The Rang De product has undergone many intuitive and iterative changes over the years to give our social investors a rich investing experience. The product team have been at the forefront of these value additions. In this edition of Life at Rang De, we asked Jasmine, our Associate Product Manager, about her Rang De work experience.
Could you tell us a little bit about what interested you in school/ college as a student?
I have been an explorer of all things that even remotely interest me. Through my years as a student, I actively traversed multiple co-curricular activities as an “Aestheticist of Productivity”.
What’s your work background and how did you end up in your role at Rang De? One of the things about design that intrigues me is the fact that it is consistent/ same across domains and different at the same time. With every domain, there comes new context and new learning. With the lens of design and being an advocate of User Experience, I have explored Mental Health, Privacy and Security, Personal Informatics, XR and Fintech. This nature aligns with my habit of participating in a myriad of activities.
I knew early on through my past experience of my own startup and working with others that I wanted to join a company with a smaller team where I had more responsibilities and decision-making opportunities. The opportunity and my keenness to create an impact with my work urged me to join this vibrant team as an Interaction Designer. Later, I took up more responsibility in my current role.
How has your experience been at Rang De? Tell us about what stands out for you.
I feel proud to state that I have seen Rang De grow as I grew with it. The best part of my role is the possibility of jamming with the design, engineering, marketing, support and impact teams to constantly come up with new ideas, build on them, and test them. Brainstorming is what I look forward to every day.
Can you walk us through a typical day in your role at Rang De?
My morning starts by scrolling through our data dashboard and updating values for product metrics for our morning catchup call. This is followed by engineering and product catchups. I play more than one role here at Rang De. As Ram, our co-founder, would say, I sometimes put on my “Designer Hat” as I empathize with our users to make User Experience decisions and prototypes, which I test out with users. Then I put on my “Product Manager Hat” and work with multiple teams to look at our product as a whole, introduce new features and make improvements.
How does your role contribute to Rang De's mission and values?
I believe my role to be that of an enabler of Rang De’s mission and values. Every day, I am accountable for building the window between our Social Investors and Investees. One of the first things that interested me about Rang De was the idea of treating all investees as entrepreneurs. I associate closely with the idea and plan to keep constructing it.
Could you share a specific example of a challenge you faced while working and what you did then?
We often face the challenge of different perspectives and expectations of every member of the product team. There is a lot of back and forth before deciding on new features. This challenge is very welcome and we learn how to tackle it with every launch or update.
What are some lessons you learnt while working with Rang De?
Other than things about digital products that I picked up while collaborating with multiple teams, I learnt a lot about startups by working with Ram and Smita. These include the importance of founders being the face of a company in order to build and maintain relationships with all stakeholders. I observed through my seat the art of building partnerships and networking. Another major thing is to not be afraid of asking for help, and consult experts wherever needed.
Have you picked up new values or perspectives with your work at Rang De? If yes, what are they?
Working with users helps me pick up new perspectives. It broadens my mind. Moreover, my role has made me experience all of the company values in some form or another. I’ve grown while staying integral to my roots, I’ve been accountable for my decisions across teams, I empathize with users, I’m learning how to be sustainable with my work practices, and I am leading the product towards excellence. It’s been a good practice to imbibe these values in my personal life as well.
What do you look forward to?
I am looking forward to the day that our product is well-rounded and complete - when it’ll be efficient and automated to lead product growth by itself. Rang De has great potential to scale and become a household name.
If you're intrigued by the work of our Rang De team members, we have more journeys shared here. Join our community of investors at rangde.in and witness firsthand the rewards of their hard work and efforts towards Rang De's mission.