Product Strategy and 0→1 Execution
Turn ambiguous ideas into coherent direction in early-stage and transitional environments.
Melissa Cooper
PRODUCT STRATEGIST
Defining what to build, especially when the path isn't clear.
I've spent my career working at inflection points: new products, platform shifts, and business model pivots across marketplaces, fintech, and consumer platforms.
Core Domains
User Experience and Discovery
Translate research, validation, and customer insight into confident product decisions.
Marketplaces, Ecommerce, and Seller Systems
Build both sides of marketplaces with deep focus on seller behavior, pricing, and growth dynamics.
AI-Assisted Product Development
Build with AI-first workflows to accelerate discovery, validation, and product execution.
Problems I Think About
Marketplaces & Classifieds
- Search and discovery in high-volume marketplaces (events, cars, homes, jobs, dating).
- Onboarding and conversion optimisation for consumer experiences.
- Seller dashboards and tooling that improve supply quality and performance.
- Expanding marketplaces into new verticals.
Booking, Scheduling & Transactions
- Complex booking systems including: space hire, reservations, availability, and repeat events.
- Designing around time, inventory, and multi-party coordination.
- Reducing friction in transactional flows where small issues kill conversion.
- Handling booking changes, cancellations, and payments, including refunds, rescheduling, and edge cases that impact trust and revenue.
Leadership & Decision-Making
- Leading product and engineering teams in smaller environments, owning direction from discovery through to delivery.
- Running qualitative research across consumers, enterprise, and developers.
- Making user testing useful by turning observations into product decisions.
- Moving teams from delivery to product judgment by building the capability to synthesise UX, business, and technical inputs into clear decisions.
What I’m Working On
NoteSynth
VIBE CODINGA lightweight app that structures research into hypotheses, experiments, and product decisions.
Goodnight Mind
DESIGN STAGEAn app for clearing thoughts at night by turning mental clutter into structured and resolved prompts.
Ecommerce Brands (Founder and Operator)
LIVE, ONGOINGBuild and run ecommerce businesses across Etsy, Shopify, and marketplaces with a focus on product, acquisition, and conversion.
Selected Experience
Eventbrite · Dwolla · Bluethumb · HappyCo · New Level Work
Founder & Ecommerce Operator built and scaled ecommerce brands with hands-on ownership of acquisition, conversion, and marketplace performance.