How we build with velocity at Ramp

At Ramp, we think deeply about making every hour and every dollar count for businesses. In addition to helping our customers work faster and smarter, we constantly push ourselves to also do the same. How do we plan with velocity so we deliver value at a faster clip? How do we collaborate in the open so teams can get feedback more quickly?

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One person who’s been a major influence in shaping the way we work is our VP of Product Geoff Charles. Geoff joined Ramp in early 2020 and has helped to guide the company's growth from sub-20 people to 500+. He recently sat down with Lenny Rachitsky to share how we approach the concept of "building" at Ramp, whether it's product, teams, or people. Check out key excerpts from their conversation below and subscribe to Lenny’s newsletter to see the full interview. 

On business planning 

Efficient execution starts with efficient planning. Geoff explained, "Our entire planning process is optimized toward product velocity. We believe that doing is better than planning. The moment you are aligned in a direction, you don’t need a high level of accuracy."

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Instead of trying to predict everything you'll do in a given time period, build fast feedback loops feedback to determine if your execution is headed in the right direction. "Part of our competitive advantage has been that we can respond very quickly to the change in environment, strategy, or customer feedback," Geoff noted. "We learn something new every day that helps us adjust our plan."

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On OKRs 

One area where people tend to prioritize planning over execution is OKRs. Here is Geoff's view on common OKR pitfalls: "Oftentimes people get very bogged down with OKRs when where they should really start is strategy. You need to believe that the product strategy will deliver value to the customer and that in turn drives value to the business." 

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When you have a clear strategy, objectives and metrics will follow. In his interview, Geoff explains how we develop our product strategy, anchor it to the financial model, align it to the marketing calendar, and mobilize cross-functional teams accordingly.

On building product

Geoff also put a lot of thought into designing processes that accelerate context sharing, decisions, and alignment. What meetings are really critical? What matters most about project management tools? 

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"At Ramp, we build in the open and empower teams as much as possible to make the decisions in order to move quickly," Geoff shared. "What this means in practice is that every spec, design, decision, progress and status is published in project-specific Slack channels, and anyone is invited to read and opine. Teams farm for dissent, not approval. Eliminating gatekeepers ensures that things keep moving forward."

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Check out the full interview to hear how our product and design processes have evolved over time and how we run our weekly product jam sessions now.

On team structure and staffing

Your organizational setup has a huge influence on speed of execution. Geoff advised, "Design your org the way you want your product to perform. Think about what are the core competencies you want to amplify to accomplish your product strategy." For example, if your product strategy depends on data as a differentiator, make sure your data team is set up as an equal to your product team to drive data-driven decision-making, products, and accountability.

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Structuring teams for flexibility is also key to velocity. "We have a very flexible model where folks can jump to different teams based on the business needs, and work with engineers who might report to different people," Geoff explained. "By keeping reporting structures the same and re-organizing pods, we can respond quickly to new opportunities without needing to constantly destroy relationships between managers and their teams." 

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On hiring

Above all else, your ability to build fast comes down to people. Geoff noted, "The story of Ramp is the story of getting hiring right. First, we had to understand from first principles, the attributes needed for high velocity: high slope, not intercept; high agency; high humility."

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Finding non-obvious ways to recruit talent is key in a competitive hiring marketplace. Some of Geoff's suggestions:

• Find early talent before anyone else. 
• Allow only the best to interview.
• Don’t hire managers, hire stellar individual contributors.
• Always place new PMs on a team with top performers.

Check out the full interview

Geoff went into each of these topics in much greater detail in Lenny's newsletter. To get the full scoop, complete with templates and org charts, check out the full interview.