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Strategic Blueprint for a Three-Sided Marketplace
We had a leak in our bucket.
At Skill Flex Academy, we were training amazing, job-ready students. But when they graduated, they were thrown into the deep end of massive job platforms like Naukri and LinkedIn. They'd apply to hundreds of jobs labeled "Entry-Level" only to find they required 2+ years of experience. They were lost in the noise.
On the other side, our hiring partners were frustrated. They'd post a job and get 500 applications, but maybe 5 were from candidates with the specific skills they needed. Sifting through them was a huge waste of their time.
There was a massive disconnect. We were producing the talent, and companies needed it, but there was no trusted bridge connecting the two.
My job wasn't to build the bridge immediately. It was to prove that we should build it, and exactly how to build it right. I had to de-risk this big bet.
"I apply to hundreds of jobs but never hear back. Entry-level jobs want 2+ years of experience. I feel lost in the system."
"We get hundreds of applications but few qualified candidates. Sifting through resumes is time-consuming and inefficient."
"Our graduates have the skills but struggle to find relevant opportunities. We need a better way to connect them with employers."
I became an interviewer. I didn't just guess what users wanted; I asked them. I talked to 12 students about job search anxiety, 7 instructors about graduate outcomes, and 5 recruiters about hiring headaches. The insight was unanimous: everyone was tired of the noise.
I defined the product's north star: to become the trusted pipeline that connects Skill Flex graduates directly to the right opportunities, making hiring seamless for our partners. This wasn't another job board; it was a curated community.
A three-sided platform is complex. My most important job was to decide what not to build first. I focused on the core MVP: students finding jobs, recruiters posting jobs, and institutions tracking placements. Everything else was saved for V2.
I started with napkin sketches—mapping the journey for a student applying to a job and a recruiter posting one. Then, I partnered with a UI/UX designer to create a beautiful, clickable prototype in Figma that became our most important communication tool.
Explore the complete documentation and resources that guided the strategic planning of Skill Flex Job Board.
Interactive design prototypes and user interface mockups.
Product Requirements Document detailing the Minimum Viable Product scope.
Detailed documentation of user interviews and key insights gathered.
Comprehensive strategy presentation and prototype demonstration.
While the full-scale development was strategically paused to focus on the core Skill Flex Academy LMS, this project was a resounding success because it achieved its true goal: de-risking a complex marketplace initiative.
Our research proved that students, recruiters, and instructors were all desperate for a solution like this.
The prototype got everyone excited about the same vision, eliminating misalignment.
Prevented the engineering team from building the wrong thing, eliminating wasted effort.
Hiring partners were thrilled to see we were building a dedicated solution for them.
The final deliverable was a complete strategic package: a high-fidelity prototype, detailed PRD, and validated buy-in from every stakeholder. This blueprint will guide development once the Skill Flex Academy LMS is successfully launched and we have students ready for placement.
This project exemplifies strategic product prioritization. While the Job Board represents a significant opportunity, we made the deliberate decision to pause development to focus our technical resources on the core Skill Flex Academy LMS platform.
The logic was clear: we need to successfully train and graduate students before we can effectively place them in jobs. By sequencing these initiatives strategically, we ensure that when we do launch the Job Board, we'll have a ready pool of qualified candidates and established relationships with hiring partners.
This strategic pause demonstrates mature product leadership—knowing when to focus resources on core business objectives while preserving valuable strategic assets for future growth.
The Best Code is Sometimes No Code. The most strategic product work often happens before any programming begins. A well-researched prototype and PRD are incredibly powerful tools that prevent costly mistakes.
A PM is a Translator. My job was to translate the frustrations of students, recruiters, and instructors into a single, coherent product vision that engineers could build and executives could believe in.
Pausing is Not Failure. Knowing when to pause a project to focus on core business is a sign of strategic strength, not weakness. This project delivered immense value by providing clarity and a path forward for when the time is right.
This project is a testament to the power of strategic product management. It's not just about building things right; it's about figuring out the right thing to build first, and the right time to build it.
See how we validated a three-sided marketplace before writing a single line of code.
Check out my other product management projects and case studies.
