStripe APINetlifyScalable Architecture

Product

Product StrategyProduct DiscoveryRoadmappingPrioritizationUser ResearchUX DesignPrototypingA/B TestingConversion OptimizationRequirements EngineeringUser StoriesBacklog Management

Business

EntrepreneurshipeCommerceOperationsBusiness DevelopmentProcess OptimizationScaling StrategiesMarket ResearchData AnalysisFinancial PlanningControllingStakeholder ManagementProject ManagementStrategic Management

Tools

FigmaContentfulJiraConfluenceAsanaMiroAffinity DesignerGoogle AnalyticsGoogle SheetsMS OfficeStripeChatGPTCursor

Soft Skills

Analytical ThinkingProblem SolvingCritical ThinkingAttention to DetailUser-Centered ThinkingEfficiencyTime ManagementResilienceCommunicationListening SkillsConflict ResolutionAdaptabilityOwnershipLeadership
Contact

Let's build something good together.

Open to interesting roles, collaborations and conversations. The easiest way to reach me is via the contact form below — I usually reply within a day or two.

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