How we are building Product @ Luxclusif
In the world of start-ups, specially in fast-paced environments as luxury and resale, time is of essence. Time becomes a complex variable where we need to consider: speed, scope, people, dependencies, cost, returns.
At Luxclusif we believe speed and results can only be achieved by true Product Squads.
What are Product Squads?
Our R&D Teams are set-up as mini start-ups, each tasked with transforming a piece of the company vision into a software product we can take to market.
We only form a squad after we define what product or product line the squad will address.
How do we define our Products?
Goal — what the product needs to achieve for the business as a stand-alone company.
Vision — ambition on what can be built out by this squad that will transform the business (and industry).
Strategy — set of problems to be solved with a plan / roadmap of what set of problems the squad will solve on the short, mid, and long-term.
Tactic — activities the squad needs to perform in order to move the needles and ensure strategic momentum.
Customer — it is the market the squad is addressing and will end up being satisfied through its development.
When the Product definitions are “set in stone”, we ensure the squad follows our Product principles playbook.
What are our Product principles?
Mission sense: Any team member needs to fully understand the squad mission. From engineering to design, nobody just lands on the squad without understanding how that squad makes a change in the company.
Product Engineering: Our engineers are far from coders. Our Product Managers are far from backlog owners. They are business technologists that understand how a business works in depth, and then take the necessary thinking space to apply a solution that fits our ambitions on scale, time to market and return on investment.
Focus Areas: We think big, but execute with focus. Although our future vision can have a huge laundry list of ideas (and keep them coming) we focus on 2–3 big impacting projects per quarter for a squad.
Fast projects: The squad is a start-up, if they are losing time, the competition is not. Due to this, we cannot afford long projects — if it takes more than 3 months to deliver, we need to shape it differently and come back with a better plan.
Business Accountability: It’s easy to bet with other people’s money. At Luxclusif we take pride in our resources. Any squad knows the current status of the business and they know how their decisions can impact the results.
Product to market Manager: Far from the typical PM. At Luxclusif we don’t believe in a Product Manager that doesn’t think about the market. As a Product Manager your job is to steer the wheel of your squad towards the right direction. Decisions are on you. Your customer, your product, your roadmap, your success metrics.
No Dependencies: Dependencies are everywhere, but if you are a start-up entrepreneur would you live with the dependencies your company obliges you to have? Probably not…So fight them, and unblock yourself.
This is how we’ve been delivering on our Company vision of being the B2B Enablers of Resale with recent launches as https://www.resellfridges.com/ and https://secondlife.farfetch.com/.
Eager to know more? Reach out to the team and keep an eye for open vacancies, we’re hiring and never say no to high potential talent.
