Paddle8

Company Background

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Paddle8 is the premier online destination for collectors, offering curated auctions of exceptional art, design, jewelry, watches, and collectibles. By combining the trust and taste of a traditional auction house with innovative technology and global reach, Paddle8 has redefined the online collecting experience for a new generation.

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The Challenge

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As Paddle8 entered a period of rapid growth, the pressure to deliver new features—and do so faster—intensified. Their development team faced two simultaneous challenges: modernizing their aging PHP-based codebase and evolving their team structure and processes to scale alongside the business.

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The company needed to adopt a more modern tech stack, but equally important was the need to rethink how the product and engineering teams worked together. Rather than implement change top-down, they sought a collaborative, developer-led approach that would drive both alignment and momentum.

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The Solution

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Stride partnered with Paddle8 to lead a dual-track transformation: upgrading the technology stack and restructuring the way teams operated. The engagement focused on empowering developers and creating a sustainable, scalable delivery model.

The monolithic development team was restructured into two smaller, cross-functional teams, each led by a product manager and responsible for its own backlog. This enabled clearer ownership, faster iteration cycles, and a more distributed approach to delivery.

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With the new structure in place, teams adopted Agile ceremonies that worked for them—bi-weekly planning sessions, retrospectives, and daily standups that were seen as valuable and engaging. This process-focused evolution complemented the technical transition from PHP to a modern Django and React stack.

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"We partnered with Stride to achieve aggressive objectives and they delivered as promised! It's so refreshing to work with a team who values transparency and honesty, and helped us truly get stuff done."

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The Business Outcomes

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Stride’s partnership helped Paddle8 modernize both its codebase and its development culture. The transition to a team-based structure fostered stronger collaboration, improved estimation, and led to a more energized and aligned product team.

By focusing on developer engagement and sustainable process change, Paddle8 positioned itself to keep pace with rapid growth—building and shipping faster, with greater confidence and cohesion across the organization.

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