Aura Talks: Product Data & Analytics for the Modern Engineer - with Will Cottrell, Head of Data Science at Numan (Ex Deliveroo)
The role of Founding Engineers & Product Engineer has never been more demanding - or more exciting. The shift to product engineering is accelerating. As AI compresses build time and teams get leaner, engineers are being asked to do more than build. They're expected to make decisions, spot problems, and drive outcomes.
And increasingly - particularly in early stage startups - that means being able to read your own data, without a data team to hand you the answers. Most early-stage startups don't have an analyst sat next to you. You're the one who has to instrument the product, track what matters, and figure out what the numbers are actually telling you. It's a skill set the best product engineers are developing fast..
📋 The Session
Will Cottrell, VP Data at Numan and formerly of Deliveroo and Lets Do This, is joining us for an evening session designed specifically for product engineers and founding engineers who find themselves doing analytics without a data team behind them.
Will has been building and scaling data functions at fast-growing startups and he knows what good looks like, what breaks early, and what engineers actually need to understand to make better product decisions.
What we'll talk about:
• What to measure and why - the metrics that actually tell you if your product is working
• Setting up for success early - instrumentation and event tracking decisions that save you later
• Reading the data you have - funnels, retention, activation and what to look for
• When something breaks - how to diagnose a drop without a data team holding your hand.
The format is discussion-style. He'll walk through each topic before opening it up - so there'll be space to dig into the specific problems you're sitting with.
⏰ The Format • 6pm - Pizza & drinks • 6.30pm (sharp) - Session begins • 7.30 pm Networking (stick around, ask questions, meet the people in the room)
👥 Who's in the room Mid to senior Product Engineers and Founding Engineers from some of London's best startups... people who are close to the product, making decisions with data, and figuring this out without a dedicated analytics function. This is a small, invite-only evening.
Spots are limited. If you're in, grab one soon.