Yes, of course. If budget is not an issue, GTM is our recommendation even if you are at the Product stage. We can provide significant help under the GTM plan, including Volunteer intelligence.
Thanks to our 60,000+ skilled Volunteer talent pool, you can easily build a full PRODUCT team including Product Managers, Solution Architect, Business Analysts, UI/UX Designers, Front-end and Back-end Developers, QA, DevOps, Security and Product Marketers.
Whether you take a top down or bottom up approach, the sooner you appoint a Product Manager to lead the product development, the easier you get, while you remain as the Product Owner. Product Leader's role include but not be limited to: - Create or approve the product road map. - Create, review, amend and approve product documents. - Create the timeline for product build including sprint cycles. - Assemble the product team. - Ensure high performance of the product team and deadlines are not missed. - Take corrective actions to overcome product challenges. - Co-ordinate with teams from the rest of the organisation. - Review and approve product designs. - Ensure code reviews take place. - Coordinate and help with product testing. - Build and manage sprints tightly.
Solution Architect is responsible for designing the overall architecture of the product and guiding technical decisions to ensure scalability, maintainability and alignment with business goals. A Software Architect’s role include but not be limited to: - System architecture design. - Technology stack selection. - Scalability and performance planning. - Security and compliance. - Integration and interoperability. - Maintainability and extensibility. - Technical leadership and mentorship. - Performance optimisation and trouble shooting. - Documentation and communication.
Once the concept is validated, you need to turn the concept into a product brief and specification which can be used by the team to develop the product. Business Analyst’s role could include but not be limited to: - Conduct user interviews. - Capture user requirements. - Align user needs to product intentions. - Conduct competitor analysis. - Design the product features to ensure a competitive advantage. - Prepare user stories. - Prepare product specification.
Once the product specification is written, you can start the design process. User Experience (UX) Designer takes on the initial data captured by the Business Analyst and develop robust UX outcomes. The UX outcomes are turned into useable designs by the User Interface (UI) designers.
Software Engineers widely known as Product Developers are needed to turn the documented product vision into a live usable product. Your team ought to include both front-end and back-end developers. Back-end developers’ role include but not be limited to: - Server side development. - Database design and management. - API development, if required. - Security and authentication. - Scalability and performance optimisation. - Integration with third party services. - Version control and deployment. - Monitoring and maintenance. - Documentation and knowledge sharing. Front-end developers’ role include but not be limited to: - UI development. - Client-side logic. - Cross browser compatibility. - Performance optimisation. - Accessibility. - Collaboration with back-end engineers and designers. - Version control and code management. - Testing and debugging. - Continuous learning and improvement.
Quality Assurance (QA) user testers play a pivotal role in ensuring that the quality of the product developed meets the user and customer requirements. Their role is vital in identifying bugs and clearing them before they turn into customer complaints which drives churn. QA User Tester’s role include but not be limited to: - Test plan creation and QA strategy. - Functional testing. - User experience testing. - Compatibility testing. - Regression testing. - Bug identification and reporting. - User feedback collection. - Continuous improvement. - QA User Testers operate closely with the Customer Support Team.
DevOps Volunteers play a key role in ensuring that a product is deployed, maintained and scaled reliably. Their role is vital in helping tech startups improve speed, stability, security and operational efficiency.
DevOps role includes but is not limited to:
- Infrastructure setup and management.
- Deployment automation and CI/CD.
- Cloud environment configuration.
- Monitoring, uptime and performance management.
- Security and access control.
- Backup and recovery processes.
- Troubleshooting and incident response.
- Cost optimisation of hosting and cloud services.
- Continuous improvement of engineering operations.
Penetration Testing and Security Volunteers play a key role in identifying vulnerabilities before they can be exploited by malicious actors. Their role is vital in helping tech startups uncover security weaknesses, strengthen defences and reduce risk.
Penetration Testing role includes but is not limited to:
- Vulnerability identification and assessment.
- Web and application security testing.
- Network and infrastructure testing.
- Authentication and access control testing.
- Security misconfiguration detection.
- Risk reporting and remediation recommendations.
- Retesting after fixes are implemented.
- Continuous improvement of security posture.
Product marketers can help market the product’s benefits whilst capturing early case studies. A Product Marketer’s role include but not be limited to: - Market research analysis. - Value proposition development. - Go to market strategy. - Marketing collateral and content creation. - Customer acquisition and lead generation. - Sales enablement. - Analytics and performance tracking. - Product Marketers operate closely with - Marketing and Sales Teams to ensure organisational growth.
Starting with SkilledUp Life and building your PRODUCT team starts with signing up as a company, creating your profile, selecting a plan, subscribing, sharing your recruitment plans and landing on your SkilledUp Life Dashboard.
Once landed, you can start listing your first recruitment needs, which starts by selecting the appropriate Opportunity Template and assigning the relevant Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ).
Once listed, SkilledUp Lifers will start to apply by responding to the PQQ. You can also headhunt within the 60,000+ Volunteer List and invite suitable Volunteers to apply using direct messaging.
We recommend you to start your SkilledUp Life journey by recruiting an HR Volunteer who can manage your SkilledUp Life Dashboard and find the best team mates and an Executive Assistant Volunteer who could improve your productivity by taking on adhoc tasks.
Find quick answers to the most common questions asked about the PRODUCT plan and SkilledUp Life.
Yes, of course. The higher plans provide more flexibility and support.
Yes, of course. If budget is not an issue, GTM is our recommendation even if you are at the Product stage. We can provide significant help under the GTM plan, including Volunteer intelligence.
The Product plan allows a maximum of 10 Opportunities to be listed at any given time. Consider upgrading to the GTM plan.
The PRODUCT plan allows your team to be a maximum of 25 Volunteer Team members. Consider upgrading to the GTM plan.
Once you have received applications, you need to review them and progress. If the Applicant is not a good fit for your current needs, reject them and explain the reason for rejection. If not rejected, progress to Review followed by Interview. Use Direct Messaging to communicate as much as possible.
We know your time is precious as a tech founder. An HR Volunteer is ideally suited to list and manage Opportunities, find the best talent and manage the recruitment process. You are also helping an HR professional to gain more hands-on experience. A win win for both parties.
While Gen AI is great for personal productivity, having a personal assistant who is good at ad hoc tasks could help you further improve your own productivity.
A top-down approach starts by recruiting the Product Leader and Business Analyst, followed by a Solution Architect.
A bottom-up approach starts by recruiting a UI/UX designer and a few software engineers.
If you usually plan well, able to execute and have a significant domain knowledge where the Problem you solve lies, we suggest a top-down approach.
If you are more experimental and unclear about the Problem and Solution, suggest a bottom-up approach.
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