WHERE PROJECTS STALL
An app is only the layer you can see.
Most projects get stuck in the layers underneath. Scroll to take one apart.
Katerina Savadia · Digital Product Advisor
Know what to build, then get it launched.
I help founders and companies stop losing money on software that doesn't ship. We work out what to build first, what is holding your project back and how the product will make money.
Nearly nine years leading product across payments, government platforms, crowdfunding and SaaS, from first version to scale.
You keep all code and documents. I don't sell development.
9 yearsleading product development and launches
500K+monthly transactions on platforms I led
100+banking, technology and partner integrations
500+merchants onboarded across payment ecosystems
Products launched across the Caribbean and Africa. Company registered in Dubai; working remotely with clients worldwide.
When I can help
Recognize your situation?
You have an idea, but no clear starting point.
You know the problem you want to solve. You're less sure who the first customer is, what the first version should include and what to test before paying for development.
The project is stuck.
Months of work and budget are spent, but the product isn't moving towards launch. Nobody can say exactly why.
Development is ready to start, but the scope isn't.
A development team is waiting for requirements, and every estimate depends on decisions that haven't been made yet.
The product works, but the business model doesn't.
It isn't clear who pays, how much, or which pricing model will work for your market.
Launch is close, and the route to market is unclear.
You need to decide which segment to start with, which channels and partners to use and how to measure the first results.
You're building a payment or fintech product.
You need someone who understands acquiring, wallets, merchant onboarding, bank partnerships and integrations from the inside. Fintech & Payments →
01
The user and the problem
Who the first customer is and which problem they will pay to solve. Everything else is built on this answer.
02
The first version
What goes into the first release and what can wait, so the budget goes to what you need to test first.
03
The user journey
How a person gets from opening the app to the result they came for.
04
Technology and integrations
The code, the developers and the connections the product depends on: banks, payments, partners. You own the code and the accounts.
05
Business model and launch
Who pays, how much, and how the product reaches its first customers.
FROM THE INSIDE
9 yearsleading product development and launches
500K+monthly transactions on platforms I led
100+banking, technology and partner integrations
500+merchants onboarded across payment ecosystems
WHY ME
I connect the parts that usually live apart.
A good product decision is one the team can actually build, sell and run.
FIRST STEP
Not sure which layer is holding you back?
A Product Clarity Session: your materials reviewed, a 75–90 minute session and a written plan you keep. From $300.
Cases
Three products, three results
Aviation crew marketplace
From “almost ready” to a clear plan for launch
A founder had built an app connecting aircraft operators with freelance pilots and cabin crew. The code existed, but the project had stalled for months: no live version, slow development and no plan for how it would earn.
What was done: defined who pays and who to onboard first, narrowed the launch to ferry and freelance assignments, mapped monetization, and flagged the real blockers in the developer estimate: unconfirmed technical readiness and unsecured rights to the code.
Result: a focused launch scope, monetization hypotheses and a short feasibility plan before any new development spend.
What the founder kept: the written launch scope, the monetization map and the feasibility plan.
A stuck product often needs a sharper first market and clean foundations, not more features.
InstaPay · South Africa
From a stalled client project to a joint-venture payments brand
We won a tender for a digital payments platform with a local infrastructure partner. When the client did not proceed, we kept the product, rebranded it as InstaPay and launched it through a 50/50 joint venture: a wallet, merchant acquiring, cashback and value-added services.
- 600,000+
- users migrated
- 500+
- merchants
- 30+
- bank and partner integrations
A client project that stalls can still become a product, launched in a new market with the right partner.
Amber Pay · Caribbean
From concept to 500,000+ transactions a month
Small businesses were moving from cash to digital payments, many without a website. I led Amber Pay from concept to market: payment requests by WhatsApp, text or email, payment links, QR codes and 3-D Secure checkout, plus online stores, loyalty and fundraising.
- 500K+
- monthly transactions
- $500K+
- investment secured
- 100+
- integrations
In payments, the platform, partnerships and route to the customer have to be designed together.
More payment work, including a central bank digital currency wallet for a leading Caribbean banking group, is on the Fintech & Payments page.
Formats
Ways to work together
Most clients start with a Product Clarity Session: a fixed, paid first step with a written plan you keep, whether or not we work together afterwards. Every format has an agreed scope, timeline and written result.
Product Clarity Session
From $300
For founders and product owners with an idea or one hard decision, who need an experienced outside view before committing time or budget.
Review of your materials, a 75–90 minute session and a short written plan: key decisions, risks and next steps.
Book a Clarity SessionProduct Diagnostic
Priced after a free 20-minute call
For an existing product or a stalled project: work is happening, but the product isn't moving towards launch or growth.
Review of documents and the product, interviews with the team, a check of who owns the code, accounts and contracts, and a 30–60 day action plan with priorities.
Product & Commercial Blueprint
Priced after a free 20-minute call
For teams preparing to build or relaunch, when it's unclear what to build first, how the product will earn and how to launch it.
Who your first customer is, why they would choose you, what goes into the first version, how the product will make money, a launch plan and a roadmap. In full or in parts: first version, business model, launch.
Ongoing Advisory and Launch Support
Priced after a free 20-minute call
For founders who need a regular product partner while decisions keep coming.
Regular working sessions, roadmap and decision reviews, coordination with the development team, and fractional product leadership where needed.
For the Diagnostic, Blueprint and Ongoing Advisory, scope, timeline and cost are agreed after a free 20-minute call.
How I work with you
Your product stays yours.
You own everything
Code, documents, designs and accounts stay in your name.
I don't sell development
If you need a team, I can introduce a trusted development partner. You contract with them directly, and any referral fee is disclosed in writing before you sign.
Your team is welcome
You don't have to change developers to work with me.
Confidential by default
I'm happy to sign your NDA. Product work doesn't require access to production or customer data.
For banks and regulated teams
I describe in writing how any development partner is selected and supervised, for your third-party risk review. Details →
Why me
I connect the parts that usually live apart
“A good product decision is one the team can actually build, sell and run.”
Business and product
I start with how the product will make money and reach customers, then decide what to build.
Strategy and delivery
I don't stop at a plan. I work with development teams until the product is in front of customers.
Product and partnerships
I've built products whose success depended on banks, networks, regulators and distribution partners, and I know how to bring them together.
Breadth and depth
Deep expertise in payments, plus experience with government platforms, crowdfunding and SaaS.
Senior perspective
Board-level experience in an international technology group, and more than ten years managing corporate clients in banking.
A practical way to build
If you need a team, I can introduce a trusted development partner; you contract with them directly.
About me
From banking operations to building digital products
I spent more than ten years at Alfa-Bank. I started in an entry-level role and went on to launch a new branch and lead corporate client services for 500+ SME and corporate clients. There I learned how businesses actually use financial services, and what makes them stay.
In 2016 I moved to Jamaica, barely speaking English, and joined a young technology group that then had a single GPS-tracking startup. In 2018 I sketched a digital wallet for one of Jamaica's largest banks on a whiteboard and led its development. When the bank changed course in 2019, I turned part of that ecosystem into a simple merchant portal for payment links and QR codes. That portal became Amber Pay, the group's fintech line, and the wallet ecosystem later became the prototype for InstaPay in South Africa.
As the group grew to more than ten business lines across fintech, SaaS, IoT and GovTech, I led product work in most of them. During the COVID-19 pandemic I worked with ministries of health and immigration authorities across the Caribbean to deliver national platforms that helped countries reopen. I served on the group's board from 2017 to 2023 and led its fintech business, working with banks, payment networks, regulators and enterprise merchants in the Caribbean and Africa.
Today I work independently with founders and companies worldwide, helping them define, launch and grow digital products. My company is registered in Dubai, and I live between South Africa and Russia, working remotely across time zones. I work in English and Russian.
I like being in motion. While building the group's businesses I took around 100 flights a year between the Caribbean, South Africa, India, Russia, Dubai and the US. Among many interests, I'm a licensed pilot (microlight, light-sport aircraft and paragliding). That's partly why an aviation app I advise felt like home territory.
For journalists and event organisers: expert commentary on digital products, payments and fintech in emerging markets.
Media and speakingContact
Have a product that needs a clear next step?
Tell me briefly where your product is and what's in the way. You'll get a confirmation straight away and a personal reply within a few hours on business days. A first 20-minute call is free: we check whether I'm the right person and which format fits. Scope and cost are agreed after that.
Prefer to talk directly? Email katerina@ksadvisory.tech · Book a call · LinkedIn