How every sprint ran
Small, numbered sprints the founder could see, test and sign off.
- 01
Scope
Each sprint started with a written list of what would be built, agreed with the founder and the product lead.
- 02
Build
Our developers built it while I kept the plan, the priorities and the client conversation on track.
- 03
Test
New features went to a staging site first, so Jobatar’s team could test them before release.
- 04
Release
Signed-off work went live, and anything urgent went onto a separate bug list that we cleared fast.
01
The challenge
A founder-led startup needed a full product team without hiring one.
A big product, a small company
Jobatar had to serve employers and candidates, on the web and on phones, with the budget of an early-stage startup.
A product that kept changing
The roadmap kept moving as Jobatar learned what recruiters wanted. Plans had to change without the work turning into chaos.
It had to work with other software
Recruiters already use applicant tracking systems. To win bigger customers, Jobatar needed to plug into them.
02
What I did
I ran the partnership day to day, between the founder, his product lead and our developers.
Ran the work in numbered sprints
Every piece of work lived in Basecamp as a numbered sprint with a clear scope, so the founder always knew what was coming and what it would cost.
Turned ideas into requirements
I took feature requests from the founder and product lead and wrote them up as clear, buildable specs for the developers.
Built the platform and the apps
Over the years the work covered the web platform, iOS and Android apps, interview sharing, ratings and comments, shortlists, reporting and analytics.
Scoped an API for recruitment software
In 2018 I scoped an API so Jobatar could connect to the systems recruiters already use: jobs, candidates, interviews, shortlists, ratings and reporting, planned over four months.
Kept live issues under control
An “urgent” list sat beside the sprints, so bugs that affected real users were fixed straight away instead of waiting for the next release.
03
The outcome
A long partnership and a product that grew with the business.
- A four-and-a-half-year partnership, from the first contract in 2014 to a planned handover in 2019.
- More than 20 numbered sprints delivered, each scoped, tested on staging and signed off.
- A web platform plus iOS and Android apps, with the full source code handed over at the end.
- An API plan that let Jobatar talk to the recruitment systems its customers already used.
- Jobatar’s product lead introduced us to another client, which became a full build and a repeat customer.
- In 2019 the business was sold to a new owner.
04
What I learned
Working with Jobatar for so long taught me that small, visible steps beat big promises. When a founder can see progress every sprint, trust builds and the product keeps moving.
Building the product was half the job. The rest was making sure it reached the people who needed it, which is the work I do today.
How this shapes my work today
- Agree what success looks like before any work starts.
- Ship in small steps the client can see and test.
- Keep urgent problems separate from planned work.
- Plan for the other tools your customers already use.