Eliminate bias from product development

In this session, startup co-founder Jezz Santos calls out the common biases that stall Kiwi SaaS companies and how to organise for scale. The prescription: empower cross-functional product teams, anchor on a written product strategy, measure product outcomes (not output), and stop letting bespoke demand turn your product into a services business.

Key themes include:

1. The four “superpowers” that can sink you
   Domain expertise: valuable at insight, dangerous as doctrine. “We know what customers want”: Ideas from boards, sales, early adopters are inputs, not feature mandates. Test with evidence; don’t build by anecdote. Services mindset: bespoke work = high support costs, and low-scale ROI. CEO-knows-best org design: Command-and-control silences innovators..

2. Organise for product outcomes
   Write a product strategy (short horizon, 3–6 months), share it and routinely update. Measure product outcomes, tied to business results, not just output. Ideas can come from anywhere (including the CEO) but go through the same discovery and evidence process.

3. Role clarity that scales
   Sales, marketing, and boards provide input and market context; they do not dictate features. Bring domain experts into the product team, not above it; lead with trust and context, not control.

4. Avoid the services trap
   Say no to bespoke work that doesn’t advance strategy; one-off deals consume capacity, raise support costs, and dilute product.

5. Structure and culture for empowered teams
   Replace “IT department” mental models with cross-functional product teams closest to customers.

Key takeaways:

• Write and share your product strategy (3–6 months). Review it regularly; ask why if it isn’t changing.

• Define 2–4 product outcome KPIs (leading indicators of customer behavior) and make them the team’s north star.

• Implement a single idea intake and discovery process; test every idea before building.

• Create a “no bespoke by default” rule; only ship customer requests if they advance strategy. 

• Organise cross-functional product teams; embed domain experts with product; upskill leaders on product management and discovery.

• If you’re flipping from services to product, change the mindset first; then separate funding/structure to avoid constant resourcing conflicts.

View the full discussion and explore these insights in depth.