We just finished our Lean LaunchPad class at UC Berkeley’s engineering school where many of the teams embedded machine learning technology into their products. It struck me as I watched the teams try to find how their technology would solve real customer problems, is that machine learning is following a similar pattern of previous technical infrastructure […]
It’s been a year of my product journey at a large company.Below are my thoughts about the same.
Large companies definitely look for team players. In my experience as a PM at a large company, I’ve seen the absolute importance of prioritizing the success of the team over what someone individually wants. This makes a lot of sense because as the size of the team gets bigger, the total contribution of the team is much more than the contributions of a single person.
I think one of the most important skills a PM can have at a large company is strong communication. By strong I don’t mean forceful – the best PMs I’ve seen at my company have been clear communicators who are good at aligning and connecting different groups, visions, and ideas. Having mental toughness and flexibility goes a long way to delivering the final product when there are 20 differing viewpoints and voices.
I think it’s very fair to say that larger companies, especially public companies, tend to focus on growing what is already successful. Also,most of them are willing to spend in new areas of Business.
One of the more frustrating aspects of PMing at a large company is the sheer number of people involved in decision making. For a given project blockers tend to happen because there are so many people owning different parts that there’s inevitable delay and gaps in communication.
People(Top Bosses) here doesn’t have the necessary skills to lead Tech projects and often end up creating a me-too product,with no product differentiation . With this, The “classic” growth formula(build a product, spend a million bucks in PR campaign, additional million in FB and Google ads) doesn’t work.
Answer by Jason M. Lemkin:
Vesting.
The most important thing is vesting.
You’ll be tempted to give yourself lots of credit, lots of upfront vesting, no cliff, to protect against the future. Against the VCs. Against the acquirers. Against the unknown that will try to Steal Your Stock later. Against the whatever.
But it will turn out, lots of times, co-founders don’t work out. (Far more often that your stock is “stolen”). Your commitments, for whatever or no reason, don’t end up being equal. At least not 1, 2, 3, 4 years down the road. And as a result, the less committed founder will end up with way too much stock. Lots of times.
If you are the most committed founder, it’s in your interest to have the longest vesting schedule with the least vesting upfront and a true cliff.
Even if it seems otherwise.
Graph from here: Equity Vesting Schedules for S&P 1500 CEOs – Equilar
here are the main points
Extra credit if you are:
Naming the business can mean hours agonising before finally making a decision. Do have fun when choosing a name for your business,but make sure you can tell it to your friends without giggling.
here’s an idea for you……
2. Naming a business is the first step to creating a brand. Big,bold and a little bit cheeky.
3.“condense some daily experience into a glowing symbol,and an audience is electrified.”- RALPH WALDO EMERSON
“we do what we must, and call it by best names”
An obscure name is not necessarily a bad one ,especially if it is memorable. I doubt that many people know that ‘nike’ means ‘victory’ in greece,but look at how wonderful & powerful that name and business has become. A good name becomes the business and even a brand in its own right.If you like the name, go with it.
Product Theory 
