Austin VOP #106 Daniel Wu of athenahealth | 9 Lessons from 10+ years in Product
Austin Voice of Product - Inspiring the next generation of Product leaders
Austin Voice of Product
Daniel has had an interesting path to product - specifically healthcare product management. He shares why focusing value over output is a must for product leaders, how to focus on the whole product, and the important product work he is doing at athenahealth to improve patient access to healthcare. I also thought his favorite product - a Rolliflex camera - was a super cool choice.
Read more: Product Managers Focus on Value, not Output
My News
I started a new job at Procore last week - here is my announcement on LinkedIn where I share the story. What I would like to share here are two things - one about the job search and one about making sure it was the right role.
The job search these past few months was distinctly different from my search 18 months ago when I joined SolarWinds. It is a seller’s market for product management roles. There was so much inbound interest from recruiters and hiring managers even though I did not have my LinkedIn “Open To Work” setting on. My hypothesis is that it is a combination of the tech sector growing as well as every business now trying to focus on digital. And product management is the role that can drive this growth and change. Let me know your thoughts in the comments section.
I was intent on finding a role at a product-centric company and shared this post in March: How do you Identify a Product-centric Company. It was my way of thinking through how I would make good choice of where I would land. I was intentional when talking to recruiters and hiring managers about what I was looking for. And that helped filter out the companies when there was not a good match. What I wanted was less dissonance and more resonance in the interview process. And it worked. The product team at Procore is outcome driven, work in triads (PM, Eng, UX), use customer interviews and data to make decisions and have a strong learning culture. Psyched to be here!
If any of you are in a job search and need tips or advice, do reach out. I am happy to share my experience and learnings.
What I’m Reading
Two reads this week - one from me 😎
This Redditt post 9 lessons from my 10+ years working in product was a cogent read especially this first point: 1. Always separate the problem from the solution. Here is one of the bullets under that first point:
Talk to your customers and end-users. Talk to everyone involved in the subject you're researching. If you're not talking to your customers / end-users very often something's definitely wrong. It may be very tricky to do so in your particular situation but try to figure it out. Bonus: your life will probably become a lot more interesting.
Talking to customers is right at the top of my list of priorities as I onboard at Procore. It is the best way I have found to learn the problem space and the product.
I am also excited to share Learnings from 8 years in Product a summation of a Slack AMA I did for the Propel community a few weeks ago. (Thanks Julie Varghese for connecting me with them!)
Austin Product Events
September 13 — The Product League
The Product Two-Step: Your Path to a Career in Product Management
More events on the Austin Product Events page.
In The Community
Lots of great news in the community!
Leslie Jordan was promoted to Cheif Product Officer at realtor.com 🚀
Brooke David was promoted to Senior Product Manager at Intapp 🙌
Mike Alexander joined Sysco Labs as Technical Strategy Director 👏
Trevor Bruner, whose book I featured in issue #104, was on the Scott Townsend podcast talking about it: Quick Start Guide to Product Management 👂
Austin Product Positions
I share product positions posted by product leaders I know. Feel free to reach out to me for an intro or share with others.
My team at Procore is looking for a Senior Product Manager. There are a bunch of other roles on the Product team here - so reach out!
Yours in product,
Reza