Scaling a Platform and Structuring for Impact

Our Work

The Opportunity

The Digital Bible Library (DBL) is one of the most important tools in global Bible translation. With over 2,000 languages across text, audio, video, and braille, it provides access to Scripture for 6.1 billion people worldwide. But behind the scenes, the platform was struggling.

Originally launched as a joint venture between 11 multinational organizations, DBL had grown without a clear ownership structure, strategic direction, or scalable infrastructure. After more than a decade, the platform was being maintained by a part-time volunteer, a generalist in customer support, and a few subject matter experts—a team that was doing its best, but lacked the resources to take DBL into the future.

The mission was critical. The infrastructure wasn’t built to last.

DBL leadership recognized they needed to rethink how the platform was managed, scaled, and sustained. They turned to Ounce to lead a full operational, technical, and strategic transformation.

The Challenge: A Platform Too Important to Fail

DBL wasn’t just another digital repository. It was the primary hub for licensing and distributing Scripture to translation agencies, churches, and organizations worldwide. But its challenges were growing:

  • A fragmented leadership structure – No single team had full ownership, leading to slow decision-making and misalignment.

  • Technical debt and poor documentation – Years of incremental development meant that no one had a full picture of how the system worked.

  • A confusing user experience – The platform had grown in complexity, making it difficult for translation agencies to find and distribute content.

  • Unstructured metadata – With thousands of contributors, there was no consistent standard for how content was formatted or categorized.

  • A funding gap – DBL needed a long-term financial strategy to support ongoing development and maintenance.

Without major intervention, DBL risked losing its effectiveness at a time when demand for digital Scripture was higher than ever.

The Solution: A Strategic Relaunch

Ounce was brought in not just to fix DBL, but to build a foundation that could sustain it for the next decade and beyond. We focused on three key areas:

1. Rebuilding the Team and Leadership Structure

The first step was ensuring DBL had a dedicated, fully staffed team - not just a collection of part-time contributors.

  • We transitioned DBL’s fragmented structure into a unified product organization with clear leadership and reporting lines.

  • We scaled the team from a handful of part-time contributors to a fully staffed team of 20+ engineers, designers, product managers, and support specialists.

  • We introduced a structured operating model, ensuring that execution became predictable and scalable.

“Aaron was able to take a fragmented roadmap and turn it into something the entire team could rally around. He has a unique ability to translate complex product and technical concepts into clear, actionable strategies.”
— Executive Team

2. Product & Technical Overhaul

DBL needed to evolve - not just in how it was run, but in how it functioned for users.

  • Product Strategy & Roadmap: We worked with DBL leadership to define a clear 18-month strategy, quarterly goals, and key initiatives.

  • Platform Redesign: We led a ground-up redesign of the DBL user experience, mapping out workflows, defining user journeys, and creating a design system for future teams to build on.

  • API Development: We worked with teams to document and stabilize existing APIs, while designing and developing a new API structure for product, partner, and public usage.

  • Metadata Standardization: We analyzed thousands of unstructured XML documents to create the first official metadata guide, ensuring consistency and accuracy across all translations.

  • Improved Customer Support: We transitioned support from scattered emails to a centralized customer service platform, establishing clear resolution policies and knowledge management systems.

3. Securing Long-Term Sustainability

DBL couldn’t afford to be dependent on inconsistent funding or ad-hoc resource allocation. It needed a long-term financial model.

  • Funding - We developed a multi-year funding strategy that secured millions in annual donor funding to support ongoing development.

  • Portfolio Management - We created a structured portfolio management system, ensuring resources were allocated efficiently.

  • Succession Plan - We built a succession plan, transitioning DBL’s leadership and operations to a fully staffed, self-sufficient internal team over six months.

The Impact: DBL Is Now Built for the Future

  • The team grew from a small, under-resourced group to a fully staffed 20+ person product organization.

  • The platform was redesigned for usability, making it easier for translation agencies to find, license, and distribute Scripture.

  • Technical debt was addressed, with a new API structure and metadata standardization.

  • Customer support was overhauled, reducing friction for users.

  • Millions in donor funding were secured, ensuring financial sustainability.

But the real transformation was in confidence and direction.

Before, DBL was fragmented and uncertain about its future.

Now, it’s a fully operational, strategically aligned platform—one that can continue to scale as the demand for digital Scripture access grows.

What’s Next

DBL now operates as a scalable, sustainable digital product—with the right team, technology, and financial model to support its mission.

Ounce didn’t just help DBL get back on track. We helped build the foundation for its next decade of impact.