In 2020, I teamed up with Adam Lupu (former exec at Udacity, Udemy, Andela) to help people build skills at work. We set out to replace our successful 1:1 consulting services with scaleable software. We tested a prototype at a rapidly scaling healthcare startup and dramatically improved new hire performance.
With our prototype validated, we had the signal we needed to invest in an MVP. I led UX research and development while the founders secured investors and customers. I worked with the sales, success, and product teams to design user interfaces, craft our design system, and user-test product improvements.
With investors, a product team, and our first few hundred users we were able to measure our impact. I ran user research sprints with clients, validating that the product can speed up new hire ramp by 50%, reduce employee churn by 30%, and save managers 5 hours every week. We were ready to go to market.
In 2023, one of our investors call me to ask if we could help the Prime Minister of Barbados. We designed our platform for employers and had it on our roadmap to build for governments in 2024. So we accelerated that roadmap, and partnered with Barbados to train 3,000 by 2025, which could increase GDP by as much as 2.5%.
"I’ve never met anyone who gets teams to a place of harmony like Michael does. It's the combination of expertise in design and team dynamics that sets this work apart."
Adam Lupu, CEO & Head of Product @ Startwise | former exec at Udemy, Udacity
