At Agicap, we want to empower business owners in Europe to make better decisions based on one of their biggest pain points: their cash flow. More than 6000 companies see value of our cash flow management solution.
The roles in the Product Department
In the Product Department, we define the direction, strategy, and roadmap of our product to deliver a tool that has real value for our users. We work closely across all teams at Agicap, managing the process from product idea all the way to product launch.
To drive our roadmap, we have a dedicated team of Product Managers who identify user needs and their solutions, and lead the team in delivering valuable features. As a communication link between the Product and Software Engineering teams, they are in constant contact with the other teams at Agicap as well as our clients.
Our Product Designers, who are the keepers of the user-experience of our product and maintain our design system, conduct user research to understand user-needs, design mockups, and test prototypes for new features.
To bring new features to our clients, our Product Marketers share the value proposition with our audience. By defining the internal and external communication strategy and developing communications via videos, fact sheets, website content they ensure that all teams at Agicap and our clients understand the value of new features.
In a context of hyper growth, the Product Operations Team creates tools and processes to help the Product Department scale. The team has three different roles: Product Ops, Product Knowledge and Support, and User Research Ops. These roles tackle process design, data analytics, and tool management to help the department measure the impact of features, tackle international expansion, and ensure operational excellence.
To manage our knowledge database and centralize all information on our product internally, we have a team of Product Knowledge and Support specialists who make sure that our product is bug free and orchestrate internal support. They also take care of the product training of all new collaborators needing product expertise.
At Agicap, we are extremely close to our users, with 30 people from our Product team in almost daily contact with clients. So, our User Research Ops make sure that 100% of the insights we gather from our users are actionable. To do this, they optimizes the tools, processes, and strategies our team uses to advance our roadmap and deliver features.
Now, let us tell you more about how we approach our work!
We put our users at the center of everything we do
At Agicap, we put our users first. Our goal is to solve a real problem for thousands of SMEs in Europe, and to make cash flow management as simple as possible for our users. How do we do this? We put Agicap users at the center of everything we develop: it is that simple.
100% of what we do in the Product Department responds to a need that we have learned about directly from our users. We do not develop any product features unless we know it will solve an existing problem or pain point. By having as much direct contact with our users as possible, we can understand exactly what we need to do to make a valuable product for them.
The teams begin designing each new product feature with an initial user research phase that allows us to better interpret the problem, by understanding the context and the needs surrounding it. Depending on the scope and ambition of this feature, we may contact up to 100 users or prospects. Our User Research Ops team helps us to structure our user research during this phase.
Finally, once we release a new feature, we take the time to personally contact each customer who requested the feature or participated in its development. In addition to seeing the real impact of this feature in the daily life of our customers, it allows us to gather valuable feedback, which we use to scale and improve the feature.
We can see the real impact this product has on small and medium-sized businesses, and this gives us a real sense of purpose to continually improve a tool that has value for thousands of people.
Check out this video to hear from our CPO Maël, and Lucas, Co-founder and CTO, about their vision for Agicap and our product (in French):
We take care of the entire design process
We are convinced that the quality of the product we develop is key to Agicap's success. That's why we invest a great deal in recruiting product teams with the ability to excel not only in the delivery phase, but also in the discovery phase.
We try to maintain a ratio of one Product Manager and one Product Designer to a maximum of four Developers. Although this may seem disproportionate compared to ratios of one Product Manager to ten Developers that we see elsewhere, we are convinced this ratio allows for our Product Teams to conduct the user research and design phases effectively, so they are better prepared to follow up on the delivery phases with the Software Engineering teams.
Finally, we do not operate as separate entities among our teams. Product Managers, Product Designers, and Developers from the Software Engineering Team work in teams of three. By working together cross functionally, we do not segment the development or design of our product, and we can ensure that we are all on the same page and working towards the same goals. These groups of three develop a strong expertise and have a high level of ownership over their work.
Teamwork and collaboration motivate our work
By staying in contact with the rest of the Agicap team, we work with colleagues that interact with users at different stages of the customer lifecycle. This allows us to have as much direct feedback from the users of our product, so we can shape our product roadmap according to their needs and pain points.
We work closely with the Marketing Department, as well as the Sales Development Representatives and Account Executives in the Sales Department, who are in contact with clients who are considering our product.
We also collaborate with the Data Team, whose goal is to help us make data-driven decisions. They analyze platform usage, customer insights, and business impacts of new features to help us make decisions on what functionalities and updates to prioritize.
The Customer Success Department, who manages the support and onboarding of our users, logs all feedback on what issues customers are having and what problems they need solved. They send us this feedback so we can understand what features and updates are most important to our clients. Once we release updates or new features, we reach out to the clients directly to let them know we have listened to them and optimized our product with them in mind.
Are you ready to join the team?
Our teams within the Product Department exercise a great deal of ownership on the work we do, and this motivates us to continually progress as a team and reach for excellence. Our passion for our product and its impact on our users motivates us daily.
We are looking for people to join the team who always reach for excellence, and continually question the processes in place, so we can always aim to improve as a team and as a company. Are you ready to join an adventure filled with daily challenges, and above all, join a team where each person wants to bring our users a product that solves real problems and has a real impact?
Check out our open positions in the Product Department here.
If you want to know more about the keys to success, methods, and tools on our team, check out this round table discussion (in French):
