My slides used for presenting at ProductCamp 2019

1. Hello, ProductCamp 2019!
Today we’ll be talking about...

2. Building Success
with a fully remote dev team

3. Before we dive in...

4. A little about me
➔ Katie McAninch
KT Mac, for short
➔ VP of Product at Sapper Consulting
➔ Bachelor of Arts, emphasis in Classical
Piano from Webster University
➔ Background in Festival Production
i.e. Lollapalooza, ACL, LouFest, Austin Food
+ Wine, etc.
➔ Retail at Apple
➔ Sneaker enthusiast

5. Like many of you,
none of that hints at a background in product.

6. So...how?
Let’s rewind to January 2018.

7. January 2018
No dedicated Product Manager
No rhythm to deployments
deployed roughly once every other month
No Software Development Life Cycle
(SDLC)
Team of 1 remote dev.
that also happened to produce sloppy work
No Roadmap
a lot of “flip flopping” between priorities
Product that didn’t work

8. Put simply,
our product and team sucked.

9. Fast forward to current day

10. March 2019
Dedicated Product Manager
Weekly deployments
Implemented Software Development
Life Cycle
Team of 6 remote devs
that also happen to produce great work
Roadmap
Product that works!

11. Let’s look at those side by side.
January 2018
No dedicated Product Manager
No rhythm to deployments
deployed roughly once every other month
No SDLC
Team of 1 remote dev.
that also happened to produce sloppy work
No Roadmap
Product that didn’t work
March 2019
Dedicated Product Manager
Weekly deployments
SDLC
Team of 6 remote devs
that also happen to produced great work
Roadmap
Product that works!

12. Within the past 14 months
➔ Increased team by from 1 to 6
➔ Implemented fundamental practices
➔ Average cycle time shrunk to days
➔ Improved deployment time
➔ Dedicated budget
➔ Executive sponsorship
➔ Started to have fun and celebrate wins

13. Again...how?!
Let’s take a closer look.

14. Katie’s Keys™
Build your team

15. Build your team
BUILDING
SUCCESS
with a fully remote dev
team
Kat ne M. McA i c
“This is the best book ever written to date on the
success of my team. After reading, my team was so
successful!” - Katie McAninch

16. Build your team
BUILDING
SUCCESS
with a fully remote dev
team
Kat ne M. McA i c
“This is the best book ever written to date on the
success of my team. After reading, my team was so
successful!” - Katie McAninch

17. Build your team

18. Katie’s Keys™
Build your team
Set the pace

19. Set the pace

20. Set the pace
Be the “metronome” for your
team, knowing when you need
to speed up or slow down.

21. Katie’s Keys™
Build your team
Set the pace
Create the culture

22. Create the culture
➔ Don’t always make it about work
◆ Get to know your team
◆ Swap stories
◆ Tell Jokes
● There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those
who don't.
◆ Take bets
◆ Share pictures/videos

23. Create the culture
➔ Shoutouts from exec’s
➔ Excitement from users

24. Create the culture
➔ Appreciate always

25. Create the culture

26. Katie’s Keys™
Build your team
Set the pace
Create the culture

27. Thank you!