The Product Org at Beam

Let’s go back to 2017 when the Beam Product org consisted of 1 VP of Engineering, 2 developers, and 1 graphic designer. Like all early-stage technology startups, we did not follow a true product process. There was little time for planning, prioritizing and refining of product initiatives as they were proposed. Requests came from the business, and we built a solution as lean and quickly as possible. While this was the ‘Wild West’ of our Product history, it was a fun and exciting time to work at Beam. We were at a point in our growth where speed to market and testing market fit were the highest priorities, and this was how we had to operate in order to drive business growth!

Let’s fast-forward a bit to 2018. Beam had recently brought on 2 Product Managers and had a team of 13 developers. At this time, there were no Product Owners, Engineering Managers or Product Designers, but there was a memorable shift in our values and product strategy. We started to identify what was needed to support our development team and what was needed to build great products for our customers. We began to formalize the roles within the Product org, the discovery process we used to develop new ideas and how we validated the value that was being delivered. This was when we started to really see the positive results of a true product process at work.

As the end of 2019 nears, the Product organization consists of 88 hard-working, creative, and dedicated members. The team has been constantly growing and shifting throughout the year, and we have remained focused, being more productive than ever. We’ve launched successful products, celebrated, made mistakes, learned from one another and had a whole lot of fun!

The Product org at Beam now consists of Product Managers, Product Owners, Program Managers, Engineers, Engineering Managers, Product Designers and Product Researchers.

We have six development teams, all with unique names — Space Whales, Intimidating Donuts, and WUPHF to name a few. Each team has 7–8 engineers, an Engineering Manager, a Product Owner, and a dedicated Product Manager. The teams have their own identity, working agreement, and funny quirks.

“How would you describe Beam’s engineering culture?”

Each year the leadership team at Beam identifies company OKRs (Objectives and Key Results). Working with an OKR methodology helps steer Product Managers in the discovery phase, which ensures that the identified work will drive the business towards our goals. It also allows for full transparency across the organization as to ‘why’ we are focusing on certain initiatives.

Here is a high-level process flow from OKR to product launch, and the roles that are associated with each step.

We are on a path of continuous growth and development and hope to accomplish even more in 2020. Be on the lookout for our ‘Spotlight’ series that highlight members across the Product organization so you can learn a little more about our Beamers and roles!