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Scryla

E-commerce start-up

Standing up a team and a product from nothing

A start-up subsidiary with a single product concept: a website in a box that stationery resellers could buy to create their own online portals, linked back to the parent company's stock control system so resellers were restocked automatically.

Client
A dotcom start-up in the stationery sector, formed as a subsidiary of an established supplier
My role
Brought in to establish the team and the technology stack
When
Early-career engagement, during the first dotcom wave

The situation

The parent business had a concept and a stock control system, and nothing else. There was no team, no technology stack and no engineering practice — all three had to exist before the product could.

The product itself had to be deployable many times over to different resellers, which made architectural choices at the outset far more consequential than they would be for a single site.

What I did

I was brought in to establish and develop the team that would build the concept, and to identify the technology stack for its design and implementation.

Alongside that I gave comprehensive advice on emerging technologies and operational process, reviewing technology continually for cost reduction and productivity gain. Given the pace of the sector at the time, the emphasis was on lean and innovative methods rather than heavyweight process.

Outcomes from the engagement

  • Designed and instigated enterprise systems that produced scalable, deployable websites — the mechanism the whole product concept depended on.

  • Defined and implemented internal service levels to improve transparency and efficiency.

  • Adopted new web technologies and development processes early, ahead of general uptake.

  • Acted as Microsoft technology lead and technical lead for new internet technologies.

  • Instigated development and quality assurance best practice from the start rather than retrofitting it.

  • Recruited the team, including distinguished engineers from ICL Fujitsu.

What made it work

Key to the success

  • Defined how the product team would operate internally
  • Technology used as a disruptor and accelerator for change
  • A review first, to understand the business and establish a baseline
  • Constant communication with the board, the operational team and users
  • Continual improvement in both technology and operational process
  • KPIs that supported performance and value goals together
  • Agile methodology, so tactical changes could be absorbed
  • Long-term relationships with key suppliers and vendors

Founders still call about the same moment: an idea, a deadline and no team. Getting the stack, the first hires and the quality bar right in the first weeks is what decides whether the next two years are cheap or expensive.

How I work with founders now Board and advisory roles

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