Scaling PET at Vend
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Transcript of Scaling PET at Vend
The problem:
Grow a dev and product team from 8 to 80 in one year, while retaining great
culture and shipping constantly.
Culture heavily based on output and trust
No limit on sick or holiday leave
“Sustained B-level performance, despite “A for effort”, generates a
generous severance package, with respect”
http://www.slideshare.net/reed2001/culture-1798664
Netflix
Available Solutions
Structured as many small startups
Slim management structure
High autonomy, High Alignment
https://ucvox.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/113617905-scaling-agile-spotify-11.pdf
Spotify
Available Solutions
Not as rich as Netflix
Nowhere near as many engineers as Spotify
Not as remote as GitHub
…still cool though yeah?
Vend
Hacking our own solution
The basics are non-negotiable:
A culture of trust, with ownership behaviour in return
Focus is a constant battle, but is absolutely necessary
Hacking our own solution
Hacking our own solution
We can’t pay $300k salaries
But we can teach people how to grow with the company
Vend has a strong culture of learning
$5000 personal development fund for all engineers
Implementing a “Head of Learning” position very early
Lastly: never solve growth problems by adding process
Closing the “Netflix” skills/process gap
Hacking our own solution
Quantum team structure
It sounds like bullshit, but bear with me
Creating a “Spotify” model without enough people
Hacking our own solution
Avoiding context switching is the hardest problem
Focus helps (Do less. Stop starting and start finishing)
Perhaps the only place where “managers” are actually useful
Is this team structure temporary, to get through a growth phase, or
permanent?
Creating a “Spotify” model without enough people
Hacking our own solution
How do we decide what each of these teams are working on?
In a culture of trust and ownership, who determines the roadmap?
Direction versus Management
Planning and Roadmaps
Hacking our own solution
Product Themes
Objectives
Mission“#1 global company focussed onbringing delight to S-M retailers"
Hypotheses
Solutions
Hacking our own solution
http://blog.intercom.io/how-we-build-software/
Example:
Hacking our own solution
Product Theme
Objective
Hypothesis
Solutions
Beautifully designed, functional and accurate.
I can trust what Vend is telling me
Stopping a retailer from adding invalid data, will result in more accurate inventory data.
Feature A Documentation/Education
Solutions are not always code!
Focus is unbelievably important
Avoid context switching
Keep teams together as long as possible
Eradicate management tasks by being supportive and trusting
Have a framework to support great decision making
Rule 1: Do Less
Tips and Summary
Use learning to close the process gap
Reduces the need to hire managers
Hire only as slow as you can cope with
(i.e. incredibly fast, but not stupid-fast)
Rule 2: Go Faster
Tips and Summary