Special Series: Focus. Build. Win. with James Derby, EVP, Merchant Facing Product at Payroc | Episode 441

In the second episode in our three part series titled: Focus. Build. Win, I sit down with James Derby, EVP of Merchant Facing Product at Payroc, to unpack how a core product strategy transformed scattered tools into a focused growth engine for partners and merchants. Instead of mastering dozens of third‑party options, the team picked a few products to go deep on, built vertical features that matter, and tightened the feedback loop from sales floor to roadmap.

James walks through Roc Terminal+ for broad processing needs, Roc Giving for nonprofits, and Roc Services for field service teams, including a new scheduling component aimed at competing upmarket. The thread tying it all together is software-led sales: lead with the operational win and let payments follow. That shift brings faster deployments, better support, and real economics for ISOs and agents, with an 8–11% margin lift on new core placements and lower attrition as support improves. Owning the gateway and settlement stack gives Payroc the control to integrate acquisitions, standardize security, and ship features at speed without vendor drag.

We also get into the commercialization playbook: building a business case with sales input, targeting underserved MCCs, choosing build vs. white label, and running disciplined pilots before GA. Post‑launch, James emphasizes data, not vibes - tracking adoption, revenue, support quality, and direct merchant feedback to keep product-market fit tight. Looking forward, tap to pay continues to rise, standalone terminals slowly recede, and consolidation among large processors creates room for agile teams that ship vertical SaaS with integrated payments.

If you care about turning product focus into partner success, this conversation delivers practical detail you can use.