Katerina ('Katka'​) Opocenska

Examiner
DISC Type : cs

Product at Mercury

San Francisco, California, United States

Overview

Katerina is an entrepreneurial product leader with over a decade of experience building products from the ground up at companies like Mercury and Google. A Stanford MBA graduate, she has a proven track record of leading data-driven teams and has founded two VC-backed startups in the AI and Fintech spaces.

She is passionate about utilizing technological innovation to address customer needs and fostering cross-functional collaboration. Her background includes roles at McKinsey and leading product for Waze Carpool at Google, showcasing a blend of strategic and hands-on product development expertise.

Unique fact: Katerina was the founding Product Manager for Waze Carpool, focusing on its initial onboarding and growth.

Personality Overview

Tough To Convince

Unexpressive

Process Oriented

They tend to have clarity about their needs and constraints, and are unlikely to over-promise.  They are heavily focused on quality and prefer doing things the right way, even if it takes time. Being observant comes to them naturally.

Topics They Care About

Fintech Innovation
Currently works in Product at Mercury, a financial technology company, and previously co-founded Yuzu, a company focused on Finance Data APIs & Infrastructure.
AI-Powered Products
Co-founded Trava, an AI-powered travel planner, demonstrating a clear interest in applying artificial intelligence to solve consumer problems.
Startup Founding
Has founded two separate VC-backed startups (Trava and Yuzu), showing a deep passion for entrepreneurship and building new ventures from scratch.

Media Appearances

Katerina has no verified media appearances

Work History

11-2023
Product at Mercury
2-2023 - 10-2023
Co-Founder at Trava - AI Travel Planner
5-2021 - 2-2023
Co-Founder at Yuzu - Finance Data APIs & Infrastructure
5-2019 - 4-2021
Director of Product Management at Sonder Inc.
11-2016 - 5-2019
Product Manager, Waze at Google

Education

2012 - 2014
Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Stanford University
BSc from Charles University

More Information

Social Presence :

Prographics :

Exp : 11 Location : San Francisco, California, United States Job Level : N/A Designation : Product at Mercury
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Insights For Selling To Katerina ('Katka'​)

During A Call Or A Meeting

DO's

  • First of all, focus on building their confidence by sharing examples, case studies etc.
  • Ask them which other stakeholders would be important for this purchase decision
  • Spend time addressing concerns around risk and change, they will have them even if they don't express them

DONT's

  • Avoid getting into storytelling mode, especially when they ask specific questions
  • Don't rely on relationship building even if they act pleasantly
  • Don't be very accepting if that is your natural style, stay firm

When Cold Calling

When Writing An Email

While Negotiating & Closing

    The secret to closing fast with Katerina ('Katka'​) is

  • Low-risk, adoption by others are very important to them, followed by confidence in ROI.
  • Will you ever get a clear answer from Katerina ('Katka'​)

  • They don’t say no often, they push out the decisions or keep going around in circles.

Insights For Deal Planning

    How fast (or slow) will Katerina ('Katka'​) move?

  • They do not like to rush and therefore can be quite slow in their decision-making.
  • Can Katerina ('Katka'​) take some risk or not?

  • They have little risk-appetite and prefer to take measured decisions.

You And Katerina ('Katka'​)

Personality Compatibility


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