I led a 0 to 1 researcher portal from kickoff to an on-time conference launch for a skeptical client, then worked with Sales to turn it into a configurable product that went to two more clients.

Role

Product Lead and Lead Developer

Team

Me plus a senior engineer, and a Sales partner for the second act

Timeline

Q3 2025, kickoff to conference launch

Users

Rare disease researchers, with global patient advocacy groups as the clients: one at launch, then two more

Metrics

Shipped on time, 3 clients, part of $800K in new contracts and $75K upsell ARR

1. 01

   Cut to what the conference demo needed, and wrote down what "done" meant

   I separated what the client had asked for from what the presenter needed on stage, then put the shipped list and the deferred list in writing and got the client to sign off on both before the cut.

   Tradeoff. The client gave up the custom report builder for launch. In return, nothing on the launch list was allowed to slip, and the deferred list had dates attached.

2. 02

   Deferred study collaboration and sharing to a post-conference release

   Sharing needed a permissions model for people outside the client's own team, which meant a data model change that would have put the launch at risk, and nobody would see it in a 20 minute presentation.

   Tradeoff. It cost us a feature the client cared about. I explained the reasoning to the client and to leadership before the conference, not after, so nobody was surprised.

3. 03

   Kept data correctness and access control non-negotiable

   A researcher portal that showed the wrong patient's data on stage would have ended the relationship. I protected the time for permissions, audit and data checks even when other things were being cut.

   Tradeoff. Less polish in the UI at launch. The client agreed that correct and plain beat pretty and wrong.

4. 04

   Gained a new client's trust by delivering everything we talked about

   The client's previous vendor could talk the talk but could not walk the walk. It mattered to me that everything we discussed was something I could act on and deliver, so I ran a demo every week, sent honest written status updates, raised risks early with options attached, and kept the written scope agreement current.

   Tradeoff. The cadence cost me build time every week. It was worth it: by launch the client was forwarding my updates to their own leadership.

After launch I worked with Sales and Product to redefine the portal as a platform rather than a one-client build. That meant replacing custom code with configuration, deciding which features became standard, and agreeing how to package and price it. It went to two more clients.

Custom code

Per-client configuration for data fields, cohort definitions, export formats and branding

One-off features

A standard feature set every client gets, with the custom report builder as a paid add-on

Bespoke pricing

A packaged offer Sales could quote without engineering in the room: a platform fee, a per-study fee, and the add-on priced separately

• Shipped on time for the conference, and the client presented it on stage using the live portal rather than slides.
• Went from one client to three after the portal was repackaged as a platform.
• Part of the $800K in new contracts, and the source of the $75K in upsell ARR from the add-on and configuration sold to clients two and three.
• Fourteen researchers onboarded across the three clients, supporting five studies.

• →Write the scope agreement and the definition of done in the first week, before the first line of code.
• →Start every 0 to 1 build with the question of who the second customer is, so configuration is designed in rather than retrofitted.

Growth and self-serve roles are about turning one good experience into a repeatable one. The second act here, one client to three and custom to configurable, is that work. It also shows the Sales and CX partnership most PM roles ask for: I repackaged the portal with Sales and built the enablement that let CS support it.