BS.

Product manager.
Builder. Gardener.

Think like a scientist.
Grow things that last.

I thrive in the unglamorous middle: the customer calls, the half-clean data, the code that has to actually run, the half-dug-up yard. That’s where the real work happens, long before the demo.

As a recovering data scientist, I still revel in the data, hunting for what customers want but can’t name yet. Currently a PM at AppFolio, building AI features for property managers. I’ve built my own things for years: an apparel company back when, and a string of side projects I cared about enough to finish.

I care about shipping things that actually work, staying close to my family, and building a few things that might outlast me. Proud future ancestor of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Probably the most optimistic person you'll meet.

Ben Siverly, smiling, in front of a wooden fence draped with greenery and string lights

Work

AppFolio

Now

Product Manager, Rental Applications & Payments

The old rental application was stuck. Applicants couldn't save the form or come back to it. Property managers had no way to see what was working, and every applicant was anonymous. I rebuilt the experience so it feels like a modern app, added accounts so applicants can finish later and we can measure what works, and built reporting so property managers can finally see what's happening with their applications. The result: submission rates went from 44% to 70% with a zero change-failure rate, and properties on the new flow fill vacancies 3.4 days faster than offline workflows. We're early on AI features at AppFolio, and the goal is to bring the same method below to that work.

Brava

Now · Side project

Co-founder, built with my brother

College recruiters rarely see athletes who grow up far from the big metro clubs and showcases, no matter how good they are. My brother and I are building Brava nights and weekends for those players: women's soccer recruiting profiles with coach-verified stats, benchmark rankings, and an AI-assisted production pipeline, so they can chart their own path to college soccer instead of waiting to get discovered. I design and ship it end to end, from the first research call to the brand on the page.

Lively

Nov 2019 – Dec 2022

Data Scientist → Product Manager

Early-stage startup with no visibility into how product decisions affected core metrics. No data science function. No reliable way to explain our data model to financial partners who wanted to integrate with us. I built the APIs and migration flows that moved over $50 million in assets from major financial institutions onto our platform, giving them a compliant HSA offering without building the infrastructure themselves. This work grew into product management as the company scaled.

Oracle

Sep 2017 – Sep 2019

Data Scientist, Applied Research

When you change a model, how do you know it actually made things better? I built a system to run hundreds of evaluations against model updates so we could point to real statistical significance instead of gut feelings. The company was also aggregating location data, browsing behavior, and real-world signals to predict consumer purchases. I had growing concerns about where that data came from and how it was being used. Those concerns eventually led me to leave.

View one-page résumé Full history on LinkedIn

Tools

Free tools. No accounts. Built to be useful.

Life Strategy Matrix

Live

Pick one area of your life, score it, and see where to invest next. Then print the matrix as a one-page guide.

Try it

Native Plant Finder

Live

Find native plants for your garden based on your location and sun conditions. Support local pollinators while reducing water and maintenance.

Try it

Memorial Pamphlet Creator

Live

Create a simple, dignified pamphlet for a memorial service.

Try it

Service of Life Builder

Live

Build a liturgy for a memorial or celebration of life.

Try it

Memorial Preferences Worksheet

Live

A one-page form to print and fill out by hand. Record service wishes on paper, no screen required.

Try it

Decision Assist

Live

Weigh your options with clarity. Score choices against what matters most.

Try it

AbiertoClaw

Open source

A free-by-default personal AI assistant over iMessage or the CLI. Swappable model sources (OpenRouter, OpenCode Zen, bring your own, or fully local) with a complexity router and a daily best-free-model picker.

View on GitHub

How I Work

Three steps for building products that fit how people actually think.

Phase 01 · Start with the job

The “why” behind the wallet

I start with the customer's real problem, not the technology. Property managers don’t want an “AI Property Manager.” They want to stop losing Sunday nights to spreadsheets and just know their properties are compliant. I keep asking questions until I can name the exact moment someone would pay $500 right now to never do that manual reconciliation again. Every decision after that points back to that one frustration.

Phase 02 · Map the world

Map what the customer cares about

Before software can act for someone, it has to understand their world. I map the things customers care about (a Lease, a Security Deposit, a Compliance Rule) and how they connect. When a Lease expires, what should happen to the Deposit? That logic is the heart of the product. It lives in a real model of the world, not in a clever prompt.

Phase 03 · Write it down first

Decide what good looks like before any code

I turn that map into a written spec: the job to be done, the pieces involved, how they fit together, and the rules for what “good” means. When the job is compliance, “good” means checking against the real law, with no guessing. I pressure-test the spec before any code exists, then do the same with the plan and the work itself, breaking it into small pieces and checking each one against the spec. The software isn’t improvising how to help. It’s working inside a real model of the customer’s world.

The result is software people can trust with real work, built to fit the way they already think.

Elsewhere

What I'm thinking about outside of work.

Contact

I'm always happy to talk about product, tools, or gardening.

LinkedIn GitHub Résumé