Meet Alex Ogilvy

Tell us about yourself.

My name is Alex, and I’m a Product Manager in the NYC office. 

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Fun facts about you - music, food, travel, interests, etc.?

I was born and raised in Scotland but have lived in Sydney and Hong Kong before moving to NYC after college. I love to travel and have been to some interesting places like North Korea and Bosnia. I love rugby and played throughout school and college. I also used to run an eCommerce business selling e-scooters from Alibaba in the UK.

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Why did you decide to join Prove?

I joined Prove because I thought (and still think) it was the perfect size and stage for my first full-time job. Prove is meritocratic and small enough that I was rapidly trusted with responsibility; while also large enough that my work helps to protect millions of people. I get to work with smart people in a culture that favors output over dated workplace customs. 

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Describe a day in the life at Prove.

Most days I like to Citi bike to the office when I can or take the R train if the weather is bad. Cycling through NYC traffic is kind of terrifying, so it’s a great way to wake up. Each day is different but a typical day might go like this: I catch up with my manager Ollie on our ongoing projects, then check in with Jared who is our data scientist. Jared and I discuss the results of a study that he’s conducting and make changes based on the insights from the previous run. 

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I then spend some time writing a user story for a part of a new product that my team is working on. Often my counterpart Jared’s work directly informs the end goals of my user stories. Once a story is ready I advocate for it to be prioritized by a Scrum team, depending on where it fits in the broader Product team’s strategy. 

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Later, I’ll have a Zoom video call with the broader Product team where we discuss our long term vision and recent developments in our industry. We break for lunch and whoever is free eats together around the beverage bar in our office. Afterwards, I join a Sales call with a current customer to help explain how an upcoming feature will work. This gives me a chance to hear direct feedback on our products and uncover user insights for improvement. 

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Towards the end of the day, I have a longer discussion with Ollie, Jared and Chris (our team’s Technical Product Lead) about a key architectural tradeoff we need to make. Then I call it a day and cycle back downtown and out for the evening!

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My work is different almost every day with something new and interesting on my plate. I really enjoy working on new products and improvements to existing ones that will help protect tens of millions of Americans from fraud and theft. Most people won’t hear about what we do until they experience their bank deposits or crypto funds being stolen. Everything I do at Prove helps to reduce the number of people whose lives are turned upside down by these kinds of crimes.

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What is the best thing about working at Prove?

I started during the pandemic and Prove made it easy to feel like I was a part of the team. They even shipped me a monitor with my new laptop. Now I mostly go into the office in NYC, but can work just as well from home whenever I need to. I choose to go into the office because it’s fun and social, and there’s great food!

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What do you love about what you do?

I am working on new products and improvements to existing ones that will help protect tens of millions of Americans from fraud and theft. Most people won’t hear about what we do until they experience their bank deposits or crypto funds being stolen. Everything I do at Prove helps to reduce the number of people whose lives are turned upside down by these kinds of crimes.

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