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Ilian Georgiev

Ilian Georgiev

Founder & product leader focused on fintech and consumer product‑market fit

ilian
Lafayette, California, United States
Joined May 2025
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Network

3.9K connections
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Summary

Fintech founder and operator — built Charlie, an AI/text-first personal‑finance product focused on debt reduction. The product used behavior‑change and gamification lessons from mobile gaming and was acquired by Chime in 2021. therecursive+2
Product leader with a mobile‑gaming background — earlier roles include Product Manager at Pocket Gems and Head of Product at Chobolabs, experiences he later applied to consumer fintech product design and engagement. pear+2
Operator → advisor/investor — after building and exiting a startup, Ilian joined Pear VC as a Visiting Partner to help founders with product‑market fit, recruiting and fundraising. pear+1
Quantitative training + Stanford MBA — undergraduate work in mathematics and economics (Vassar, LSE General Course) plus an MBA from Stanford inform a blend of analytic product leadership and startup operating judgment. pear+1

Work

Education

Projects

Writing

Charlie Finance is joining Chime

August 1, 2021

Chime newsroom announcement about Charlie joining Chime (team acquisition/integration).

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Fintech Founder Stories | Charlie Company (podcast interview)

July 6, 2021

Podcast interview in which Ilian discusses building Charlie, applying gaming mechanics to personal finance, product and team lessons from the startup journey.

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Meet Charlie, a New App That Wants to Make Getting Debt‑Free Fun

February 1, 2021

Coverage of Charlie's product and approach to behavior change in personal finance.

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Hobbies

Occasional social posts and commentary on product, startups and AI (social presence on X). x