Product Manager of Knick Knack
Knick Knack is an online marketplace app that is tailored to blind box figurine collectors, addressing the gap for a centralized platform in the market. Knick Knack meets technology where it’s at by implementing an image recognition system that automatically recognizes the figurine and assigns a proper label to it. Some impacts I’ve made while in this role:
Secured 200+ consumer waitlist sign-ups pre-launch, validating strong product-market fit
Won first place and $200 in a pitch competition by creating financial models and defining KPIs that translated user acquisition strategies into clear revenue forecasts
Directed Agile team in 12-week sprint to deliver MVP development, prioritizing features through impact-effort analysis
Our Story...
Our Story...
My team and I met in a Fellowship Program that simulates a startup incubator for product-focused careers.
We had two Software Engineers, one Product Designer, one Product Marketing Manager, and one Product Manager.
We were given a scope of 12 weeks and had to produce an MVP ready to present to a board of judges by the end of the program. With this in mind, we hit the ground running…
It starts with an idea…
My contributions to this app was first developing a product requirement document (PRD) to define the users, the app features, and overall structure of the platform.
I then went on to create feature prioritization maps, emphasizing highest impact and lowest effort when developing.
From there I managed a 12-week workflow in Jira, assigning epics, stories, and child issues to my team to ensure we meet our deadline.
Over the course of the 12 weeks, I would hold a standup meeting each Monday to update our stakeholders of the progress we’re making.
By the second half of our program, I worked with the Product Marketing Manager to asses our TAM/SAM/SOM and GTM to create viable financial projections and KPI’s. I learned about the various types of KPI’s such as:
General KPIs (User Growth, Retention, Installs)
User Growth Rate (%) – ((New Users - Churned Users) / Previous Users) * 100
User Retention Rate (%) – (Users active after a given period / Total users acquired) * 100
Total Installs – Number of new downloads/installations over a given period
App Engagement KPIs (Sessions, DAU, MAU, Churn)
Daily Active Users (DAU) – Number of unique users engaging with the app daily
Monthly Active Users (MAU) – Number of unique users engaging with the app monthly
Churn Rate (%) – (Users lost in a time period / Total users at the start of period) * 100
Stickiness Ratio – (DAU/MAU) * 100; measures how frequently users return to the app
User Experience KPIs (Load Time, Devices)
App Load Time (Seconds) – Average time taken to load the app
Crash Rate (%) – (Crashes / Total sessions) * 100
Bug Resolution Time (Hrs) – Average time taken to fix critical bugs
Revenue-Focused KPIs (Avg Rev/User, Cost per Acquisition)
Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) – Total revenue / Total active users
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) – ARPU * Average user lifespan
Cost per Acquisition (CPA) – Total marketing spend / Number of new users acquired
Conversion Rate (%) – (Users who complete a purchase / Total users) * 100
Scrum-Related KPIs (Stories Completed, Customer Satisfaction)
Sprint Completion Rate (%) – (Completed user stories / Committed user stories) * 100
Velocity (Story Points/Sprint) – Average story points completed per sprint
Cycle Time (Days) – Average time from task start to completion
After creating our finalized MVP for the competition, we decided to enter in the Stella Zhang New Venture Competition where Knick Knack pitched their concept to a board of 10 directors and made it to the semi-finals!
Unfortunately Knick Knack did not see a further advancement, but that’s not the end of our story just yet! We are planning to release on the app-store and launch a pilot program coming very soon!
