To move from a project-based model to a scalable product, Irembo created two distinct teams. One team focused on building the core platform and its capabilities, while the other handled client-specific implementations using the platform, effectively managing the transition without disrupting delivery.
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To shift a services-oriented company to a product mindset, frame productization as a competitive advantage. Repeatable, productized solutions offer greater market differentiation than purely custom builds, leading to more effective competition and new deal wins. This tangible benefit helps secure buy-in from sales and leadership.
During a transformation from services to product, identify and commercialize the reusable tools that services teams have already built to support clients. Instead of starting from scratch, productizing these existing "mini-products" aligns them with the broader product strategy, saves development time, and leverages proven solutions.
To ensure its new payments platform was truly scalable, Irembo hired a new product manager. Existing PMs were too biased by the primary government product's needs. The new PM could treat the main product as just one client, enforcing standards and preventing over-customization.
Engineering often defaults to a 'project mindset,' focusing on churning out features and measuring velocity. True alignment with product requires a 'product mindset,' which prioritizes understanding the customer and tracking the value being delivered, not just the output.
To prevent its new mobile app from simply replicating its existing web platform, Irembo framed the mobile team's goal as competing with the web team. Their key metric was shifting user traffic from web to mobile for the same services. This created a competitive dynamic that forced innovation and differentiation.
Instead of passively waiting for experience teams to request an API, platform teams should proactively identify business opportunities. Go to other teams with proposals for new services that can unlock use cases they haven't even considered, positioning your team as a strategic partner, not a cost center.
To avoid choosing between deep research and product development, ElevenLabs organizes teams into problem-focused "labs." Each lab, a mix of researchers, engineers, and operators, tackles a specific problem (e.g., voice or agents), sequencing deep research first before building a product layer on top. This structure allows for both foundational breakthroughs and market-facing execution.
When Irembo shifted to a platform model, it neglected to update its sales team on new, standardized features. Sales continued fielding custom requests for solved problems and couldn't articulate the platform's full value, revealing a critical sales enablement gap during product-led transitions.
Shift the team's language and metrics away from output. Instead of celebrating a deployed API, measure and report on what that API enabled for other teams and the business. This directly connects platform work to tangible results and impact.