Danny is available for hire
Hire DannyDanny Haynes
Verified Expert in Product Management
Product Manager
Location
Cambridge, United Kingdom
Toptal Member Since
April 21, 2020
Danny ran a disruptive startup and lived to tell the tale and launched a digital bank in the UK market. He has created products used by millions and loves solving problems that matter. Danny enjoys working with clients who have a passionate focus on the customer, value data over opinions, and believe in the lean methodology. He has worked with notable organizations such as the BBC, Cambridge University, and A iva. Danny thrives on leading talented teams to boost a company's bottom line.
Project Highlights
Startup
Created a startup to help homeowners avoid the guesswork when selling their home.
BBC News Site
Led large product and editorial teams to deliver a new product in 2011, which I'm proud to say is still going strong today,
Digital Bank
Led product development in launching new digital bank to UK market, by defining vision, product strategy, coordinating build-out with cross-functional teams, to create digital banking services for native iOS and Android (top 20 finance) app.
Expertise
Work Experience
Director or Product
2020 - PRESENT
Kroo Bank
- Led product development in launching a new digital bank to the UK market by defining vision, product strategy, coordinating build-out with cross-functional teams, and creating digital banking services for native iOS and Android (top 20 finance) apps.
- Pivoted digital banking value proposition to drive growth from 2% MoM to 300% in 6 months, reducing CAC by 50%, increasing feature activations by 40%, as well as deposits by 120%.
- Appointed interim head of marketing, helping to scale function by hiring a head of marketing and setting strategy by introducing a science-led approach, brand development, and focusing on fewer channels to increase efficacy and decrease spending.
- Created materials and pitched for investment in both Series A and Series B rounds.
CEO, Product Lead, Co-founder
2016 - 2019
Sicasa
- Created a startup that helped homeowners avoid guesswork when selling their homes, using machine learning, artificial intelligence, and big data.
- Studied the industry, markets, and problems before setting a vision, testing MVPs, and hiring the team to execute.
- Led product and operations, developing free and paid-for lean products for both B2C and B2B audiences.
Senior Consultant
2014 - 2016
Willis Towers Watson
- Procured and implemented multi-million-pound insurance management and regulatory reporting system, overseeing project budget and resources.
- Ran a team of 50 individuals across the globe, including accountants and Lloyds of London underwriters, to capture blue-chip clients' internal and external commercial needs.
- Provided agile and product consultancy on a change transformation program to revolutionize client services.
Product Manager and Lead Business Analyst
2011 - 2014
University of Cambridge
- Replaced core business services with a suite of bleeding-edge data products, improving core data analytics by 4,500% (from two hours and 48 minutes to 2.2 seconds).
- Coordinated IBM engineers, scientists, as well as university academics, and operational staff to redesign the platform from processes and conceptual data model through to a fully realized, operational supply chain.
- Provided usability consultancy and conversion optimization for web products sold to tens of millions of customers worldwide.
Product Manager
2011 - 2011
BBC News, BBC
- Coordinated delivery of correspondent pages, now viewed millions of times per week.
- Led large technical and editorial teams to deliver new features and services to tens of millions of bbc.co.uk/news web and app users.
- Documented and implemented product management standards for the wider group.
Project Manager and Senior Business Analyst
2010 - 2010
AXA XL
- Led workstream procuring a general ledger, as well as designing and integrating a payments gateway and regulatory reporting system in Shanghai.
- Led multi-disciplined on-shore, off-shore teams, and 3rd-party suppliers alongside the CFO.
- Enabled XL Caitlin to hit its core promise to shareholders for 2011, to expand its business into China.
Senior Product Manager
2008 - 2009
Egon Zehnder
- Designed and implemented the firm’s core business platform, consolidating over 120 disparate systems globally, integrating with finance ops and a CRM.
- Coordinated researchers, partners, and technical staff worldwide from defining the product roadmap, paper prototypes, data models to UAT and sign-off.
- Designed and implemented an innovative new system to create rich PDF client reports.
Senior Consultant
2004 - 2008
Aviva
- Designed the prototype for the group’s future domestic insurance platform.
- Coordinated teams around the world to define and deliver business and technology changes to facilitate the M&A of AVIVA and RAC.
- Qualified as a CMMi senior process mentor to help technology staff transform and streamline their business processes.
Project History
Startup
Created a startup to help homeowners avoid the guesswork when selling their home.
I analyzed the property market to find the opportunity, testing tens of propositions with pre-sales, websites, and MVPs. We hired an exceptionally talented team to invent new technology and theory to deliver real-time results to the public. Utilizing machine learning over big data and providing insights via artificial intelligence, we helped transform the experience of people selling their homes.
Measured as a rate of change, this was my biggest learning experience, requiring me to adapt and execute daily every aspect of the business.
Measured as a rate of change, this was my biggest learning experience, requiring me to adapt and execute daily every aspect of the business.
BBC News Site
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsLed large product and editorial teams to deliver a new product in 2011, which I'm proud to say is still going strong today,
Working with an extremely talented and dedicated team, including a great head of product, we delivered a feature that hugely increased the value in reports to the public.
By enabling individual correspondents to offer their direct insights in an editorial fashion, readers could enjoy impartiality, core to the BBC's proposition, alongside expert analysis from senior journalists.
Try looking for a leading story and you'll likely see an excerpt from the senior editorial team.
By enabling individual correspondents to offer their direct insights in an editorial fashion, readers could enjoy impartiality, core to the BBC's proposition, alongside expert analysis from senior journalists.
Try looking for a leading story and you'll likely see an excerpt from the senior editorial team.
Digital Bank
http://kroo.comLed product development in launching new digital bank to UK market, by defining vision, product strategy, coordinating build-out with cross-functional teams, to create digital banking services for native iOS and Android (top 20 finance) app.
Pivoted digital banking value proposition to drive growth from 2% MoM to 300% in 6 months, reducing CAC by 50%, increasing feature activations by 40%, as well as deposits by 120%, by establishing first principles, generating new research, identifying new market opportunity, creating and executing go-to-market strategy.
Scaling discipline from 2 to 6 direct reports and from 20 to 60 people, reorganized product function to align with business objectives, focusing on culture and innovation.
Appointed interim head of marketing, helping to scale function including hiring a head of marketing, and set strategy by introducing a science-led approach, brand development and focus on fewer channels to increase efficacy and decrease spending.
Created materials and pitched for investment in both Series A and Series B rounds.
Scaling discipline from 2 to 6 direct reports and from 20 to 60 people, reorganized product function to align with business objectives, focusing on culture and innovation.
Appointed interim head of marketing, helping to scale function including hiring a head of marketing, and set strategy by introducing a science-led approach, brand development and focus on fewer channels to increase efficacy and decrease spending.
Created materials and pitched for investment in both Series A and Series B rounds.
Certifications
JANUARY 2016 - PRESENT
Certified Product Owner
Scrum Alliance
Collaboration That Works
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