Leading Product and New Ventures
Executive Summary
The company
eSapiens is a Brazilian Venture Builder that owns some of Latin America's largest and most successful subscription-based B2C products such as lifestyle social networks Sexlog, Astrolink, and YSOS.
The problem
After years of exponential growth, the growth of eSapiens' cash-cow product Sexlog (NSFW) stalled, putting at risk the Venture Builder's plans of expanding the product portfolio to new markets and tap into other industries.
My role
As Head of Product and Design from 2014-2019, I spearheaded Product Management and Design, leading business visions, creating strategies, introducing new practices, mentoring the team, and taking new business ventures off the ground, even serving as CEO of one.
Impact
24%+ Annual revenue growth (group).
30% MRR compounded uplift.
40% Churn decrease.
76% user engagement uplift.
Context
In 2014, after amassing 5 million+ users thanks to good years of exponential growth, eSapiens' main product at the time, lifestyle social network Sexlog (NSFW), started experiencing issues with user engagement, retention, and flattening revenue.
The reigning mindset “Just copy Facebook" was no longer working, putting at risk the plans to expand the company's product portfolio into new markets and industries.
Approach
At joining the company in 2014 as Head of Product and Design, I spearheaded business visions, created strategies, introduced new practices, mentored the team, and took new business ventures off the ground, even serving as CEO of Blocko, and innovation lab we created to test new business ideas.
... more
Redesign study from 50+ growth experiments I designed myself and guided the team on, including onboarding and engagement flows, checkout optimizations, retention automations, and more, that altogether drove 71% uplift in user engagement and 40% churn decrease.
I led Business Vision, Product Strategy, and Roadmap definition for multiple products within the company's portfolio, always strongly oriented by user insights + data analysis and in deep collaboration with the team.
I was CEO at Blocko, an innovation lab within the group dedicated to exploring new business opportunities. Over 18 months I managed all aspects of the lab, from hiring teams to establishing key partnerships with local entrepreneurs, startups, investors, and organizations, all while testing 20+ business hypotheses.
Created, launched, iterated, and scaled Investtor, an advisor for crypto investors, which reached top 6 trending Finance Apps on Google Play store Brazil in 2018, bringing the company invaluable learnings on horizontal portfolio expansion.
Impact
I learned so much in that startup building environment. I failed fast, often, and tryed again multiple times. Ultimately, it all resulted in very big wins for the entire company portfolio:
Annual revenue growth over 5 years
User engagement uplift accrued multiple experiments
MRR uplift accrued over multiple checkout optimizations
Churn decrease thanks to introduced retention flows
“Victor has a wealth of experience in framing problems, simplifying complexity, and providing clear directions to find insights and test solutions. He inspires and creates opportunities for growth for every member of the team.”
Product Manager
“Victor was my foundation. He was extremely dedicated in driving our products based on market and user needs, but also took the responsibility to revamp several internal processes and mentor all designers and product owners.”
UX Designer
“Victor exemplary plays the role of leader and mentor, genuinely caring for the team and developing them professionally, always recommending materials, fostering discussions, giving accurate feedback with respect and empathy.”
Product Manager
"We had some hard business decisions to be made at that time, and Victor always brought calmness and clarity to the team. For several times his knowledge was essential, bringing up methods, tools, creative solutions, and guidance to the company as a whole. A big part of my potential stood out because of his watchful eye."
Senior Product Designer
Credits
Esapiens is small and mighty organization where everyone trully influences business outcomes. Special mention to Glauber Oliveira (Data), Leandro Kitamura (CEO), Alex Figueiredo (Tech), Pedro Camara (Tech), Wellington Mariano (Tech), and designers/PMs Renan Crociari, Jessica Garcia, Jaqueline Martins, Sergio Santos, and Isis Gaona.
