🎧 Ramp VP of Engineering Nik Koblov: How Ramp Crafts a World-Class Eng Org, Hires Outliers, and Ships So Fast - Live at SF Tech Week
Dec 2, 2024
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Nik Koblov, VP of Engineering at Ramp, shares his insights on building a fast-paced, innovative engineering organization. He discusses Ramp's unique hiring practices, attracting talent from diverse backgrounds, including high school dropouts and gamers. The conversation dives into balancing rapid product launches with user experience and how Ramp leverages generative AI to enhance efficiency. Nik also emphasizes the importance of structured beta testing and nurturing young talent through internships, shaping the future of fintech.
Ramp crafts a fast-paced engineering organization by fostering a culture of ownership and collaboration that empowers innovation.
The company employs unconventional hiring practices to attract diverse talent, creating a robust culture of learning and growth.
Deep dives
Ramp's Unique Product Philosophy
Ramp's approach to product development centers around a commitment to helping customers save time and money. The CEO emphasizes that every project undertaken must align with this mission of cost-effectiveness. This philosophy fosters a culture where team members at Ramp take ownership of their work, contributing to cross-functional tasks like underwriting and fraud assessment. The organization's emphasis on humility from leadership encourages a collaborative environment where engineers are empowered to innovate and solve problems collectively.
Impressive Growth Metrics
In a remarkably short period, Ramp has experienced significant growth across various metrics, showcasing its rapid evolution in the fintech landscape. Over the past thousand days, product offerings and workforce both expanded by fivefold, while the customer base surged eleven times. Total Payment Volume (TPV) saw a staggering twenty-twofold increase, and contribution profit grew by a notable forty times. This growth not only signifies Ramp's popularity but also underscores its effectiveness in delivering value to customers, positioning it strongly within the industry.
Strategic Talent Acquisition
Ramp excels in attracting and nurturing talent in a highly competitive market by focusing on unconventional hiring practices. The company leverages a diverse talent pool, including college dropouts and young innovators, who often possess unique skill sets, such as experience in gaming or entrepreneurship. Building internal talent through internships is a key strategy, as many interns are converted into full-time employees, fostering a strong culture of learning and growth within the organization. This commitment to development allows Ramp to create a dedicated and adaptive engineering team effectively.
Balancing Speed and User Experience
The engineering team at Ramp prioritizes shipping products quickly while maintaining a solid user experience, navigating the challenges of rapid innovation in fintech. The company ships numerous updates daily, incorporating feedback from beta testers and enterprise customers to enhance product quality. This agile approach ensures that the engineering team continuously iterates on their offerings, balancing ambition with usability. By establishing a structured feedback loop and direct communication with customers, Ramp manages to capture valuable insights that inform ongoing product developments.
Welcome to December's episode of the this Month in Fintech Podcast, recorded live at SF Tech Week with Ramp.
TWIF + Ramp hosted a large group of tech builders, founders, and investors for a happy hour at 620 Jones, headlined by a live interview with Nik Koblov, VP of Engineering at Ramp.
We had one of the highest insight-to-minute conversations I've had, with Nik taking all of us through:
How Ramp crafted their org structure, product philosophy, and launch sequence to ship product so fast
How they have become a talent hotbed with folks from so many crazy backgrounds like Minecraft and high school dropouts
Balancing shipping speed and UX in fintech
How an ex-Ramp founder got them serious about GenAI
How to hire your Head of Engineering, and more.
Enjoy the show!
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