Nubank, a game-changer in the fintech world, boasts over 90 million customers in Latin America and stands as an emblematic representation of transformative mobile banking solutions.

At the heart of its rapid and massive success, there’s a vigorous global product management team and an insatiable hunger to prioritize its customers.

Today, we journey through insights shared by Jag Duggal, the Chief Product Officer at Nubank, during a conversation with Melissa Perri on the Product Thinking Podcast. Read on!

Rapid expansion and unified product development

Upon Jag’s induction into Nubank, the fintech marvel had already established its dominance as a leading credit card company in Brazil. With the recent launch of its bank account product, the immediate challenge was clear: transition users from mere adoption to genuine, lasting engagement. Jag’s mission, backed by a three-fold objective, was to:

  1. Elevate the new bank account product to users’ primary choice.
  2. Enrich the product palette with introductions spanning lending, insurance, investments, small business accounts, and even cryptocurrency.
  3. Expand reach, targeting two-thirds of the Latin American populace.

To put this into perspective, Nubank magnified its product manager count from a mere 15 to a staggering 300 in a short span. This growth translated to a paramount need for a consistent product development approach, one that transcended regional boundaries.

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Fostering autonomy and adhering to documented principles

Nubank’s culture champions the autonomy of cross-functional teams. With lucid targets, these teams are expected to match the company’s quality and cultural standards. Such levels of autonomy inevitably call for robust leadership, allowing senior figures to zero in on overarching strategies.

Jag, drawing from his extensive experience at Google and Facebook, accentuates the indispensability of documenting decision-making processes. He recalls how guiding principles at Facebook consistently aided aligned decision-making during discussions. With diverse individuals forming a team, documented principles ensure decisions align with the company’s foundational values.

The essence of Nubank

Two paramount concerns accompanied this growth. First, ensuring the quality of the team by recruiting the best and training them to elevate their skills further. Diversity was a keyword – assimilating a mix of individuals from banking, LATAM tech, and global tech circles.

On the product front, the main aim was to maintain the same fervent customer loyalty that their initial product garnered. Nubank’s guiding principle is simple yet profound: “We want our customers to love us fanatically.”

A majority of Nubank’s customer base, a whopping 80%, were acquired through word of mouth. It’s essential for the brand that every new product they launch evokes the same level of fanatic love from their customers.

How does Nubank measure a product’s success? Jag cited the Net Promoter Score as a pivotal metric they’ve relied on since their inception. Underlying metrics, such as the Sean Ellis Survey Score and Churn rate, further offer insights into customer behavior and product effectiveness.

Jag emphasized the need for Nubank’s products to be “fundamentally different, not merely incrementally better.” This principle has driven Nubank’s successful disruption in the financial space. Every product they design targets a specific customer segment, addressing their precise pain points.

To ensure alignment with the company’s overarching strategy, Nubank leans heavily on OKRs (Objectives and Key Results). Regular product reviews and techniques borrowed from giants like Amazon help streamline processes and prioritize customer-centric innovations.

Navigating autonomy with direction

As teams enjoy greater autonomy, it becomes vital to provide them with precise and strategic directions. Instead of dictating solutions, senior leaders at Nubank emphasize strategic priorities, allowing teams the freedom to contribute in ways that align with those broader goals.

As the organization scales (from 2,000 to more than 7,000 employees in under four years), the challenge is to reinvent processes and ensure they still resonate with the company’s mission.

While there’s a burgeoning product management community in Latin America, especially Brazil and Mexico, the standard Nubank seeks is exceptionally high. Recognizing their role as a beacon of talent development in these regions, they’ve initiated several measures:

  • Recruitment of top talent, particularly at senior levels.
  • Standardizing the ‘Nubank way’ to ensure a consistent approach to product management.
  • Investing in training through their self-developed ‘Product Academy’, which offers courses tailored to the Nubank style of operation.

The Nubank Playbook and the role of product operations

Defining the “Nubank way” of product development involved intensive debates among senior leaders. Working from the premise of creating fundamentally different, not just incrementally better products, they established a playbook. This playbook ensures everyone from top to bottom aligns with a common philosophy, minimizing reliance on chance and promoting a unified product vision.

Nubank has always appreciated the significance of product operations, especially in the sensitive domain of financial services where precision is paramount. Their product operations team deals with critical aspects like compliance, risk management, and regulatory considerations. To Nubank, product managers and product ops professionals are two sides of the same coin, each bringing their unique strengths to the table.

A valuable piece of advice Duggal shared was inspired by a book he read years ago: “The Hard Thing About Hard Things”. The takeaway? The power of writing things down. Documenting decisions, the reasoning behind them, and the overarching principles guiding these decisions can create clarity and coherence.

At Facebook, Duggal recalled moments where senior leaders, in the midst of debates, would pause to ask, “What’s the principle here?”. This approach ensures everyone is on the same page, enabling consistent actions from teams of 50 to 1,000 members.

Conclusion

Nubank is a testament to an unwavering dedication to its customer-first philosophy. The insights shared by Jag Duggal not only spotlight the mechanics behind their success but also serve as invaluable lessons for any organization seeking exponential growth. The emphasis on documentation, the intertwining of autonomy with direction, and the relentless quest for ‘fanatical’ customer love underscore the ethos that has cemented Nubank’s position in the fintech world.

In a rapidly evolving financial landscape, Nubank’s approach to product development, team management, and customer obsession provides a blueprint for transformative change. As the fintech giant continues to reshape the banking experience in Latin America and beyond, it remains an exemplar of innovation, integrity, and impact. For aspiring product managers and visionary entrepreneurs, Nubank’s journey offers a masterclass in scaling while preserving the essence of a brand’s promise to its users.

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