Rob Calvert

My client was a fintech, offering a unique B2B product. It was a spin-out from a global bank, backed by an 8-figure investment.

The organization was a mix of internal and external staff, and at my time of appointment had missed three internal launch deadlines spanning 12 months. The technical infrastructure included an ML-driven decision engine, an API platform designed to support multiple ventures, and a data lake.

My role was to lead the product development team (comprised of 30 product managers, designers, and engineers), and—alongside the incoming CTO—ensure the next high-profile launch deadline was met.

With only one day to prepare, I steered the product development team through a period of significant turmoil—increasing delivery cadence, vastly improving the process, and rebuilding faith between product and the rest of the organization.

We successfully launched the product on time, and immediately begin work on improvements steered by customer feedback.

Beyond delivery, I onboarded four new product managers (supporting directly when needed), defined a first data strategy, and coached internal stakeholders on the key principles of building a product-led startup.

The eCommerce startup Market Porter offered high-quality food through subscriptions and traditional eCommerce.

Following a successful proof of concept, the founders raised a 7-figure investment and approached me to overhaul to the existing brand and website and provide a platform for future growth.

Leading a blended team of six, I delivered a rebrand and from the ground-up website build (based on Ruby on Rails) in ten weeks, including significant customization and subscription capability.

The initial launch saw a 160% increase in base conversion rate and supported a 10x increase in run-rate within three months. The site was nominated for the website of the year by The Drum, alongside Pottermore and Rolls-Royce.

Subsequent phases of work delivered an estimated 4x return on investment, including multiple rounds of split testing to further increase conversion rates and optimizations to improve internal operational efficiency.

A leading global professional services firm had built a big data product, which provided market insights to the public sector and B2B customers.

Based on an Azure, Node.js, and React stack, the product ingested and parsed more than 12 million rows of Excel data, and allowed users to interrogate it through an intuitive user interface.

However, initial feedback from potential buyers had been negative, and the company had failed to secure any initial sales.

My role was to lead a small team of three (one designer and two engineers) and define and deliver product improvements to secure initial sales.

I successfully delivered within a tight timeline, working in tandem on the discovery and delivery phases. I played multiple roles to support the team, including hands-on user experience design, front-end development, Scrum Master, and stakeholder management.

The improvements lead to the product’s first sales in the public sector.

Supply Compass set out with the vision to disrupt how today’s products are built.

After securing initial funding, I was approached to define and lead the delivery of their MVP and support the growth afterward.

Following customer discovery and expert interviews, I led a blended team of five engineers and designers to define and deliver the first version of the Supply Compass platform in 12 weeks.

Subsequent work continued to evolve the platform, and I continued to oversee the hiring of an in-house product team.

The company has grown into a platform where brands get matched with vetted, world-class manufacturers, design collections, and manage the entire production process from design-to-delivery.