Stas Polyakov
Product + Brand design leader driven by a passion for creating work that lives at the intersection of strategy and craft. With 15+ years of experience designing and launching products across industries — from lifestyle to fintech & web3 — he has built brands from scratch, shipped products at scale, and guided projects 0→1. Currently consulting brand and product design at Republic and running Magic × Logic, his independent design practice.
Product design samples
PersonaFi (Republic). A personality-driven crypto investment product by Republic, built to bring digital assets to non-crypto audiences. Internal experiment testing whether behavioral profiling can replace complex crypto onboarding.
0→1, B2С, Fintech, Web3
Geo: NY, US
Status: Live, shadow experiment
Tools: Product Vision, UX Research, UX strategy, Product design
Role: Product Design
•
Led UX strategy and product design for a 0→1 mobile app
•
Designed MBTI-inspired profiling system: 16 investor archetypes (ancient gods) mapped to pre-built crypto portfolios — risk profiling disguised as a pop-culture quiz
•
Created behavioral content for all 16 types: patterns, superpowers, kryptonites, portfolio rationale
•
Produced AI illustrations for each archetype character
Republic. A global investment platform democratizing access to private markets: startups, real estate, crypto, and tokenized real-world assets. $2.6B+ deployed, 3M+ members from 150+ countries. Backed by Morgan Stanley, Valor Equity Partners, AngelList, Galaxy Interactive. $150M Series B (2021).
1→N, B2B, B2C, Fintech, Web3
Geo: NY, US
Status: Live
Tools: Product Vision, UX Research, UX Strategy, Product design
Role: Product Design Lead
•
Led brand and product design for Republic Note — the platform's own revenue-sharing digital security token representing a portfolio of 600+ venture assets. Designed the end-to-end investor experience: deal page, onboarding, wallet, and secondary market flows. Token launched on INX December 2023 and hit ATH at +138% above public offering price
•
Ran product design across music and tokenized securities verticals: UX research sprints, product experiments, deal page architecture, and global navigation redesign
•
Evolved the Design System: Figma Variables migration, color normalization, component consolidation synced with Storybook — component library reduced by 40%, screen assembly time reduced by 35%
•
Built 3 custom Figma plugins: automated library migration, logo-based fill generation, and accent color extraction from brand assets
House of Pitch. AI-powered cold outreach platform connecting founders with VCs and journalists. Built as a co-founder venture in a market where cold email conversion sits below 1%.
0→1, B2B, SaaS, VCTech
Geo: LA, US
Status: Closed, no PMF
Tools: Product Vision, UX Research, Product design, Website, Basic ID
Role: PM & Design
•
Designed full product 0→1: product vision, UX, brand identity, and web app
•
Launched on Product Hunt, reaching Top 10 of the day and driving 500+ signups in the first week
•
Grew to 2,000+ users in 6 months with 33x better conversion than cold email
•
Journalists from Forbes, Bloomberg, and VentureBeat among early adopters
GetGen AI. AI-powered compliance platform for marketing and regulated content. Backed by a16z, serving Fortune 100 clients across financial services, healthcare, and legal industries. Automates review of content against 50+ regulatory frameworks including SEC, FINRA, FDA, and GDPR.
0→1, B2B, SaaS, AI Compliance, Enterprise
Geo: San Francisco, US
Status: Live
Tools: Product Vision, UX Research, Product design
Role: Product Design
•
Designed end-to-end UX from 0→1: information architecture, core compliance review and approval flows, and full component library
•
Translated a technically complex domain into clear, navigable interfaces for enterprise users with non-linear workflows
•
Hired and onboarded a full-time product designer to own the function going forward
•
Journalists from Forbes, Bloomberg, and VentureBeat among early adopters
Tochka XS. Tochka is Russia's #1 digital bank for micro and small businesses, with 500K+ entrepreneur clients. Tochka XS is a standalone app for solo entrepreneurs and freelancers — handling tax registration and automated tax payments.
0→1, B2B, Fintech
Geo: Moscow, Ru
Status: Closed, moved to main app
Tools: Product Vision, UX Research, UX Strategy, Product design
Role: Product Design Lead
•
Defined product vision and led UX strategy for the app from concept through launch
•
Designed AI assistant interactions and key self-service flows
•
Help desk volume dropped by ~30% post-launch
•
Ran brand and design workshops with in-house product teams across the bank
Before
Tochka Bank ↗. A digital-first bank for small and medium businesses, serving 500K+ entrepreneurs with online banking and financial tools
Creative Design Director / Contract
Jan 2019 – Aug 2022
Rebranding, Strategy, Launching 2 major digital banking products, Design HR, In-house design teams training and workshops.
Profi ↗. A service marketplace with 30M+ users and 2M+ professionals offering services across dozens of categories.
Strategy & Design consultant / Contract
Mar 2021 – Jan 2022
Brand platform, Photo style & Tone-of-voice guidance, In-house creative teams training and workshops
FG BCS ↗. A major fintech and investment group managing 500B+ in client assets and serving millions of users through digital financial products
Creative Director & Product Design Lead / Full-time
May 2016 – May 2018
Brand platform, Launching 2 major digital investing products and Product consulting for three other
Independent Strategy & Design consultant
Aug 2015 – Present
Consulting and creative direction for several clients on medium-term contracts. For example, navigation strategy & digital products launch for recreation park VDNH, repositioning & website launch for Gogol Center theatre, communication & CX design for Bosco Fresh Festival’19, and others.
Yandex ↗. An leading technology company operating the largest search engine and digital services ecosystem in the region, reaching 100M+ monthly users during a rapid expansion phase.
Head of Communication Design / Full-time
Oct 2013 – Jun 2015
Design management and Creative direction for all company’s communications, Brand architecture rethink, in-house Creative & Design studio, dozens of Sub-brand and Product launches, and hundreds of digital, offline & event campaigns.
… & countless other projects and hours of private consulting, trainings, workshops, research interviews, teaching at top creative schools, mentoring emerging and advanced designers, and continuous self-education.
ᝰ.ᐟ — Stas Polyakov