Introducing Benson Lao. Product Marketing Manager.

Currently a STEM MBA Candidate (c/o 2022) at USC Marshall and looking to bring 5 years of product experience to Apple. My background includes degrees in

business economics (focus on statistical analysis) and business administration (specialized in marketing and organizational behavior), which allow me to move

fluently between deep data-driven analytics and human-centered design.

Product Mindset.User-focused. I learned design thinking from Apple before I even knew what design thinking was. Every product needs to start with the user experience, then work backwards to technology. If you start with cool technology, you’ve created a science project.

Unique Background. Dual Perspective.

Not Just Theory.Practical Experience. As a product manager in consulting, I’ve launched dozens of innovative products alongside cross-functional teams of engineers and designers.

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Deep Data-Driven Analytics

From developing data models used in groundbreaking nationwide economics studies to engineering analysis models for a disruptive pension investment product, I’ve always generated valuable insights from data. This data informs my focus and guides product vision.

5+ Years Product Experience

# Profound User Empathy

Understanding user needs and emotions is core to my product philosophy. Every product I create celebrates the user by eliminating pain points, understanding their needs, and delivering them genuine delight and surprise. For example: the final screen on my online enrollment portal bursts into fireworks and congratulates the user on their retirement.

$1.5B Generated from Products

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BENSON LAO Los Angeles, CA • Benson.Lao.2022@marshall.usc.edu • (626) 226-6464 • linkedin.com/in/benson-lao • bensonlao.com

EDUCATION University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business – Los Angeles, CA May 2022 Master of Business Administration (STEM)

• Membership: High Tech Association; Marshall Data Analytics Club; Marshall Interactive Gaming Association, Graduate Asian Business Society, Marshall Business Competition Program

• Leadership: Associate Vice President of Casing, High Tech Association • Industry Training: Product Management Bootcamp

University of California, Irvine – Irvine, CA June 2015 Bachelor of Arts, Business Administration; Specialized in Organizational Behavior & Marketing Bachelor of Arts, Business Economics; Focus on Econometrics and other applied statistics

• Honors: cum laude, Chancellor’s Award of Distinction, Dean’s Order of Merit, GPA 3.80 EXPERIENCE PARS | Public Agency Retirement Services (Public sector investment consulting firm) – Newport Beach, CA 2016 – 2020 Senior Product Analyst

• Innovated online enrollment portal for over 1M customers annually; managed development with engineering teams and emphasized defining and eliminating friction, resulting in 80% faster user flow and an improved customer experience.

• Developed and managed product strategy and roadmap for an industry disrupting pension investment tool; collaborated with cross-functional teams and launched fastest growing product in company history — over 25% of all business in 4 years.

• Launched a complete product marketing refresh, including all consumer-facing publications and marketing efforts, across all company products, unifying all company brands; surveys indicate 90% approval, citing stronger, clearer messaging.

• Created an internal transaction analysis product with an agile development model used by all departments, replacing 22 separate analysis tools; resulting in over 10,000 program iterations run annually, with <1% error rate.

• Conceived internal SQL tools accessed via web and led development/inclusion across workflows in all company departments; completed 2M+ data pulls with 100% accuracy and internal surveys indicate 98% satisfaction.

• Introduced dollar-weighted rate-of-return KPI based on regression model from 25 years of internal data and achieved over 97% statistical significance; interfaced with leadership and coworkers across departments to integrate into processes.

• Re-engineered analysis model of primary product to enable instant calculation results while accounting for over 1,000 independent variables; utilized in over 2,000 analyses and tracks over $100M in annual revenue.

Global Connect @ UCI (An educational initiative) – Irvine, CA 2013 – 2015 Editor-at-Large & Undergraduate Lead

• Headed product development for a series of 15 textbooks and 100+ lesson plans, expanding globalization and international studies in secondary schools; presented to 10,000+ students and implemented curriculum at 100+ school districts nationwide.

• Directed research and design teams of 200+ interns and supervisors annually, including training on presentation skills and slide deck development.

Chancellor’s Economist, Department of Economics – Irvine, CA 2014 – 2015 Lead Research Assistant

• Designed preliminary regression models with over 1M data points for a national study on age discrimination. • Published in 100+ academic journals including Harvard Business Review and The National Bureau of Economic Research.

SKILLS & INTERESTS

• Projects: Kawaii Boba Stickers: Top 5 on iMessage app store. Conceived/launched during March 2020. Over 2,000 DAUs; www.bensonlao.com: Designed using WYSIWYG tools, integrated with G Suite and Google Analytics.

• Certificates: Digital Product Management: Modern Fundamentals; SQL for Data Science; Getting Started with Python • Software: Tableau, Python, SQL, Excel, JIRA, VBA, STATA, MATLAB, Figma, Creative Cloud, Keynote, Xcode, Agile,

Scrum, Design Thinking, Problem Scenarios, Lean Startup, Storyboards, User Personas, A/B Testing