Yieldbird – Behind the Scenes of an AdTech Company – part II

In the first part of the Behind the Scenes post, we discussed the activities of the Growth, Customer Success and Customer Performance departments, whereas here we look at Technology & Data Science, Product Management and Product Strategy.

Technology & Data Science consists of teams of Developers, Data Scientists as well as technology and programming experts, all of whom work on creating, modifying and developing Yieldbird products. They usually work in scrum teams, with 1-week sprint tasks involving daily planning and review work. Such meetings facilitate information flows and communication, allowing for the timely recognition and solution of problems. The teams work mainly remotely – from all over Poland, and they also have office hubs in Warsaw and Kraków.

Developers in Adtech Company

Developers work on a project by project basis. These projects are divided into backend and frontend API. Project teams can number from 2 to 6 people. Teams work mainly on internal projects in the company. The technologies are JavaScript (React), Ruby / Ruby on Rails version 6.1, Redis, Postgres, Graphql, Docker, Terraform. Everything is based on AWS, where we avail of various services such as EC2, ECS, ECR and Load Balancer. Developers usually work in pair programming teams.

Developers with more experience, in addition to programming, building architecture, and planning work on a given project, advise and oversee the work of younger developers; and from time to time they participate in meetings with the client. A lot of time is spent on developing new product functionalities. There are of course smaller maintenance projects as well, but only a few hours a week are spent on them.

What’s it like to be a Data Scientist at Yieldbird?

The Data Science team is a team that combines a research approach with a technological one, dealing with the development of current and new Yieldbird products, taking into account the dynamics of the AdTech industry. The team is constantly looking for new opportunities by carrying out research and development works in the area of ​​Programmatic technology and internet technologies with the use of Machine Learning tools. The team also coordinated the implementation and the validation of concepts.

They also follow the latest possibilities and rules of the AdTech industry. Working closely with other teams, they implement the research results for scalable technological solutions, implementing them productively or overseeing their maintenance. Their work combines research elements (the formulation and validation of hypotheses), including knowledge of IT technologies such as databases and cloud services, Machine Learning and a knowledge of Python.

Being in a Product Strategy Team

The Product Strategy team is primarily responsible for guiding the Yieldbird product portfolio. This includes searching for new product opportunities as well as acting as a link between customers and the Customer, New Business and Technology teams. Knowing the possibilities and the entire product strategy, the Product Strategy team works closely with New Business or Customer teams, supporting sales and explaining products and their market values. The team takes part in the business dialogue within the company, preparing product presentations and offers.

Shaping the product portfolio by the Product Strategy team includes researching both the market competition and formulating business cases: the feasibility of assumptions, what is the expected cost of the investment, and what is the return. If a decision is made to start work on a new product, a team is gathered to develop the product and appoint the Owner of the product. The idea for a new product or the development of a new technology may be the result of feedback from customers, but it may also be an idea of ​ the Yieldbird team as well as a suggestion of people who are closest to sales, who, knowing the client needs, have spotted new areas for growth opportunities.

When the Project Strategy Team completes developmental work on a new product, the next step is to prepare an offer by the Product Strategy team. This includes the preparation of all documentation related to the product: its description, specific target group, value proposition, description of the delivery process, determination of pricing, and the preparation of all legal documents.

What does work in the Product Management Team look like?

The Product Management team focuses on the creation of products, whilst always thinking about direction and functionality. The Product Manager talks a lot with customers in order to recognize their needs and describe them precisely, and the team led by the Product Owner is able to prepare the right product. It is also very important to prepare a road map for each product. The Product Manager oversees the product throughout its life cycle: they define the vision of the product, know the users and the competition well. They also make sure that the product delivers, is in line with the company’s strategy, and brings benefits.

The Product Owner has more hard competencies, although it happens that this role intertwines with the role of the Product Manager depending on the project. The Product Owner understands the product creation process and can analyse and modify it so as to deliver the required product on time. The Product Owner spends most of their time on implementation, structure development, managing the product backlog, and working with the development team on more products.

In Yieldbird the Product Manager and Product Owner communicate within the company what is happening with a given product, in terms of release update, and the new functionalities that are being introduced.

The UX/UI Designers conceptualize the product, create web application interfaces, and select colours and individual elements so that they are intuitive for users. If there is such a need, they also collect information from customers or users by creating surveys and conducting interviews. In addition, of course, they create prototypes, mockups, and conduct application usability tests in order to learn about the weaknesses of the UX project; and, based on them, they draw conclusions and introduce changes. The UX/UI Designers at Yieldbird work closely with the development team and the Product Managers / Owners.

In addition, our Product Managers, Product Owners and Strategy Managers support the Growth department in terms of marketing activities or advanced sales – where they participate in a demonstration with customers and answer technical questions. It also happens that in more complex cases, these positions become a second line of support during the implementation processes. Their knowledge and experience related to both Programmatic and our products are central to Yieldbird’s activities going forward.