João Capinha
Senior Technical Product Manager & AI Product Leader
I design autonomous AI agents that execute complex workflows for marketplaces and operators.
With a strong engineering background, I've delivered natural-language execution systems for NASDAQ-listed clients, automated deep internal toolchains, and scaled Web2 marketplace platforms to 50k+ users. I bridge the gap between complex technical architectures and high-growth business objectives.
Trusted by innovative Web3 teams
Professional Summary
Remote-first Senior Technical Product Manager and AI Product Leader with 10+ years building and scaling AI-powered platforms and marketplaces. I am a builder at heart who bridges the gap between complex technical architectures and high-growth business objectives.
Autonomous Agent Execution
I specialize in designing AI agents that go beyond assistance to reliably execute complex, multi-system workflows on behalf of operators. My strong engineering foundation (Python, JS/TS, Solidity) allows me to work closely with engineering teams.
Example: For a NASDAQ-listed client under NDA, I co-architected the full-stack system—API, SDK, and MCP servers—enabling AI agents to turn natural language intent into autonomous execution of complex trading workflows across disconnected protocols.
Marketplace & Operator Products
I know how to build tools that directly serve merchants and operators at scale. I own product roadmaps end-to-end, define GTM strategies, and drive strategic API integrations that turn 0-to-1 ideas into revenue.
Examples: As Product & Growth Lead at Experitour, I built and scaled a B2B/B2C marketplace from 0 to 3,000+ vendors, 50,000+ clients, and €5M+ in sales, successfully navigating the complexities of a multi-sided platform. Recently, I've shaped the architectural access model for a DeFi superapp to maximize user acquisition.
Bridging Teams & Ecosystems
I act as the connective tissue between stakeholders and engineers. I lead cross-functional teams of 15+ to ensure that custom-built solutions perfectly serve end operators.
Example: At Protofire, acting as both Product and Project Manager, I closely coordinate with sales and account managers to translate complex client requirements into shipped, scalable products. I also built internal AI tooling (using n8n and LangChain) that automated workflows across our Product, Engineering, and QA teams, dramatically shortening delivery time-to-mainnet.
Key Achievements
Confidential AI-Driven DeFi Superapp
Architected a unified DeFi platform featuring an API, SDK, and MCP servers. The system translates natural language intent into autonomous workflow execution across disconnected protocols, allowing users to reliably deploy strategies across DEXs, lending, perps, and prediction markets.
DeFi & Enterprise Integrations
Led product strategy and technical integrations across major protocols (Uniswap, Aave, Compound, Balancer, 1inch) and built ecosystem products for Midnight Foundation (explorer, telemetry, web app).
Algorithmic Trading Systems
Designed Python/PineScript algorithmic trading systems outperforming buy-and-hold.
ZK-Privacy Wallet on Telos
Led the mainnet deployment and Go-To-Market (GTM) strategy for a ZK privacy wallet ensuring security for shielded transactions.
Digital Marketplace Scaling
Scaled B2B/B2C marketplace to thousands of vendors, securing formal Airbnb cooperation through strategic roadmap execution and API integrations.
Work Experience
Product/Project Manager - Blockchain & AI Solutions @ Protofire
Bridging clients, sales, and engineers to deliver custom AI and integration solutions.
- Co-architected a full-stack system (API, SDK, MCP servers) for a NASDAQ-listed client under NDA, enabling AI agents to turn natural language intent into autonomous execution of complex trading workflows across major protocols.
- Built internal AI tooling (n8n, LangChain, Agents Agency) that automated complex workflows across Product, Engineering, and QA teams, dramatically accelerating delivery time-to-mainnet.
- Acted as the connective tissue between clients, sales teams, and engineers, ensuring that custom-built solutions perfectly served the end operators.
- Designed and built a retail-focused DeFi vaults platform on Ethereum that allows users to seamlessly allocate capital into curated yield-generating vaults.
- Directed technical integrations across an extensive DeFi ecosystem (Uniswap, Aave, Compound, Balancer) and led ecosystem product development for the Midnight Foundation.
- Managed a remote 15-person cross-functional Agile team and monitored analytics for KPI achievement, performing Solidity, Python, and JS code reviews.
Blockchain Research Lead @ Venture Web3
Led DeFi/Web3 research; identified high-potential projects via technical/market analysis.
- Built/optimized algorithmic trading bots (Python/PineScript) resulting in 40% better BTC performance.
- Advised clients on crypto strategies, turning insights into product features.
Product & Client Solutions Manager
@ Onda Lab
Directed the end-to-end delivery of custom eCommerce, marketplace, and booking platforms. Worked directly with clients and operators, translating complex business requirements into shipped, scalable products.
Product & Growth Lead
@ Experitour
Built and scaled a B2B/B2C marketplace from 0 to 3,000+ vendors and 50,000+ clients, generating €5M+ in sales in its first years. Owned the product roadmap end-to-end, drove strategic API integrations, and built tools that directly served merchants and scaled vendor operations.
Skills & Education
Technical Arsenal
Education
M.Sc. Systems, Automation & ML
Instituto Superior Técnico
2013 – 2015B.Sc. Mechanical Engineering
Instituto Superior Técnico
2008 – 2013Certifications
- Google Prompting Essentials (Coursera, 2025)
- Ethereum Developer Degree (2024)
- Chainlink Bootcamp (2024)
- Google Data Analytics (2023)
- Control of Mobile Robots (Georgia Tech, 2013)
Projects & Initiatives
BlockPM — AI Product Manager
An AI product manager that unifies a team's tools into one coherent, queryable project "brain". Orchestrates disparate tools by autonomously executing cross-system workflows across GitHub, ClickUp, Fireflies.ai, and Slack.
Unified Treasury & Global Payroll
A multi-rail fintech platform unifying fiat bank accounts and crypto wallets into a single global overview. Features a yield layer for parked funds and cross-border payroll disbursement to worldwide contractors.
agents-agency
Orchestrates a team of specialized AI agents working autonomously to execute deep workflows in isolated Docker MicroVMs, controlled via Discord with declarative routing.
GitHubWADZ+
Non-custodial DeFi yield product distributed across global markets via an on-chain 5-level referral economy and license gating.
GitHubVaultAdapter
End-to-end leveraged-yield DeFi product proving full-stack AI-accelerated delivery: smart contracts, subgraph, NextJS FE, NestJS BE, and Playwright QA.
GitHubStageScout
Nightly market screener executing multi-source data fusion and a deterministic classifier, augmented with an "Ask Grok" AI advisory layer for trade conviction checks.
GitHubYieldForge
DeFi yield optimizer combining external data aggregation (DeFiLlama) with streamed AI analysis (Gemini 1.5 Pro) to surface and assess top multi-chain APY opportunities.
GitHubCryptoCrew
Safe natural-language-to-database interface deployed to Slack. Uses a two-pass LLM pipeline with sqlglot for SELECT-only validation over Supabase PostgreSQL.
GitHubWhat People Say
From colleagues, clients, and engineers who reported to me — all public on LinkedIn.
"João consistently went beyond his responsibilities, contributing not only to project management but also to product, account management, UI/UX, frontend, and even business development. His versatility and ownership mindset make him a standout professional. [He] brought significant value through his AI expertise, delivering creative, out-of-the-box solutions."
Juan Manuel Faya
Account Manager · worked with João at Protofire
"I worked under João's leadership on two DeFi projects — one based on Aave V2 and another on Liquity V1. He was always proactive, communicated clearly with both the team and our clients, and kept us focused on the roadmap with his strong grasp of the crypto ecosystem. I highly recommend João as a capable, reliable project manager."
Fran Palacios
Fullstack Engineer · reported to João directly
"I owe my career entry into Web3 to him. At Venture Web3, he proved himself to be a hands-on market analyst as well as a great team member and leader. He is proactive, a quick learner, a problem solver, and an OG gem hunter with a great eye for new dapps and tokens. He is an asset to any team."
Leticia Melo
Marketing Lead · worked with João at Venture Web3
Work With Me
I take on a limited number of consulting engagements and am open to fractional product leadership roles. Three ways I can help your team ship faster:
AI Agent Strategy & Delivery
From "we should do something with AI" to agents in production. I scope the right use cases, design the architecture (MCP servers, LangChain, n8n, evals), and drive delivery with your engineers — the same playbook I used for a NASDAQ-listed client's autonomous trading workflows.
Fractional Product Leadership — Fintech & Web3
Senior product ownership for DeFi protocols, fintech platforms, and Web3 infrastructure teams that aren't ready for a full-time hire. Roadmaps, tokenomics-aware GTM, protocol integrations, and stakeholder alignment — with the engineering depth to review the code that ships.
Marketplace & Platform Growth
Multi-sided platforms live or die on supply-demand balance and operator tooling. I audit your funnel, vendor operations, and API strategy, then build the growth roadmap — drawing on scaling a marketplace from 0 to 3,000+ vendors and 50,000+ clients.
Not sure which fits? A 30-minute call usually answers it.
Book an Intro CallLet's Connect
Have a project in mind or want to explore opportunities? Drop me a message below, or book a call directly on my Calendly.