Building Tazz's
AdTech Stack from Zero
Transforming a high-traffic delivery platform into a high-yield automated ad engine, driving sustainable revenue without increasing partner friction.
01
The Context
Profitability Without Partner Friction.
When I joined Tazz, the business was under real pressure to reach profitability. The obvious lever, increasing commission from restaurants, wasn't really an option. The competitive environment was keeping rates as flat as possible across the market. So the question became: how do you grow revenue without touching commission? There was no formal project brief waiting for me. I heard through internal conversations that leadership was actively looking for answers. Because I'd spent the previous six years across Glovo, Delivery Hero, and other delivery platforms, I knew what monetization could look like when done well. So I didn't wait to be asked. I came forward with a proposal and committed to leading it.
02
Understanding Partners
A Segmented Three-Product Strategy.
By categorizing our partners, we identified unique needs that shaped our product roadmap.
Local Heroes
High-volume local favorites needing visibility during peak hours.
National Chains
Large national brands requiring premium brand association and massive reach.
SMBs
Small businesses seeking affordable, performance-based growth tools.
03
The Products
Flash Dealzz
A win-back tool utilizing dynamic discounts on a performance model. We discovered a critical friction point: anxiety vs. urgency: users needed clear value to convert quickly.
Premium Placement
Inventory of top 25 premium positions across the platform, priced by geographic demand zone. This created a competitive rush from partners vying for prime digital real estate.
CPC
A self-service portal for SMBs using previously unused inventory. Enabled smaller restaurants to bid on performance, democratizing platform visibility.
04
The Bigger Picture
Sequence is Strategy.
The order mattered. Flash Dealzz came first because I had built it before and we needed a fast, credible win. Premium Placement came second because the data told us it would generate two to three times the revenue. CPC came third because the SMB gap was obvious once the first two were live. Total monthly impact: €375,000. Total GMV uplift: 2.3%.
Direct programmatic revenue contribution to platform bottom line.
05
Lessons Learned
Product Philosophy.
Speed Over Perfection
Launching early to gather data on partner behavior was more valuable than a perfect initial feature set. We optimized based on reality, not assumptions.
Constant Iteration
There is no such thing as a "finished" product. Each rollout uncovered new friction points, like the anxiety vs. urgency dynamic, that required immediate refinement.
"The best monetization strategy is one that partners don't feel as monetization; they feel it as growth."
Cristian Bica
Senior Product Manager · Tazz / Wolt