Case Study 2
comeNpense —
From personal frustration
to shipped product.
A personal finance SaaS born from a real problem: tax season was stressful, and existing tools were built for analysts, not regular people. I led the full product lifecycle across two tracks — a collaborative build with a developer, and a solo no-code sprint in Bubble when that stalled.
Timeline
2025 (stopped)
My role
Product Builder
Team
1 developer (v1) + solo no-code build (v2)
Status
MVP shipped
Skills demonstrated
Product Vision, User Stories, MoSCoW, Roadmap, Backlog, No-code, Scrum, Agile
The Problem
Users didn’t want to analyze their finances — they wanted to calculate and share them quickly. Tax season caused high anxiety not because of the money, but because the tools were overwhelming. Speed, simplicity, and clarity were the real requirements.
My Role as PO
- Defined product vision and target user profile
- Built personas and user journeys from user research
- Wrote ~10 user stories with acceptance criteria
- Prioritized MVP scope using MoSCoW method
- Maintained a living backlog across 2 sprints
- Collaborated with developer on feature arbitration and validation
The Constraint That Shaped Everything
The developer collaboration stalled due to bandwidth. Rather than wait, I rebuilt a functional version solo in Bubble in 2 weeks. The free plan couldn’t support file uploads or deployment — so I adapted scope mid-sprint, shipped what was possible, and documented every tradeoff clearly.
Scope is not a compromise — it’s a strategy. Cutting the CSV upload wasn’t failure. It was the right call given the constraint, and it kept the sprint moving.
Lessons learned
Simplicity requires ruthless prioritization. Every feature removed is a conscious decision, not a defeat.
Time-boxed delivery only works with full team alignment. Misalignment is a product risk, not just a people problem.
Even 3–5 user conversations change decisions. Research doesn’t need to be large to be valuable.
Building solo across all disciplines is exhausting and illuminating. It deepened my respect for developers and designers enormously.
See something that
resonates with your situation?
I’m available for consulting engagements and open to discussing permanent PO/PM roles. Let’s talk about what you’re building.
norosoa francia razafimahaleo 