Use cases: Leveling up as an org, driving results
Key Points:
Reforge played a pivotal role in shaping idwall's product strategy, helping the team launch a new platform and pricing model that contributed to double-digit growth in 2023.
Reforge's PM competency model facilitated a structured career ladder, fostering a common language within idwall's product team.
Introduction
idwall, a dynamic technology company specializing in identity management and verification, experienced remarkable growth in a difficult year for tech. For this case study, we spoke to Lucas Matuda to explore how idwall leveraged Reforge to accelerate its growth, refine its product strategy, and foster a unified language and a product career ladder within the organization.
Necessity for Change and Reforge Adoption
Idwall was looking for ways to enable their team to innovate their way to sustained growth after their Series B raise. Reforge emerged as the clear solution because of its reputation across the leadership team. The issue was that the leadership team was spending valuable time socializing and teaching the concepts from Reforge rather than executing them.
In response, the idwall team invested in 20 seats for their team to help socialize the concepts and upskill their org. Lucas says that Reforge has been a key factor in helping idwall achieve a double-digit growth rate in 2023 and “set the stage for even more solid growth and innovation in 2024.”
Use Cases for Reforge
Lucas identifies three primary ways idwall utilized Reforge:
Scaling the company after Series B.
Attaining senior expertise in the domain.
Developing leaders among the early hires.
Impact on Product Development: Scaling the Company After Series B
Reforge played a pivotal role in shaping idwall's product strategy, particularly influencing the development of a new platform and pricing model.
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With a refined product strategy, idwall launched an orchestration and ID management tool, marking a significant rebranding and positioning effort. The company now positions itself as a multi-product platform rather than a single product, differentiating itself from competitors in the space.
As a result, idwall was able to drive double-digit growth in 2023. The key mechanisms of growth that Lucas cited were:
Launching a new pricing and monetization model informed by Reforge’s monetization content.
Reorienting idwall’s product strategy and growth strategy around key principles from Reforge.
Additionally, Reforge helped idwall restructure its product team, which we will explore in the next section.
Organizational Structure and Career Laddering
Idwall utilized The PM competency model from Reforge to create a structured career ladder within their product org, clarifying role expectations and helping employees understand where their strengths and weaknesses were across the competency areas.
After they introduced the career ladder and equipped 20 members of the team with Reforge, Lucas noticed the team starting to speak a similar language about growth and product strategy. This led to faster decision-making across the team and alignment on strategic initiatives.
Lucas attributes idwall's ability to navigate growth challenges and sustain momentum to the accelerated learning provided by Reforge. The platform's courses, taught by experienced industry professionals, equipped idwall's team with insights and frameworks that helped them avoid some of the pitfalls and frustrations often associated with scaling a fast-growing startup.
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Conclusion
Lucas describes the team's response to Reforge as “a journey from curiosity to high engagement.” He recommends Reforge, particularly for professionals seeking focus and depth in their careers. He said, “Reforge is hailed as a source of true product knowledge, surpassing traditional education avenues like MBAs.”
idwall's partnership with Reforge has proven instrumental in transforming its growth trajectory, refining product strategy, and fostering a collaborative organizational culture. The company's journey showcases the power of strategic learning in accelerating growth and positioning a tech startup as a leader in its market.
