Product management at avecdo meant ongoing choices: which customer needs to address, what developers could build and how the SaaS service could keep running reliably. The product reached around 1,500 webshops. That experience taught me to prioritise for the life of a product, beyond the next feature.
That took conversations with customers, an understanding of product data and close collaboration with the developers about what we could build and operate responsibly. See avecdo: the product and its scale.
Product management across customer needs and operations
I distinguish between a requested feature and the problem the customer is trying to solve. If you build to the first wording of a request, the result can be a special rule that helps only one situation and makes the product harder to work with for everyone else. That is why I want to understand the workflow, the frequency, the consequence and the possible solutions before a task earns a place in the product.
That does not mean the customer has to wait for a lengthy analysis every time something can be improved. It means we must be able to explain why this particular task comes before another. I have had those conversations with customers and prioritised together with developers, a partner and a product owner. When the perspectives differ, someone has to bring them together into a choice everyone can work to.
The product also has to work next year
A SaaS solution is a promise of continued use. New features therefore have to be assessed together with load, data quality, maintenance and operations. My technical background in backend systems, databases, servers and integrations helps me understand the consequences. I am happy to have an in-depth conversation about architecture, while giving the specialists room to make the specific technical choices.
I have also worked with customers choosing between standard software and custom development. The total cost of owning a solution matters. The most tailored feature is not automatically the best product decision if it requires disproportionate maintenance or ties up development capacity that could create more value elsewhere.
A product has to be able to live without its founder
As avecdo matured, day-to-day responsibility was placed with a product owner and a developer. That is an important part of building something lasting. The product's direction and the technical knowledge have to be shared, so decisions can be made close to the work. I have learned to give others ownership and still be available when priorities have bigger consequences for customers, finances or operations.
In a new product organisation, I would start by understanding the users' tasks, the product's current promises, the technical dependencies and who decides what. Then I can help with prioritisation that can both be explained to the business and carried out by the team. My experience lies in the combination of product, customers, software development and leadership.
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