Austin VOP #107: Christian MacLean of Auctane | Speed Matters But So Does Flow and Cadence
Austin Voice of Product - Inspiring the next generation of Product leaders
Austin Voice of Product
I really enjoyed my conversation with Christian, especially because we focused on the human aspects of product management - a perspective that can often be eclipsed by processes, tools and technologies. He also advocates for diversity and how it makes you a better product manager and makes us a stronger product community. 💯 It is what I strive for with this newsletter - inspiring a more inclusive community by sharing stories from a diverse group of product leaders.
“Understanding differences and advocating for them makes you a better product manager because it forces you to understand and empathize. Building that type of product community builds a space for trust and diversity in Austin and makes us all better at what we do. I think we have to be active allies and create those opportunities for others because someone did it for us.”
Read more: Product Management Is A Deeply Human Pursuit
What I’m Watching
I have been grappling with the pressure to spin up more tactical work as I do some patient discovery work on a long-term initiative. It is a challenge many of us face to limit work in progress in the face of pressure from customer needs and stakeholder demands. If any of you have good advice on this, I am all ears.
This video from John Cutler makes the non-intuitive argument about work-in-progress:
“Let's consider the time it takes to go from agreeing to do something to a customer receiving value. It may come as a surprise, but most of that time is not spent working. It's spent waiting. John Cutler, Product Evangelist at Amplitude explains why most of a product developers time is spent waiting and how limiting work in progress, the scope of work and handoffs can increase flow and value.”
Austin Product Events
October 18 — The Product League
Fundamentals for Aspiring Product ManagersNovember 8 — The Product League
How to get hired as a Product Manager: Tips from PM Hiring Managers
More events on the Austin Product Events page.
In The Community
Wow - this past month I have seen a micro version of The Great Resignation with 6 Austin VOPers making a shift to new roles. And there were two promotions as well. Congrats and love seeing this growth in the community! 🙌 🚀
Noreen Almazora joined shiftkey as a Senior Product Manager
Alykhan Daya joined Google as a Product Manager
Vijay Devarajan joined eBay as a Director of Product
Joanna Dunn joined Housecall Pro as a Product Director
Lauren Dycus was promoted to Director of Product at DISCO
Elena Lenova was promoted to VP of Product Management at BigCommerce
Julie Varghese joined Onaroll as a Senior Product Manager
Audrey Warren joined Rightway as Head of Product
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.
We are hiring in Product, Engineering and UX at Procore. I would love your referrals.
N-Able is hiring a Senior Product Manager-RMM
Yours in product,
Reza