1. How to build your career This Masterclass advocates an experimental approach to your career. 2. Develop your product and leadership skills Learn how to package and position yourself via the technical product and leadership skills of a product leader to form your own career hypotheses. 3. The importance of feedback Finally, recruit a Personal Board of Directors to solicit ongoing feedback from peers and mentors. 4. Tools to help you We’ll use Slido to see the variety of skills that product leaders all around the world exhibit, and to bring home the point that there’s no one “right” type of product leader. 5. And many more strategies It’s all about packaging and positioning yourself for that role that’s a perfect fit for you.

1. Gibson Biddle
Productized
May 27, 2021

2. Prepare yourself
for a little
self-reflection.”
@gibsonbiddle
@gibsonbiddle

3. A conversation about

4. The most important
product

5. YOU

6. @gibsonbiddle

7. Hypotheses
Experiments
Results
Hack Your
Career
@gibsonbiddle

8. Speaker, Adviser, Teacher (2015-Present)
CPO, Chegg (2010)
VP Product, Netflix (2005)
SVP, Creative Wonders,The Learning
Company, Mattel (1995)
Director, Product, Electronic Arts (1991)
Gibson Biddle
@gibsonbiddle

9. Agenda
@gibsonbiddle
Hacking Your
Product Career
Positioning: Skills & progression
Experiment: Hacking via side projects
Results and feedback: Board of Directors
@gibsonbiddle

10. Agenda
Hacking Your
Product Career
Positioning: Skills & progression
Experiment: Hacking via side projects
Results and feedback: Board of Directors
@gibsonbiddle

11. Positioning yourself:
Skills & progression
@gibsonbiddle

12. What is it?
What are the benefits?
What is its personality?
@gibsonbiddle
@gibsonbiddle
Positioning model

13. @gibsonbiddle
Positioning model
Netflix is a TV & movie subscription service
That’s fast, easy, entertaining & a great value, and
Is delivered in a straightforward, friendly way.

14. @gibsonbiddle
Positioning model
Gibson Biddle is a consumer product leader exec
Who help startups with a proof of concept to scale
Through strong strategic thinking, management &
leadership skills
In a genuine, quirky way.

15. How do you
position yourself?
@gibsonbiddle

16. @gibsonbiddle
What are the skills?

17. Join at
slido.com
#2720
What are the skills of a product leader?
@gibsonbiddle

18. Product
Skills
@gibsonbiddle
&
Leadership
Skills

19. Technical
Management
Creative
Business
Marketing
Design
Consumer science
Work effectively with engineers
Light process to deliver results
Generate ideas that matter
Deliver shareholder value
Package & position ideas
Work well with design; value simplicity
Insight via qual, survey, data & A/B tests
Product skills
Photo: Jim Watson / Getty Images
@gibsonbiddle
Aparna Chennapragada, Google

20. Leadership skills
Leadership
Management
Strategic thinking
Results-oriented
Culture
Business maturity
Domain expertise
Inspired communication of a vision
Hiring, firing & developing teams
Delight customers in H-2-C-$ ways
Proactive, do what it takes
Good fit; foundation for light process
Judgement: people, product & business
Experience with category and/or stage
@gibsonbiddle
Jonny Ive, Apple

21. April Underwood
Technical
Management
Creative
Business
Marketing
Design
Consumer science
Leadership
Management
Strategy
Results-oriented
Culture
Business maturity
Domain expertise
Leadership skills
Product skills
@gibsonbiddle
April Underwood, Slack

22. Technical
Management
Creative
Business
Marketing
Design
Consumer science
Leadership
Management
Strategy
Results-oriented
Culture
Business maturity
Domain expertise
Product skills Leadership skills
@gibsonbiddle

23. What are Your Super Powers?
@gibsonbiddle

24. Technical
Management
Creative
Business
Marketing
Design
Consumer science
Leadership
Management
Strategy
Results-oriented
Culture
Business maturity
Domain expertise
Product skills Leadership skills
@gibsonbiddle

25. Join at
slido.com
#2720
What are your top 2-3 product skills
@gibsonbiddle

26. Join at
slido.com
#2720
What are your top 2-3 leadership skills?
@gibsonbiddle

27. @gibsonbiddle

28. Leadership stages
Build an industry
Build a company
Build an organization
Build a hit
Build something
@gibsonbiddle

29. Leadership stages
Build an industry
Build a company
Build an organization
Build a hit
Build something
@gibsonbiddle

30. Leadership stages
Build an industry
Build a company
Build an organization
Build a hit
Build something
@gibsonbiddle

31. Leadership stages
Build an industry
Build a company
Build an organization
Build a hit
Build something
@gibsonbiddle

32. Leadership stages
Build an industry
Build a company
Build an organization
Build a hit
Build something
@gibsonbiddle

33. Leadership stages
Build an industry
Build a company
Build an organization
Build a hit
Build something
@gibsonbiddle

34. Leadership stages
Organization
Hit
Something
Company
Industry
Leadership, strategy, hiring, culture
Marketing & consumer insight
Basic design & management
X-functional leadership, company strategy
Long-term strategy & partnerships
@gibsonbiddle

35. Join at
slido.com
#2720
What career stage are you engaged in today?
@gibsonbiddle

36. Companies have stages, too.
@gibsonbiddle

37. What stage of company is best for you?
Starter:
Builder:
Super-scaler:
@gibsonbiddle
Loves just born startups
Helps startups w/ proof of concept scale
Helps large companies to excel

38. ⓘ Start presenting to display the poll results on this slide.
What stage of company is best for you?

39. Bringing it all together.
@gibsonbiddle

40. @gibsonbiddle
Positioning model
Gibson Biddle is a consumer product leader exec
Who help startups with a proof of concept to scale
Through strong strategic thinking, management &
leadership skills
In a genuine, quirky way.

41. Experiment via
Career Hacking
@gibsonbiddle

42. @gibsonbiddle

43. @gibsonbiddle

44. @gibsonbiddle

45. My career hypotheses
Marketing v. Product
Starter v. Builder
Consumer v. Enterprise
Entertainment v. Education
@gibsonbiddle

46. @gibsonbiddle

47. @gibsonbiddle

48. @gibsonbiddle

49. @gibsonbiddle

50. @gibsonbiddle

51. @gibsonbiddle

52. @gibsonbiddle

53. @gibsonbiddle
@gibsonbiddle

54. @gibsonbiddle

55. @gibsonbiddle

56. @gibsonbiddle

57. @gibsonbiddle

58. @gibsonbiddle

59. @gibsonbiddle

60. @gibsonbiddle

61. Marketing v. Product
Starter v. Builder
Consumer v. Enterprise
Entertainment v. Education.
Career Hypotheses
@gibsonbiddle

62. Your career
hypotheses?
@gibsonbiddle

63. What are your:
Areas of interest or passion?
Possible forks in the road?
New roles you seek?
(Think long-term.)
@gibsonbiddle

64. The right metric?
@gibsonbiddle

65. Join at
slido.com
#2720
What metrics help you to evaluate career success?
@gibsonbiddle

66. Income?
@gibsonbiddle

67. Job satisfaction?
@gibsonbiddle

68. Good for the world?
@gibsonbiddle

69. Make it an 8
@gibsonbiddle

70. Join at
slido.com
#2720
What is your current job satisfaction?
@gibsonbiddle

71. Join at
slido.com
#2720
What could be better about your job?
@gibsonbiddle

72. What makes your job better?
Community
Autonomy
Mastery
Purpose.
@gibsonbiddle

73. ⓘ Start presenting to display the poll results on this slide.
Community: To what degree do you feel connected to your boss, peers,
reports, and customers?

74. ⓘ Start presenting to display the poll results on this slide.
Autonomy: To what degree do you feel you have control over the work
you do?

75. ⓘ Start presenting to display the poll results on this slide.
Mastery: To what degree do you feel you are learning new skills and
content areas?

76. ⓘ Start presenting to display the poll results on this slide.
Purpose: To what degree you feel the work you do matters?

77. Career hacking
Be bold
Hypotheses>>experiments
2 AM test
Side projects
Passion>>Curiosity>>Grit.
@gibsonbiddle

78. Risk enablers
Education
Small successes
Simple life
Job & career-hunting skills
Take the first step!
@gibsonbiddle

79. Feedback:
Your Board of Directors
@gibsonbiddle

80. @gibsonbiddle

81. Build your
community of
peers.”
Greg Bestick
@gibsonbiddle

82. Can I tell you something
you may not like?
@gibsonbiddle
@gibsonbiddle
Irv Grossbeck
Amherst College, ‘57

83. Can I tell you something
you may not like?
You’re too nice to be a
startup CEO.”
@gibsonbiddle
@gibsonbiddle
Irv Grossbeck
Amherst College, ‘57

84. Just tell people
what you want.”
Patty McCord
@gibsonbiddle

85. For you, Gib, it’s
all about
creative pursuit.”
Kristen Hege
@gibsonbiddle

86. @gibsonbiddle
Your board
Invest in good times
Listen carefully
Refresh often
Every month/quarter/year.

87. @gibsonbiddle
Peers
Similar function, stage & company
Past colleagues
Mutual support.

88. @gibsonbiddle
Mentors
Extraordinary judgment
Broad skills and network
Candid + caring.

89. @gibsonbiddle
Finding mentors
Starts with cold e-mail or LinkedIn message
Better approach: intro from shared connection
Look for ways to be helpful
Intersection of what you need & what they value.

90. Magic decoder

91. Cold LinkedIn/Email inquiry to me
Likelihood of
Response
Will you be my mentor? Very Low
Help me find a job? Very Low
Help me build my talk for Women In Product? Moderate
I have feedback on your recent talk Moderate
Broken link in your Product Strategy series. High
Will you speak at my Women/Black/LatinX event? High
Feedback on your Consumer v. Enterprise tweets Very High
Don’t use “www.” It makes you look old. Very High
@gibsonbiddle

92. @gibsonbiddle
Finding mentors
Strengthen weak link
Personality fit
Pass their tests
Create value.

93. gibsonbiddle.com
Product Leadership Talks & Workshops
Home Watch Talks Workshops Articles Speaker Materials Read Reviews
@gibsonbiddle

94. Conclusions
@gibsonbiddle

95. What would you do
if you weren't afraid?
@gibsonbiddle

96. Take Action
@gibsonbiddle

97. 2) Form hypotheses,
Experiment via side
projects.
3) Get feedback via
your Board of
Directors.
Hacking
Your
Product
Career
1.) Position yourself via
Product & Leadership skills &
Career progression ladder.
@gibsonbiddle

98. Make it an 8
@gibsonbiddle

99. Thank You
@gibsonbiddle