Tech & Product org road to series b
08 Sept 2025
Why carry out a reorganization?
-
Scalable pattern for Series B and beyond
-
Layering some of my responsibilities
-
Legitimize people to hold them
-
Homogeneity of seniority
-
Create strong independent business units
-
Redefine & strengthen the role of Product Manager & Product Designer
Product Manager (business)
Staff Engineer (Technical)
Product Designer (design)
Developers Senior/intermediate/junior
sneak peek
A Squad
“A squad is like a mini-startup. They are self-organizing and have autonomy to decide what to build, how to build it, and how to work together while doing it.” — Henrik Kniberg, Spotify
Staff Engineer
- Technical Leadership & Architecture
- Delivery & Execution
- Team Development & Mentoring
- Stakeholder Communication
Ownerships
Being a mini CTO/Head of Engineering at the squad level
Role
Product Manager
- Business Strategy & Vision
- Product Management & Prioritization
- Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Customer & Market Focus
Ownerships
Acting as a mini CEO within a squad.
Role
Product Designer
- Discover – Explore the problem
- Define – Frame
- Develop – Design the solution
- Deliver – Finalize and launch
- User Impact
Ownerships
Guardian of design and customer experience within their squad.
Role
Squad Rituals
Weekly Rituals
- Weekly Review: Review metrics, delivery progress, and upcoming priorities on wednesday
- Stakeholder Updates: Joint updates to leadership on domain progress
Monthly Activities
- Roadmap Review: Quarterly roadmap planning and adjustment
- Technical/Functional Debt Planning: Balance feature development with technical improvements
Quarterly Objectives
- OKR Setting: Collaborate on domain-specific OKRs balancing business and technical goals
- Strategy Review: Assess market changes and adjust domain strategy
- Resource Planning: Plan hiring and team scaling needs
Staff Engineer
BEN
Meet the BANKING SQUAD
Senior dev
Baptiste
Intermediate dev
Florian
Intermediate dev
Xavier
Junior dev
Aina
Junior dev
Ottman
Product Designer
Lala
Staff Engineer
BEN
Meet the ISSUING SQUAD
Intermediate dev
paul
Intermediate dev
antoine
Product Designer
Lala
Product Manager
Emmanuel
Staff Engineer
SEB
Meet the Customer xp SQUAD
Senior dev
Morgane
Intermediate dev
Armand
Intermediate dev
Mathis
Junior dev
Killian
Junior dev
marine
Product Designer
Justine
Next Product
John Product
Staff Engineer
Alex
Meet the CORE MOBILE SQUAD
intermediate dev
PIERRE
Product Designer
Lala
Product Designer
Justine
Next dev
John Doe
Staff Engineer
Guillaume
Meet the financing SQUAD
Senior dev
John Doe
Intermediate dev
Quentin
Intermediate dev
Remy
Junior dev
Skander
Product Designer
Justine
Product Manager
Elene
SRE Manager
Louis
Meet the InFRA UNIT
Dev ops
John infra
Head of engineering
-
From "decider" → "enabler": ensuring alignment of staff engineers with product goals rather than making all calls myself.
-
From "organizer" → "architect of structure": Squads self-organize within their scope. Focus on defining scopes clearly, ensuring boundaries are healthy, and facilitating cross-squad communication.
-
From "mentor of all" → "mentor of leaders": Less time mentoring every dev directly, and more time mentoring staff engineers + PMs, who then multiply that impact.
-
Strategic focus: More time for long-term vision (tech strategy, hiring plans, career paths, scaling practices) instead of daily delivery details.
Minimal
By Adam Soto
