Meet Hameto Benkreira, Senior Product Manager

February 01, 2022

Over the past four years, PadSplit has grown from a handful of team members to more than 100 fully-remote employees located across 18 countries. We’ve kicked off a new series of employee spotlights to help you get to know the employees behind the keys.

Next up in the PadSplit Employee Spotlight Series: meet Hameto Benkreira, Senior Product Manager at PadSplit.

The PadSplit team is fully remote. Tell us where you’re based.

Brooklyn, NY

When did you join the PadSplit team?

I joined the PadSplit team in January 2021 for two reasons. First, I wanted to work on a product that actually mattered in people’s lives. Second, I wanted to work at a startup where I could move quickly and experiment. PadSplit checked all of the boxes for me.

What is your favorite core value and why?

Empathy. The need for affordable housing is massive. Our mission requires us to listen, understand, and serve our diverse member population with rigor and nuance. Empathy is our compass.

Tell us what a day in the life of a Product Manager at PadSplit looks like.

I’m a Product Manager leading Member Growth at PadSplit. That means everyday I work closely with engineering, design, data, and marketing to build digital products that help our prospective Members find and book affordable housing. In plain English, I am responsible for our website, membership application, and booking process. Everyday, the team meets to review our progress and share lessons. We launch an experiment every week so there’s always a big emphasis on data and building off learnings.

What are you working on that you are most excited about? Why?

We’re building a new mobile app. Since joining PadSplit a year ago, my biggest product insight is that 80-85% of our users interact with us exclusively on mobile. We’re investing big in our new mobile app and also making our mobile website faster.

How do you stay engaged with your team in a remote environment? What does collaboration look like in a remote environment?

The pulse of our team is our daily standup. Everyday, we meet for 15-20 minutes and everyone on the team gives an update on their work. Beyond standups, we’re always on Slack talking through issues or ideas for upcoming releases. Occasionally, some teammates meet up in person too.

In our weekly All Hands meeting as an ice breaker, we ask new employees to share two truths and a lie about themselves for the team to guess. Let’s play with you. Tell us two truths and a lie about yourself.

I speak three languages.

I founded a startup when I was 23.

I have 5 siblings.

Thanks for sharing more about what you do, Hameto! Stay connected with Hameto and PadSplit on LinkedIn.