When to say no to customers – 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 | Irembo | Inspire Africa
Chapters
- 00:00 – Introduction: From request-taking to enabling solutions
- 01:00 – Patrick’s journey into product and the influence of Inspired
- 05:00 – From startup learning to government contracts
- 09:00 – Moving from project to product thinking
- 12:00 – Restructuring teams and embedding product principles
- 16:00 – The challenge of bringing customers and sales on the journey
- 19:30 – Pricing, value and sales enablement gaps
- 21:00 – Spinning out the payments platform as a standalone product
- 27:00 – Branding, independence and focus for new products
- 28:00 – Creating an identity solution as a third product
- 35:00 – Developing the mobile super app and testing adoption
- 42:00 – Targeting niche markets: starting with car owners
- 45:00 – Lessons on moving from project to product to multi-product
- 49:20 – Closing thoughts
About the author
The Product Experience
Join our podcast hosts Lily Smith and Randy Silver for in-depth conversations with some of the best product people around the world! Every week they chat with people in the know, covering the topics that matter to you - solving real problems, developing awesome products, building successful teams and developing careers. Find out more, subscribe, and access all episodes on The Product Experience homepage.
