The problem
The platform existed as an acquisition thesis, not a validated strategy. No defined success metrics, no validated partner economics, no tested catalog composition. Leadership needed something defensible before committing engineering resources to GA.
What I did
Led discovery from scratch. Talked to customers and partners to understand where value actually came from. Built the north star metric around user-reported value rather than acquisition-inherited assumptions. Sized the market, defined partner economics, worked through launch assumptions with the executive team, and secured the first marketplace partner. Took the platform from concept to general availability.
Outcome
Leadership had an evidence-based strategy for the platform rather than an inherited acquisition thesis, and a north star metric the product team could actually build toward.