Meet Jani, our new Product Manager

What were you doing before you came to Freetrade?

My last role was working as a product manager at a luxury fashion e-commerce company called Farfetch. Before that, I was also product manager at the food delivery company, Foodora — kinda like Deliveroo in Europe. I’ve always been drawn to user-facing products.

And then going further back, I started my tech career in mobile marketing at Rocket Internet (before switching quite quickly to product management there too).

I also managed to find time to get a Masters in Technology Management at UCL. No pun intended.

Why did you join Freetrade?

Many reasons! Most importantly, I love the product and wanted it for myself.

I invested in this year’s crowdfunding (May 2018) and kept up with the story since then. Then when I saw a product management position open up, it was pretty perfect.

I actually wrote my Masters dissertation on fintech product development, in collaboration with the Group Product Manager at the European challenger bank N26. It was a great project and also had a lot of value for N26’s own processes.

So my interest in the space is huge!

What’s it like being a product manager at Freetrade?

Intense, exciting and fulfilling.

There’s a lot to do and it’s certainly challenging but in the best way possible. It’s amazing to help build vital features from the start, to join something quite early and have a real hand in crafting it.

Which features are you most excited to work on?

The more we can open up investing to new audiences the better, and complex features like fractional shares, as well as expanding our analytics are some of my favourites.

What’s your approach to product management?

There are multiple aspects to product management, but for me the most important part is user-centricity. Firstly, I believe products have to speak for themselves and the users have to love to use it.

It’s important for me to know that what I’m building has a positive impact on our users’ lives.

It’s also vital to truly understand the business behind your product. So product management is about aligning the needs of the business with the needs of the user.

I think product development is something that everyone in a company should be involved in. The more perspectives, the better.

What are the biggest product challenges for an investing app?

Abiding by a strict regulatory framework — which we take very seriously — while still keeping the user experience simple and intuitive.

This also stretches into education and how much we can help our users without advising them.

You’re an investor — what’s your style?

Most of my investments are in the tech space — I try to pick companies which I think are going to drive the economy in 10, 20 years, instead of focusing on day-to-day market news.

Aside from the product, what are the best bits of working at Freetrade?

The people are amazing! I’m learning a lot from everyone.

It’s also fantastic to be bringing something so unique to the market, something which will really change things for a lot of people.

Important Information

This should not be read as personal investment advice and individual investors should make their own decisions or seek independent advice.
‍
When you invest, your capital is at risk. The value of your portfolio can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you invest. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
‍
Freetrade is a trading name of Freetrade Limited, which is a member firm of the London Stock Exchange and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered in England and Wales (no. 09797821).