Why saying no to customers builds better products – Patrick Ndjientcheu (CPTO, Irembo)
In this episode of The Product Experience, Patrick Ndjientcheu, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Irembo, shares how his team transitioned from delivering projects for government to building a portfolio of scalable products.Patrick talks about shifting mindsets from execution to strategy, spinning out payments and identity into independent products, and the challenges of balancing internal bias with customer needs.
He also reveals how Irembo is evolving into a super app, why sales enablement is crucial in a B2B context, and the lessons he has learned guiding teams through the move from project to product to product portfolio.
Six things we learned from Patrick
— Project to product mindset: Repeat customer demand signals value, turn ad-hoc projects into structured products with identity, principles, and strategy.
— Team restructuring without turnover: Shifting from project delivery to product development requires reorganising teams around capabilities.
— Spinouts emerge from features: Payments and identity started as embedded features, but with scale and external demand, became standalone products.
— Bias is real: Teams naturally over-index on the dominant revenue product. Separation, customer interviews, and rebranding are critical to balance focus.
— Sales enablement matters: Without educating sales and customers on new platform capabilities, adoption stalls and value is under-communicated.
— Leadership lesson: Product leaders must bring the whole organisation on the journey—marketing, sales, finance, and operations—not just product teams.
Featured Links
Follow Patrick on LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickndjientcheu/
Irembo | https://irembo.gov.rw/home/citizen/all_services
Inspire Africa | https://inspireafrica.co/ Receive SMS online on sms24.me
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