Uday Kumar summarizes his career journey from engineer to product manager. He started as an engineer working in factories and for clients, which provided real-world experience. He then transitioned to management consulting and independent consulting. Next, he pursued an MBA and co-founded two startups, gaining entrepreneurial experience. Most recently, he has worked in product roles for non-profits and banks, focusing on building products, networks, and his brand. Through this non-linear journey, he has learned lessons about pivoting, making an impact, mentoring others, and that career paths are not defined by degrees or first jobs alone.

1. My Journey
Uday Kumar
Engineer --> Product Manager

2. Thank you!

3. Epics of My Journey
School through
Management Consulting
Independent Consulting
followed by Startup grind
01
Entrepreneurial cravings and
more school
Engineering Phase
Product Phase
Transition Phase
02
03

4. Leap of Faith
The first real choice
that I had to make in
my journey!

5. 01
Engineering Phase
Doing Stuff

6. Schools, Factories, and Clients
Early 90s Late 90s Early 2K

7. School provided the basic building blocks
Higher level
Math
Email,
Internet
Research,
Presentation
Programming
(Fortran, C)

8. Factories were tough learning grounds
● Real world needs engineers
● Software makes things fast
● Software needs quality
● Supply Chains are Global
● Software needs shipping
● Users need training

9. Goodbye Jeans … Hello Dockers
● eBusiness starting to take off
● Content Mgmt is a thing
● Working w/ Design agencies
● From B2C to B2B
● Stand-ups and Demos
● Globally distributed teams

10. 02
Transition Phase
Trying Stuff

11. Back to B-School to Acquire New Skills
Why Stats &
Probability
matter?
You Learn from
your Peers
You Get what
you Put in
Why Branding
& Pricing
matter?

12. 1st Entrepreneurial Experiment: T&L
Lesson 1Idea
Make it Easy to
tap into your
friend’s
recommendations
Test your Hypothesis
early and often
Lesson 2
Be very Lean with
your Resources

13. 2nd Entrepreneurial Experiment: Stemsible
Lesson 1Idea
Make it Easy for
Parents to discuss
ideas, concerns,
and information
Find a Co-Founder
(CTO) that can stay
the course
Lesson 2
Doing this with a
day job AND raising
a family is hard

14. 03
Product Phase
Creating Stuff

15. It was time to start building a
portfolio, a network, and a brand
I believed that others could
learn from my failures

16. Finally started getting real Product roles
● Must build internal networks
● Mission versus Margins
● Nonprofits are slow
● Think Big & Bold
● Protect your teams
● Pick a Boss, not a Company

17. And now I am at the most exciting bank!
Be Authentic
Be yourself, Don’t
trying being
somebody else
Less is More
The less you do, the
more you focus, the
faster you ship
Build Partnerships
The total is greater
than the sum of
parts
Make it Easy
Build stuff that is
easy to understand,
use, and extend

18. So what has my journey taught me?
PeoplePath Product Mgmt
● Non-Linear
● Pivot moments
● Make a difference
● Pay it forward
● Not a degree
● Not a 1st job
● V. rewarding

20. CREDITS: This presentation template was created by
Slidesgo, including icons by Flaticon, and
infographics & images by Freepik
THANKS
Email: uday@metashore.com
LI: linkedin.com/in/udaykumardc
GDE: Payments
Please keep this slide for attribution