Product Innovation Series with Aram Melkoumov

Jeroen Van Hautte joins Aram Melkoumov to discuss the process of designing and launching customer-focused tech solutions. He explains how focusing on customer journey and having a customer centric attitude is key to success. User experience rather than features. Throughout the discussion, we explore his journey building TechWolf from determining ROI launching, acquiring the first customers and identifying the gaps to improve his product.

Show Notes

About Jeroen Van Hautte
Jeroen Van Hautte is the co-founder and CTO/CPO of TechWolf, a startup with a laser focus on AI-based strategic workforce planning. Jeroen graduated from the University of Cambridge with a specialised natural language processing degree, Jeroen built the groundwork for TechWolf's Skill Engine technology and now heads the development within the company.

SHOW NOTES:
0:00 | Jeroen's journey building a product at TechWolf 
4:02 | What the first technology Jeroen created was missing
5:22 | How Jeroen acquired his first clients after launching TechWolf solution 
6:48 | When Jeroen realized that he needed to focus more on customer journey  
08:27 | Jeroen’s tech solution early adopters and how they identify the gaps 
11:09 | Strategies to determine the ROI or interest in your tech investment 
12:38 | How to identify what to prioritize when developing new features
14:20 | Jeroen’s biggest milestones in the customers’ journey  
17:31 | How Jeroen’s team works on the product and engineering side 
19:07 | Defining the KPIs for your product and engineering teams 
21:18 | What a North Star metric for clients’ success looks like for Jeroen
22:56 | How Jeroen role has evolved over the last couple of years
24:44 | Spending time with customers through workshops and discovery exercise 
26:16 | If Jeroen had only five hours a week, how would he spend the time? Find out?
28:00 | What Jeroen would do if he were to start his company all over again
29:31 | Jeroen final message as a cofounder, CTO and CPO

QUOTES:
“Launching a tech solution can be challenging, but the trick is to be out there in the market because when you get the feedback, you can iterate.” [5:24]
 
“As you gain more customers, it’s important not to forget the value you provide to your early customers. Make sure they are coming along for the ride so that you can focus on serving the bigger population.” [10:10]
 
“As engineers, we’re often focused on solving technical problems, but we’ve to remember that we’re building a solution to change the world. A customer-centric attitude is very important. Focus on user experience rather than features.” [15:26]

“To solve a problem, you’ve got to be obsessed with it and surround yourself with people who can also find the same passion for the problem.” [29:35]

Follow Jeroen Van Hautte
Personal Website: https://www.vanhautte.be/
Company’s Website: https://techwolf.ai/
LinkedIn: https://be.linkedin.com/in/jeroenvanhautte


What is Product Innovation Series with Aram Melkoumov?

Product Innovation Series is an in-depth interview series featuring product & innovation leaders from small startups all the way to Fortune 500 behemoths. Our guests share their battle-tested perspective on what prevents teams from shipping a great product.
The show is hosted by Aram Melkoumov, the CEO of Crowdlinker.