How I Started in Tech

My PM journey started in 2018 shortly after I started coding. I started as a Graphic Designer, then switched to frontend development and then moved to backend development and finally full-stack development. However, I was looking for other career opportunities in tech because I knew I didn't want to code forever 😂. During my search, I found Product Management which at the time was not common and the description was very intriguing to me. That was when I chose it as a path I would want to take some years to come from then. Fast forward, I put together a team of tech enthusiasts and started AppGharage where our main goal was to help tech enthusiasts get into tech and learn how to code while working on real-world projects(Well, that has changed since then). So with the help of the tech community in Ghana, we started working on a couple of projects for clients. During this time, we had to integrate payments for at least three clients at the same time and requirements from these payment service providers were wild and complicated for our clients to meet and also for us to finish each client project on time. Using one client as a test case to gather requirements on what data and processes are needed to make these integrations, we came up with a solution called Epay(a payment service provider) and we built an MVP within 5 days.

Why Product Management?

Epay allowed me to explore this field and since then it has been one step at a time. On our team, we were all developers with no clue of how to go to market or even have a structure than just build. After some research, I decided to take the product manager role for the team by organising, supervising and defining the product vision because we wanted to open it up to the public for use. Google was my friend because I was doing this based on research on the problems I faced at the time. I love using data to make decisions, solve customers' problems and take a project from conception to launch. This is what I did in my role at the time:

1. Using data to make decisions: When Epay went public, the number of signups was elevating except for the fact that we had no data tracking systems than a simple dashboard for seeing a list of signups. However, I needed to study our customers, and track bounce rate (something I recently got to know the name of what I was doing back then), to get an idea of our active users so I decided to do that by using google sheets. Also, we did not make settlements to customers automatically because we wanted to prevent fraud(another thing I learnt the hard way) and regulate our platform as much as we could so with the data on google sheets, I could track how much each customer had and made the payments manually.

2. Tracking the bounce rate was the funniest and maybe tiring thing to figure out. For me, I was trying to figure out how regularly a user visited the platform and performed actions, especially creating an account and payment page. I had no idea what that was or what I was doing but I just knew I wanted to be sure people were using the product because 5 days to develop an MVP was not a joke to me at the time. As funny as it may sound, this is something I take seriously now that I am pursuing this full-time.

3. Solving Customer's Problems: Epay was a solution that was born through the customers we were building software for. In my few years of being a software engineer, I have grown to know that products are about our customers. At the time I started Epay, I had the instinct to listen to customers so my approach was to contact customers and do a little survey about what their thoughts about Epay were, what they would expect in the next phase and also attend to their complaints as soon as possible. During this time, I learned the hard way to not always implement or follow customers' requests but find a way to say NO and do what works for your product.

My Journey So far

After doing software engineering for 6 years, in 2020 I decided to start transitioning full-time into product management and have been doing that at AppGharage since then. Being a software engineer has thought me a lot of things about product management. The sad part is for all my roles as a software engineer, I have not worked closely with PMs which is one of the motivations for my PM career. However, that has not stopped me from learning the essential skills needed for this role because I have taken courses that guide me to deliver results at AppGharage aside from closely monitoring how my managers work on organising and managing our product.

In March 2023, we launched(Beta) an experience booking platform (Jolinow). Jolinow is an experience booking platform whose aim is to serve both experience organisers and their customers. Currently, in the tech industry, I have domain expertise in FinTech, EdTech, AgriTech and content publishing.

What's Next?

In the meantime, while working on AppGharage, working on multiple projects, collaborations and gaining skills, In my next job, I am looking for a challenging and dynamic environment where I can contribute to the development of innovative products and services, a role that allows me to work closely with cross-functional teams including product development, engineering, design and marketing to deliver high-quality solutions that meet customer needs.

Additionally, I am looking for a company that values continuous learning and professional development, where I can continue to grow my skills and expertise. As a curious person, I am interested in exploring new technologies and industry trends and contributing to thought leadership within my field.

With my background in software engineering, I am seeking a role that provides a balance of technical and business challenges, the opportunity to work on meaningful projects, and the ability to make a significant impact on the organization and its customers.

So, Ladies and Gentlemen, My name is Roberta Mawunyo Akoto, I am a Product Manager and a software engineer. You could reach me at akotoro22@gmail.com for any role offers, business ideas and anything product or software engineering related.

Thanks for taking the time to read about me. Don’t forget to contact my team for your software solutions at info@appgharage.com.

Till next time!