His job title, Vice President of Product, might sound a bit technical. But Fatih is absolutely a #teamplayer who sets a priority on people in general, his #family in particular, and loves #football to boot. In this interview, you’ll learn more about Fatih’s hugely varied day-to-day work, as well as the company milestones that he had a large hand in achieving.
Fatih, would you please introduce yourself? Who are you and what exactly do you do in this company?
I’m Fatih and I am the VP Product (Vice President of Product). That means I’m responsible for how our products are organised, and I supervise the development of new digital products and services. I work with my teams to create solutions that offer value to our customers and our company.
What I enjoy the most is evaluating and figuring out new services for our customers and sellers – I just love to develop complex products like the Kaufland app and the Kaufland Card, which are now used by millions of people.
When did you start with us? Where were you working before that?
I joined the company in 2019 as a product manager for our Product Seller Portal. Our Seller Portal lets our sellers list their products on Kaufland, set their prices and manage their orders on our platform. Before that, I founded a fintech start-up out of Deutsche Bank, where I was also in charge of product.
What does your typical work day look like? What are your favourite areas of responsibility?
Luckily, there’s no such thing as a typical work day. My day-to-day is relatively dynamic and full of variation. My team and I are constantly checking and evaluating which strategically relevant problems we need to address next in order to improve our products and services. What I enjoy most is evaluating and figuring out new services for our customers and sellers – I just love to develop complex products like the Kaufland app and the Kaufland Card, which are now used by millions of people.
How do you go about developing new products?
Our core task in the product team is to create value for our customers and the company. To make sure that happens and to keep the focus on our customers, we work lean and iteratively in a step-by-step process that focuses on the customer’s perspective and on continuously improving the product.
We test ideas as early and as price-effectively as possible, for example by creating a design prototype and asking our customers for feedback. Then we evaluate how accurate our projections were and how well our solution fits the customers’ problems, and change our prototype accordingly.
Only when we’re absolutely sure that our solution will deliver significant value do our product teams (comprised of product managers, product designers, and engineers) start on the step-by-step development.
In general, we aim to bring our products and services to the market as quickly as possible. This gives us the most feedback and lets us constantly improve. And then the cycle just continues.
Are there any special company milestones that you had a hand in? What are your impressions of the time?
We’ve hit many milestones over the last year. The biggest one was, without a doubt, being taken over by Kaufland. In the space of just a few months, at unbelievable speed, we were able to completely rebrand our online marketplace. It was the largest and, at the same time, the most successful domain migration Germany has ever seen. It was packed with stress, but also with learning opportunities. And in the end, I was incredibly proud of what the teams achieved. Rarely have I experienced such great cooperation.
What has changed for you – at work and at home – since having the flexibility to choose your workplace?
My quality of life has improved immeasurably. I don’t have to commute any more and I have lots more time for my family and friends. I can be much more flexible about planning my day, and I have even more contact with my co-workers than I did before. Honestly, I can’t imagine ever giving up this level of flexibility :-).
Finish the following sentence: In five years, our company will be…
…one of the most successful tech companies in Europe.
Now that’s what I call a closing statement! Thank you, Fatih!