From Big Box Retailer to Author: My Journey Crafting the Product Protege Guide
Hello there all product proteges.
It's intriguing how the pathways of life and career converge, isn’t it? Today, I wanted to share a story with you—a journey I embarked on, which eventually culminated into something I'm immensely proud of: the Product Protégé Guide. I hope this narrative not only resonates with your experiences but also serves as a testament to the potential each one of us holds.
The Big Box Beginnings:
I cut my teeth in product at a rather significant big box retailer (Fortune 30). It was here I had a front-row seat to our dramatic transformation: from the sequential Waterfall methodology to the nimble world of Agile. For those new to the jargon: Waterfall is a linear approach to project management—think of it like dominoes, one task follows the other and all the dominos have to be in place before you start. On the other hand, Agile, particularly its Scrum variant, operates in 2-week cycles known as sprints, guided by the Scrum Master. It’s fluid, iterative, and designed for flexibility. Learn as you go, don’t wait for perfection.
Branching Out:
Following that transformative experience at the big box retailer, I ventured to start a product management team responsible for an entire website. And here's the twist: even though we were operating at Fortune 1000 levels, the tech ecosystem had that irresistible allure of a startup. Navigating this dichotomy—of establishing structure in a place where most of the co-workers didn’t know what product management was “wait, are you a project manager?”, of refining the crude energy of a startup into the well-oiled machinery of an established firm, was both challenging and invigorating.
Bridging my exposure from a Fortune 30, I attempted implementing its strategies in our Fortune 1000 setting. However, due to differences in investment scales and the depth of technical proficiency, a direct transplant wasn’t feasible. This translated into my days being peppered with evangelizing what product management truly stood for: the significance of pausing before diving into solutions, the essence of thorough a/b testing, and the overarching vision guiding our actions. Does anyone know what problem we’re solving?
The Startup Shuffle:
Next stop on my journey was a startup in the real estate realm. Here, when I enquired about the UX, QA, Analytics, Legal teams, I was met with blank stares. I WAS the team. Wearing multiple hats—from product management, UX, QA, initial drafts of legal, analytics tagging to being a general manager—every day was a whirlwind of learning new disciplines and holding the line. We oscillated between onshore and offshore teams, Kanban made its appearance, and urgency was our daily mantra. This stint debunked myths for me: it was extremely apparent on what was corporate fluff I had seen previous to this experience and how in an absolute fast pace, there was no time for “let’s meet in a few weeks to figure it out”. It laid bare the essential framework vital for startups, where every second counts.
The Birth of a Guide:
During this rollercoaster, my constant companions were my reflections. Scribbled notes, musings on varied strategies, and insights into company cultures began filling up my Google doc. Through mentoring and coaching sessions that started to pickup as the Atlanta, GA technology scene grew exponentially from 2010-2020, and more product managers were asking for guidance, I recognized patterns of what I learned actually struck a chord with folks. Some topics needed deep dives, others a cursory glance, and ultimately the feedback that A) I seemed to understand the nuances but be able to tell the big picture was helpful and B) the content resonated with an audience that didn’t know much about product.
One casual conversation with my pal, Dan, changed the game. He remarked, after skimming through my notes, "This should be a book!" That was my lightbulb moment. Although every firm had its unique product management flavor, the curiosity if their approach made sense, was it effective, and did everyone understand it remained. Approaches tended to be often clouded by corporate semantics and high level thinking without practical use cases and guidance. My aim? Distill this essence, sans jargon, peppered with actionable insights.
Thus, over six hard-working years, through relentless iterations and invaluable feedback, the Product Protégé Guide saw the light of day. The journey, filled with learning curves of print, editing nuances, and relentless momentum maintenance, was nothing short of a revelation.
As Shane Parrish astutely observed:
The courage to start
The discipline to focus
The confidence to figure it out
The patience to know progress is not always visible
The persistence to keep going, even on the bad days
In other words? Relentless, unyielding, HARD WORK.
As I pen down this narrative, my hope is that my story encourages you, inspires you, and reaffirms that every journey, no matter how winding, has its unique story waiting to be told.
Here’s to countless more tales, insights, and breakthroughs. Until next week!
Warm regards,
Product Protégé
