Invisible Product Podcast Episode 2: PAST - Where Did We Come From?

Summary

The Invisible Product Podcast, hosted by Lisa Cardinal, delves into the company's product evolution with insights from Seb and Casper. Starting as a virtual assistant service for busy executives, Invisible transformed into an operations-as-a-service platform. The episode highlights the company's ability to scale, pivot to meet client needs, and innovate through the development of the Digital Assembly Line (D2), Flow, and the new app. The podcast also discusses the significant growth in the AI training vertical, emphasizing the importance of a flexible and scalable product foundation that has adapted to complex client requirements without a complete overhaul.

Takeaways

• 🎙️ The Invisible Product Podcast is hosted by Lisa Cardinal, a product manager on the customer experience team, and is designed for team members to understand the product stack and processes.
• 📚 The podcast delves into the history and evolution of Invisible's product, with Seb and Casper sharing insights on the company's journey from its inception to the present.
• 🤖 Initially, Invisible was framed as a virtual assistant company, targeting busy executives and offering a single touchpoint for various tasks through a virtual assistant service.
• 🔧 The company built its first proprietary product, the Digital Assembly Line (D2), in late 2018 to manage the high volume of requests from clients, which was later migrated to in early 2019.
• 🔄 Clients began to 'hack' Invisible's service by requesting recurring tasks, which led to the evolution of the product into an operations as a service model, with clients willing to pay more for valuable processes.
• 📈 The demand for on-demand delivery services during the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the limitations of D2 and led to the development of Flow, a prototype application to manage large-scale operations with multiple agents.
• 🚀 Flow was successful in scaling operations for on-demand delivery clients but was not self-served and required significant engineering effort for onboarding new processes.
• 🛠️ The development of the new app, which combined the scalability of D2 and the user experience of Flow, was a response to the need for a more flexible and scalable system for process onboarding.
• 📊 The pivot to AI training as a significant part of Invisible's revenue came after successful collaborations with OpenAI, which recognized the high-quality data and process management Invisible could provide.
• 🔗 Invisible's product has evolved to focus on configurable interfaces and data transfer capabilities to meet the needs of AI training clients, emphasizing the importance of data quality and process flexibility.
• 🏗️ The foundations of Invisible's product have remained robust, allowing for iterative improvements and scalability without the need for a complete rewrite, which is common in technology companies.

Q & A

What is the purpose of the Invisible Product Podcast?

The Invisible Product Podcast is designed for team members at Invisible, aiming to deep dive into the Invisible product stack and answer questions about the company's products and processes.

Who are the hosts of the second episode of the podcast?

The second episode of the podcast is hosted by Lisa Cardinal, with Seb and Casper as the main speakers who discuss the history and evolution of Invisible's product.

What was Invisible's initial product offering when Seb joined the company in 2018?

When Seb joined in 2018, Invisible positioned itself as a virtual assistant company, offering a single touchpoint for busy executives to delegate tasks via email to a virtual assistant.

What is the term 'delegation' in the context of Invisible's early product?

In the context of Invisible's early product, 'delegation' refers to the tasks or requests sent by clients to their virtual assistant, which Invisible would then parse, work on, and deliver results back to the client.

What was the first proprietary product developed by Invisible and when was it introduced?

The first proprietary product developed by Invisible was the Digital Assembly Line, known as D2, which was introduced in late 2018 and migrated to in early 2019.

How did Invisible's clients start utilizing the service in a way that was not initially intended?

Invisible's clients began to 'hack' the service by requesting recurring tasks and scaling them up, effectively using Invisible as an operations team rather than just for one-off tasks.

What significant event in 2020 impacted Invisible's product development?

The on-demand delivery vertical exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to a spike in demand for Invisible's services, particularly from companies like DoorDash and GrubHub.

What product did Invisible develop to handle the scale of operations needed during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Invisible developed a prototype application called Flow to help scale a single process and manage up to a hundred agents on that process.

What was the challenge with the Flow application in terms of onboarding new processes?

The challenge with the Flow application was that it was not self-served and required several engineers and weeks to onboard a single process, as each Flow app was bespoke and dedicated to a single process.

What is the significance of the transition from Flow to the new app in Invisible's product evolution?

The transition signifies Invisible's move towards a more scalable and flexible product that can onboard new processes quickly without the need for extensive engineering resources, aligning with the company's direction of operations as a service.

How did Invisible's involvement in AI training impact the company's product direction?

Invisible's involvement in AI training, particularly with clients like OpenAI, led to a significant increase in revenue and a pivot in the company's focus towards supporting complex, flexible, and repetitive client process needs with a scalable and easy-to-use tool.

What feature of Invisible's product has been particularly well-received by clients and the industry?

The flexible interface and the ability to quickly configure and update processes have been particularly well-received, with clients noting the product's ease of use and the 'magic' of real-time process updates.

What is Invisible's strategy for maintaining its product's competitive edge as it scales?

Invisible's strategy includes continuous improvement of its product, focusing on making the tooling as easy to use and scalable as possible, while maintaining a solid and responsive core technology offering.