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Dmitry Bakaev

Role: Technical Process Lead for Admissions at Alpha Schools Met Date: 2025-05-14 (Zoom call about Alpha admissions funnel) Last Interaction: 2025-05-14

Contact Information​

  • Email: [Update if available]
  • Phone: [Update if available]
  • Based in: [Update if available]

Personal Background & Development​

  • Mentioned being a parent ("I have a child")
  • Appears to have previous experience with sales processes and nightclub events in Washington, DC
  • Self-described as "too old now" for nightclub scene, preferring to sleep by 11pm

Professional Background​

  • Works on admissions processes at Alpha Schools with focus on automation and data tracking
  • Split between "software and this" - indicating he may have other technical responsibilities
  • Expertise in process automation, particularly for sales infrastructure
  • Experience in enterprise sales and "renewal sales"
  • Background in event management (mentioned running successful nightclub events in DC)
  • Experience with CRM systems, especially HubSpot implementation

Current Projects & Plans​

  • Developing admissions funnel automation
  • Creating visualization of the funnel process using Lucid Chart
  • Working on integration between CRM and Student Information System (SIS)
  • Evaluating commercial SIS options to potentially replace internal system
  • Working on fixing UTM parameter tracking for better ad attribution
  • Hiring and onboarding ISRs (Inside Sales Representatives) for the admissions team

Areas of Expertise​

  • CRM implementation and integration
  • Sales funnel automation
  • Data tracking and analysis
  • Ad attribution and campaign tracking
  • Process documentation and improvement

Notable Connections​

  • Amelia Baldwin: Collaborates closely on admissions processes
  • Joe Liemandt: Mentioned having agreed on MQL/SQL definitions with Joe
  • Rachel Goodlad: Collaborator on expansion school processes
  • Kelly: Mentioned as someone who needs to fix link tracking issues

Interaction Style & Perspectives​

  • Detail-oriented and process-focused
  • Pragmatic about technical limitations
  • Direct in identifying problems ("the data is just shit")
  • Focused on measurable improvements and data integrity
  • Values automation to reduce manual touchpoints

Recent Interactions​

  • 2025-05-14: Participated in call with Gary Sheng, Tim Joo, Spencer Chubb and others about the Alpha admissions funnel. Provided technical details about funnel tracking, automation efforts, and current challenges with data attribution.

Potential Collaboration Areas​

  • Implementing improved tracking for marketing initiatives
  • Building better integration between marketing and admissions systems
  • Automating more of the admissions process to reduce friction
  • Developing accurate reporting on cost per acquisition

Notes​

Dmitry brings a technical perspective to the admissions process, focusing on automation and data tracking. He's been working to clean up and standardize the admissions data since March 2025, as prior to that "there was basically just no tracking of anything."

He identified several technical challenges currently facing Alpha's admissions process, including:

  • Loss of UTM parameters when leads come through Instagram
  • Issues with the internal Student Information System (SIS)
  • Limitations of commercial SIS solutions (like inability to handle multiple time zones)
  • Lack of proper ad attribution resulting in misleading metrics

Dmitry appears to work primarily on the "lower funnel" aspects of admissions, focusing on processing leads once they've been generated rather than the initial marketing efforts to attract them. He expressed skepticism about Jason Applebaum's claim of having 50+ people on the marketing team, questioning what such a large team could possibly be doing.

Transcripts​

Transcript IDDateSummary
2025-05-14-alpha-schools-admissions-funnel-discussion2025-05-14Alpha Schools Admissions Funnel Discussion