Building the World’s Leading Investor Platform: A Case Study on Asset Class
In January 2022, I was approached by Asset Class to evolve its product offering, improve user experience, and position the company as the leading investor platform for private capital firms. My role involved defining a clear product strategy, building a UX/product design team, and working closely with the CEO to drive adoption among large firms, including family offices, venture capital, private equity, and wealth management firms.
This project involved the complete design and development of a bespoke website for a luxury tailoring studio. The goal was to create a digital experience that reflects the studio’s commitment to craftsmanship, quality, and personalized service, while also offering a seamless user experience.
The Challenge
Asset Class was gaining traction but needed a stronger product vision and execution strategy to expand its market share. The challenges included:
• A fragmented product experience that didn’t fully cater to the diverse needs of investor firms.
• Lack of scalability to onboard and support large institutional clients.
• Inconsistent UI/UX, making adoption difficult for different user personas.
• Limited differentiation from competitors like Carta and DealCloud.
My Approach
To transform Asset Class into a category leader, I took a structured approach:
1. Product Strategy & Vision
I collaborated with the CEO and leadership team to create a clear product roadmap focused on:
• Enterprise-Ready Features – Ensuring the platform could handle the complex workflows of large institutional investors.
• User-Centric Design – Standardising and simplifying interactions to improve adoption.
• Scalability & Integration – Enhancing API capabilities and ensuring compatibility with existing firm workflows.
2. Building a World-Class UX & Product Team
To execute the strategy, I built a team of UX designers and product specialists to refine Asset Class’s interface and improve workflows. Our focus was on:
• Creating a unified design system for a seamless, intuitive experience.
• Redesigning core modules (Investor CRM, Portfolio Management, Deal Flow) to enhance usability.
• User testing and research to validate design decisions and optimize conversion rates.
3. Direct User Testing & Prototype Validation
A critical part of our approach was ensuring that clients were actively involved in product evolution. Unlike typical B2C feedback loops, our B2B clients had a vested interest in improving the platform for their own firms and investors. We:
• Conducted regular prototype testing sessions with private capital firms.
• Validated features and UX improvements directly with users before full development.
• Allowed clients to co-create and influence the product roadmap, giving them a sense of ownership over the process.
• Received raw, unfiltered feedback, leading to rapid iteration and meaningful improvements.
This collaborative approach fostered trust, improved adoption rates, and ensured the platform evolved in a way that directly addressed user pain points.
4. Driving Enterprise Adoption & Market Leadership
I, along with my team helped shape the product to attract and retain larger clients, making it an industry-leading solution by:
• Enhancing investor onboarding with a streamlined digital experience.
• Customising workflows to support family offices, private capital firms, and institutional investors.
• Developing advanced data visualisation tools for portfolio monitoring and reporting. This included personalised dashboards and KPI's per use case (family office / investor relations / private capital, etc.)
• Strengthening compliance and security to meet the standards of high-net-worth clients.The Outcome
• Expanded enterprise adoption, securing larger private equity and venture capital firms.
• Redesigned UX/UI, making the platform more accessible across different investor types.
• Product-led growth, reducing friction in onboarding and increasing engagement.
• Strengthened Asset Class’s market position, contributing to client wins and business growth.
• Higher client satisfaction due to their involvement in the co-creation process.
Conclusion
By leading product strategy, UX transformation, and market expansion, I, along with my team, helped Asset Class evolve into a premier global investor platform, now recognised as a leader in the private equity space.
Penetration into new markets enabled the platform to serve a broader range of private capital firms, from emerging VC funds to well-established family offices worldwide.
A far superior end-to-end user experience compared to competitors like Carta and DealCloud made Asset Class the go-to solution for firms needing both powerful functionality and an intuitive, seamless interface.
The company achieved international brand recognition, securing its place as a trusted partner for investment firms managing client portfolios at scale.
