Sokowatch’s mission is to serve informal retailers and empower them to grow and lift their communities up from poverty. Sokowatch offers same-day delivery of essential goods at more competitive prices than traditional distributors and negotiates bulk rates directly with manufacturers (think Unilever, P&G, etc.). After storing their goods in the several warehouses located in any of three markets that Sokowatch serves, the delivery is made through one of Sokowatch’s tuk-tuks (small vehicles that, unlike trucks, can use narrow roads to reach neighbourhoods that are poorly connected to large cities). These same-day orders are made through the Sokowatch app or the call center. The company recently launched credit lines for its customers and is developing its own algorithm based on customers’ purchasing data.

I was a PM intern assigned to two mobile apps supporting e-commerce (one for customers and one for the call center associates). In addition, I was involved in the integration of a loan management system to launch Sokowatch’s microcredit program. I focused on both enhancements of existing features as well as the design and launch of new ones. As Sokowatch operates in four markets (Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania) user flows were unique to the local culture and financial environment. One of my proudest achievements is to have launched a feature allowing retailers to sell digital airtime through our app and improve their margin. Launching this feature challenged me to work at the intersection of software development and mobile money in order to find opportunities for our customers to increase their margins and get more value from Sokowatch.

As mentioned, Sokowatch is in a phase where it’s growing rapidly and needed to implement processes to sustain its growth. I used several principles from my Operations Strategy class to tackle this challenge: 1) to make our activities measurable in the meaningful ways, I selected several metrics that aligned with our KPIs and that I could monitor; and 2) to increase output and decrease the time it took us to launch, I redesigned the steps our team would take, from designing the feature to launching it. This involved addressing bottlenecks and constantly analyzing feedback from the team on what worked and what didn’t. In addition, the process needed to be repeatable by the whole team and applicable on all types of features that would be pushed out. Also, the LEAD class was extremely helpful in transforming the way our team collaborated. Rather than imposing a new structure, I involved all stakeholders to get their buy-in from the very beginning in order to speed their adoption of the new approach.

After having proven that its business model is sustainable and raised a series A round, Sokowatch is now rapidly scaling its operations and eyeing new markets. The company is growing both in its revenues and its staff. This meant that beyond planning sprints and working with engineers to release new features, a significant portion of my work involved the design and implementation of new processes for the product teams to scale efficiently by avoiding bureaucracy and empowering each team while keeping all stakeholders in the loop. The work requires a deep understanding of the company culture and the goals that have been set by the leadership. Effective processes lie at the intersection of these two.

The most important challenge that I faced during that time was finding the balance between reaching KPIs set and maintaining a high-quality of work while building processes that set us up for success. It was tough because a number of compromises and decisions had to be made: Should we focus on quality at the expense of deadlines? Should we adopt a results-oriented approach at the cost of great user experience? Does the process used matter more than the result? The answer was always both yes and no: Processes, quality, and speed all matter. Managing the three requires strong decision-making and prioritization. In hindsight, I realize that this baptism by fire taught me critical skills that will prove essential at high-growth startups.

I love technology, yet developing products is really complex for any technophile. For example, some features would require a strong understanding of technology and making compromises in order to build the remaining parts of our roadmap in the future. Some other times, I collaborated with as many as a dozen stakeholders on a specific feature that would impact their work and KPIs. Aligning members and navigating this process taught me that product managers need to be excellent communicators, listeners, and defenders. The success of my team was ultimately tied to the trust and bond we built. We supported one another and made compromises for each other. We had each other’s back. Protecting engineers and allowing them to do what they love and excel at was a key priority of mine. Outside of our team, teaching business owners to think through their feature requests and provide the research and details we sought required empathy and diplomacy. Finally, on a personal level, I learned a lot from the head of product, who directly supervised me throughout the summer. Seeing how much my supervisor and team members invested in me, I’ve learned about the kind of manager I’d like to be someday: one that empowers teams to achieve great things by supporting and teaching one another.