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Home > Sub Club > Building a Product Improvement Loop — Darrell Stone, Citizen
Podcast: Sub Club
Episode:

Building a Product Improvement Loop — Darrell Stone, Citizen
Category: Technology
Duration: 00:45:57
Publish Date: 2022-08-31 08:00:00
Description:

My guest today is Darrell Stone, Head of Product & Design at Citizen, the number one public safety app in the U.S. Darrell defined and scaled Citizen's consumer subscription product with a dual focus on acquisition and retentive, life-saving features.

On the podcast I talk with Darrell about going from zero to an 8-figure ARR in just 18 months, building a product improvement loop combining user research and A/B testing, and why expecting failure is one of the keys to success.

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Episode Highlights

[1:24] Leaving Uber to scale a startup: Darrell discusses the reasons why he left Uber to start a subscription app.

[4:45] Making the world a safer place: Citizen is a “moderated safety app.” It has more than 100 people actively listening to police scanners to enable provide real-time information about what is happening in communities. 

[10:17] Charging for a public safety app: Darrell discusses the tension between monetization and Citizen’s mission of keeping people safe. He outlines the difference between the freemium and paid products. 

[18:40] Citizen on the world stage: Darrell talks about taking Citizen global and how the company “a safety marketplace” to the world. 

[21:54] World pricing: Darrell offers potential strategies for global cost and price differences.

[24:05] Understanding users: Darrell gives insight into how user research shapes A/B testing, product development and the improvement loop.

[29:32] Antifragile product development: One of Darrell’s go-to recommendation for people in product is Annie Duke’s interview on The Knowledge Project. Bumps are inevitable during the product development process — it’s how you manage it that matters.

[32:33] Lessons learned for top unlocks: Darrell discusses tips for being more right than wrong to unlock a real value-add, and how this took the company from zero to eight figures in ARR.

[37:44] Buy versus build: David and Darrell talk about how bringing on third party tooling can help achieve long-term company goals.

[41:54] Aligning the team to the bigger vision: Darrell explains how clear goals, rapid feedback loops and celebrating incremental progress help keep teams motivated through the whole process.
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