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Ivan Santana
Experienced Product Management Leader
Ivan Santana is the Chief Product Officer at WIN Reality, a company that specializes in virtual reality training for baseball and softball players. He has been in this role since 2022 and is based in the San Francisco Bay Area. WIN Reality aims to enhance players' skills by allowing them to train with Meta Quest headsets against game-speed pitches, helping them improve their timing and confidence in real games.1
Santana has over a decade of experience in product management, having previously served as the Senior Director of Product Management at Twitch from 2017 to 2021. In his role at Twitch, he focused on building thriving communities and enhancing user engagement through various features and integrations.12 His career also includes positions at Mint Bills and Sempra Energy, where he gained valuable experience in product management and corporate development.13
Highlights
Tomorrow is one of my favorite days of the year, Moebius Syndrome Awareness Day (MSAD). MSAD holds a special place in the Santana household because my son, Mathias, was born with Moebius Syndrome, a very rare condition that impact his facial nerves. Due to Moebius Syndrome, the right side of his face is paralyzed, he can't move his eyes and his tongue doesn't move normally.
The first few days after Mathias' birth were intense. Two minutes after he was born, a doctor pulled me aside and told me, "I think your son is brain dead." Ten minutes later, we bundled Mathias in blankets and pillows and loaded him into an MRI machine to confirm he had brain activity. I remember listening intently to his tiny breaths in the monitor that the doctors set up to make sure he was still breathing while in the MRI machine. To our great relief, the results indicated that his brain activity was normal.
The next day, a neurologist visited our hospital room, looked at Mathias for 15 seconds, and gave us a diagnosis of Moebius Syndrome. She advised us not to Google it. We ignored her advice. That was another difficult moment as we learned that Moebius Syndrome is a lifelong condition with many severe complications. While learning about Moebius Syndrome I felt despair as I envisioned a difficult life for my son. Like many parents, I have dreams for my children. With the diagnosis, I felt my dreams for my son fade away.
I've learned many lessons from Mathias, but perhaps the greatest lesson he has taught me is to never count him out and that sometimes reality, while messy and less linear, can be way better than your wildest dreams. The doctors said that Mathias would likely never be able to speak clearly. He is now a chatterbox and frequent class participant who loves math and reading. The doctors said that sports would be difficult for him because he lacks visual depth perception and field of vision. In the semifinals of his most recent jiu jitsu tournament, he was down on points and running out of time, but would not stop fighting until he secured the submission and a trip to the final.
I am sure that the future will hold many ups and downs for our family, but whatever is in store for us, I am grateful to have Mathias' toughness, humility and kindness by my side. Happy Moebius Syndrome Awareness Day!
🚀 For senior/group PMs on the job market 🚀
This is a very exciting opportunity to take on an important product challenge at a rocket ship company (Roblox) and learn from a great product leader (David Breger).
