Assembla

Software Team Lead
Product Overview
Assembla is a cloud-based version control and source code management service provider. It supports Git, Perforce, and Subversion repository management, totaling over 100k hosted projects.
My Role
In 2016, Scaleworks, a venture equity firm, acquired Assembla and brought in new leadership. I was hired to lead the development team located in the US and Europe. Before the acquisition, Assembla's revenue had been declining, so my first initiative goal was to enhance the monetization process.

Additionally, I took charge of upgrading the security and stability of the project. This effort involved managing our bug bounty program, which required me to stay informed and detect potential vulnerabilities.
Evolution
When Scaleworks purchased the company, the main goal was to increase revenue, which had been stagnant. To achieve this, the company took two approaches. Firstly, we focused on attracting more enterprise customers by improving the product's security and stability. Secondly, we simplified the signup and billing process to make it easier for customers.

When I joined Assembla, several critical vulnerabilities were a cause for concern for potential enterprise clients. We decided to address these vulnerabilities and obtain SOC 2 compliance to increase sales. I took charge of the bug bounty program and expanded the program to involve more security researchers. I also worked with the development team to convert researcher findings into workable tickets. These efforts resulted in Assembla receiving SOC 2 compliance in 2018.

Another area for improvement was that the signup process was high-friction, causing potential customers to quit before completing the registration process. To rectify this, I collaborated with the UX design team to create a more streamlined sign-up process that enabled users to access the app sooner.

As a result of these changes, Assembla's revenue increased significantly, leading to its acquisition by Idera in 2018.
Assembla Signup Flow
Key Takeaways
  • Most of my development team was in Europe, allowing me to learn critical management techniques for a team in a different country and timezone.
  • Working with our bug bounty program gave me experience in critical vulnerabilities with SaaS applications and how to mitigate them.
  • This was my first experience working with a UX design team, which gave me a better understanding of crucial UX principles.