Background

How I Got Here: I started LeadWave to work with founders who had an idea and no product function yet. That work ran across fintech, retail, sustainability and e-commerce, and it taught me to scope against what exists rather than what I wish existed. When there’s no runway for a second attempt, you get precise very quickly about what the first one has to prove. Since then most of my work has been inside regulated fintech — cross-border payments, merchant money movement, and a greenfield peer-to-peer platform inside a large retail group. 

How I Think About the Work: The habit I rely on most is keeping evidence and assumption apart. It’s easy to build a case where the two are bundled together, and once that happens nobody can tell which part is actually holding the decision up. So I’d rather say a number is somewhere between two and three million with a confidence level than give you a 1.85 million estimate that can’t be defended. 

Teaching: I’ve recently been invited as a guest speaker for product case work, which has made me better at the job. Standing in front of a room forces you to explain why a decision held rather than simply making it, and the questions people ask are usually the ones I’ve had to ask myself at some point.

Jasmin Bains, Founder