Two Truths on Building Product Delivery Teams
Building product delivery teams requires the acceptance of two pure truths. First and foremost: Product scales asymmetrically to the company, writ large. This is to say, even in the most explosively fast-growing startups, a product organization isn’t going to scale at a one-for-one pace with the broader company. If the company doubles, the product team may grow by 20-30%. Otherwise, you’re simply setting yourself up for failure. In the secondary: Each hire made on a product team is absolutely crucial. Strong product organizations run lean, without much spare capacity, and with a constantly mission-driven mindset.
In other words, building high-performing product delivery teams is difficult and comes without much margin for error. Therefore, each hire must be made with the utmost intentionality. Thankfully, when it comes to FinTechs in particular, there are four primary archetypes to look for when making your next product management hire. A product delivery team featuring a product manager from each of these backgrounds will be well-rounded, scalable, and ready for the challenge of delivering value in the FinTech space.
The Builder
This individual is your must-have, bread-and-butter Product Manager. This person is action-biased, motivated by the completion of work, and believes perfect to be the enemy of done. The Builder has a strong understanding of your team’s roadmap and continually proselytizes how each incremental step ladders up to your organization’s broader goals. Builders care less about following a given software development methodology (Waterfall, Agile, EOS, etc.) than simply getting work done. Make no mistake, that’s a good thing.
The Regulatory Guru
Think of the Regulatory Guru as a walking compliance department. This hire, perhaps more than any of the others on your list, makes the lives of the entire product organization easier in the long run. This individual has a deeply honed and nuanced understanding of the state of regulation around your FinTech product and brings that knowledge to the table whenever you begin the build of a new feature. Without this individual, you may find yourself at the end of a multi-month build, staring down potential financial loss or reputational damage.
The Technologist
I’ve heard both sides of the debate on whether former engineers make good product managers. Let me say this with my chest: they do, full stop. The fast track to developing tension between a product delivery team and a product engineering team is to consistently design products well outside of the technical limitations or of your engineering group. The Technologist brings with them an understanding of your engineering organization’s prior work and, therefore, designs products from the perspective of “let’s not break what we already have.” This individual is absolutely invaluable when it comes to grooming sessions with engineers.
The Storyteller
The storyteller is the player-coach of your product delivery team. This individual is the yin to the Builder’s yang in many senses. This individual is a strong believer in your software development methodology and takes adherence to your SDLC system (EOS, Agile, Waterfall) seriously. They’ve got a head for metrics and are most likely found checking in on capacity, flagging items that are lagging in your sprint, or bringing light to the value of each aspect of a sprint in relation to the overall build. In this sense, the storyteller becomes something of a player-coach on your product delivery team and often finds themselves as a conduit to upper leadership.
At Quavo, we are committed to building a well-rounded product team that embodies the innovation and support necessary to drive success in the rapidly evolving FinTech landscape. By bringing together individuals with diverse skill sets and perspectives—from the action-focused Builder to the tech-savvy Technologist—we ensure that the team is equipped to meet the demands of our clients and the regulatory environment. This balanced approach drives product innovation and helps us deliver seamless, compliant solutions that empower financial institutions to stay ahead of the curve. Ready to learn more? Reach out to one of our experts today.
