Seedcamp EiR David Mytton and VP Devin Hunt have both been successful, technical founders (Server Density, Lyst). As they scaled respective internal teams, they gathered a plethora of experiences on the matter. On this week’s TMIK, our Managing Partner Carlos Espinal chats with David and Devin about “Unpacking the Stack”, and the various angles to consider across product, engineering and design teams.
The three dig into a range of topics, beginning with hiring, and whom to hire first for both technical and non-technical founding teams. Then, they break down the terminology and various responsibilities of the different functions. Taking the example of product, Devin explains that the Chief Product Officer (CPO) is there to set the product vision, whereas a Product Manager (PM) manages an aspect of that vision. Furthermore, he explains that product teams are responsible for delivery, as well as working hand in hand with engineering and design teams. On that, David points out the importance of building cohesiveness within teams to better the communication (and shares a couple cues, including the power of show & tell meetings).
Finally, Carlos asks Devin what the different reasons are for early start-up killers. Some answers covered the balance in technical know-how in founding teams, the bias in prioritising engineering problems (vs. actually helping the business) and the difficulty to fire wrong hires early-on.
We’ve been lucky enough to have both David and Devin with us at Seedcamp. This episode (un)packs a lot, so definitely tune in – lots of valuable insights shared! For more information about hiring product managers, read Carlos’ blog post about it here. For information on hiring designers, read our EiR Andy Budd’s insights here.
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