tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-337691512024-03-15T03:27:27.810-04:00Adventures in VClandMusings on Technology/Startups/Life, whatever strikes my fancyPunit Soni's Adventures in VClandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02535297016230179492noreply@blogger.comBlogger62125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33769151.post-51768987545350541492010-04-14T21:13:00.001-04:002010-04-14T21:13:32.156-04:00My Talk on Mobile Web Trends at MobileMonday<object width="400" height="225"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=10871656&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=10871656&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="225"></embed></object><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/10871656">MobileMonday Toronto - Apr.10 - Google Presents Insights on Mobile Devices</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/marsdd">MaRS Discovery District</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>Punit Soni's Adventures in VClandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02535297016230179492noreply@blogger.com108tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33769151.post-53963233503619036652010-04-02T17:39:00.002-04:002010-04-02T17:40:09.379-04:00Tweaking Google products for Tablet computers/iPad<a href="http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2010/04/google-services-on-ipad-and-tablet.html">http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2010/04/google-services-on-ipad-and-tablet.html</a>Punit Soni's Adventures in VClandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02535297016230179492noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33769151.post-27076276791028740692010-02-10T04:26:00.001-05:002010-02-10T04:27:15.208-05:00Its kind of a big day for meToday, I launched Google Buzz for Mobile:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2010/02/introducing-google-buzz-for-mobile-see.html">http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2010/02/introducing-google-buzz-for-mobile-see.html<br />
</a><br />
This was an amazing cross-team effort and we ended up launching many products on the same day to create this entire mobile Buzz ecosystem.<br />
Very excited!!Punit Soni's Adventures in VClandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02535297016230179492noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33769151.post-43105219369625930512009-11-28T11:53:00.010-05:002009-11-28T14:00:05.145-05:00Who is a Google Product Manager - Part II?A couple of years ago, about two months into my Google career, I had written (some might say prematurely) my assessment on the qualities needed to be a <a href="http://futurevc.blogspot.com/2007/09/who-is-google-product-manager.html">Google Product Manager</a>. I got a bit of response on that <a href="http://futurevc.blogspot.com/2007/09/who-is-google-product-manager.html">post</a>, some flames (including someone who asked me if I was fired yet!), and some genuine discussion on the points I laid out in that post. I always meant to write another post a little later to follow up on that initial assessment.<br /><br />So about ~2.5 years later, I will try to take another stab at whether my opinion had changed. In the intervening time, I have launched 2 products for Google, and now am working in the super-amazing Mobile group led by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vic_Gundotra">Vic Gundotra</a>. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">The key points I laid out in my initial post about Product Management were:<br /></span><br />- <i>Google is not hierarchical especially where it comes to Product Management</i><br />Being a PM at Google is a classic case of no-authority, all-responsibility situation in a matrix org. A recipe for intense stress some might say. However, now I perceive it as an interesting artificially-constrained ecosystem where to thrive, you have to figure out the delicate balance of credibility, authority, influence and responsibility. Once you do that, you are gold, and you will get more done than if you owned the people who worked around you. <br /><br />- <i>Product Managers are not tied to a particular product or sector for the duration of their work in Google</i><br />I went from search to Google Books/News org to Mobile. I faced no hinderance, no one questioned why I want to shift sectors. The company on the whole supported the transitions and worked hard to give me the tools I needed to succeed. However, once I was in there, I was usually handed a intense product with little notice. And left to swim or sink. The result: I learnt more than I could ever in more sectors of the company.<br /><br />- <i>Most Google Product Managers are generalists (especially MBAs)</i><br />Not much to say there. It ties in with the previous point. If you are perceived as generalists, you are allowed to move around quite a bit within the org. And PMs have that liberty.<br /><br /><B> But what makes a good Google Product Manager?</B><br />This what I wrote in my last post:<br /><I>1. Managing immense complexity ( a direct result of the mixed structure here at Google)</i><br />Totally, absolutely, totally agreed. A PM's job is intensely complicated. You own the product, you own nothing. You are responsible for everything but in a matrix org where many people are responsible for many things. Everyone around you is a world class expert, but you are supposed to be the expert on the overall product. And thats probably because, few have the time/inclination to grapple with the enormous complexity of the various facets of the product.<br /><br /><i>2. Influencing people, a trait that needs credibility, communication skills, and a people-skills</i><br />Yup. But I have noticed one thing. As time goes by, and you establish a track record of launching products (hopefully somewhat successful), this (as you would expect) gets easier. But till that happens, do not expect a nice, mellow ride. Googlers will question every decision, every move that you make, till only the best decisions backed by logic and data can get through. This sort of <span style="font-style:italic;">socratic</span> way of doing (Question everything to derive logic) things makes for an intellectually challenging workplace, but one's brains are constantly in danger of overheating.<br /><br /><i>3. Making decisions. One needs to be able to decide, take responsibility for those decisions and live with it</I><br />This one I will stand by. Good Product Managers make decisions, quickly. And then take responsibility for them. They buffer their team from the stress of dealing with the consequences of the bad ones, and share the credit for the good ones.<br /><br /><i>4. Something that is different from the rest. Have to have something special in terms of achievements in their background. </i><br />Ho hum. Google Recruiting still looks for this secret sauce in folks, but I am increasingly suspicious of this. I think good, smart, emotionally intelligent people come in all stripes and shapes. We miss a lot of them because we keep looking for overt signs of achievements. Having said that, I would rather lose a few good Product Managers, then hire a many good ones along with a couple of bad ones. Conclusion: A higher bar is probably a good thing.<br /><br /><i>5. Extremely good understanding of the Internet services landscape and opinions on everything from state of online video market to new mobile business models to future of search</i><br />Enough said. This stays true regardless of how much time goes by.<br /><br /><i>6. A passionate self-starting personality helps. Self-starting especially because no one seems to tell you what to do out here, yet everyone seems to be doing the things they need to do</i><br />You need to make big decisions. You need to think above your pay-grade and not be scared to take your product into new directions. And this without much top-down direction. That usually comes only when you have failed :)<br />Also, passion really helps because it inspires people, and makes a leader out of you.<br /><br />And one more that I think really merits adding to the list:<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">7. Emotional Intelligence: <br /></span> <br />I could write a post on just this topic, but truly, this is 60% of a good Product Manager (anywhere but more so in Google given its unique, crazy culture). I will not by any means imply that I am one, but I do know that the good ones tend to be bold yet diplomatic, calm yet inspired, and passionate but not emotional.<br />This last one is key. Good leaders are passionate about their work, but not overtly emotional. That just creates a bad vibe in the team.<br /><br />So you see, some things have changed and some have not. Overall its more same than different though. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">There have to be some glitches though, right?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"> Success is a bit of roll of dice</span><br />This is probably true of life in general. But in Google, since PMs are generalists and because you don't know any better when you start in a new company, you could start off on a product that has too much baggage or history around it, or just plain ineffective leadership. This can hurt your Google career big time till you manage to get out and find your way to an area that matches your working style/culture.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">People Management takes a disproportionate amount of time<br /></span>Matrix org, non-hierarchical setup, so many seriously brilliant, opinionated people == Loads of time spent in people management.<br /><br />Overall, the company is probably the best company out there in terms of how well it takes care of its people. If you fail at a product in Google, only a million people probably used it. And it that lies Google's biggest strength and biggest gitch. Most of us will probably never have a better shot at making a bigger product than by working in a company like Google (Most not all), however, sometimes just sometimes...it can feel like too much of a bubble.Punit Soni's Adventures in VClandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02535297016230179492noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33769151.post-85967510632284781902009-11-21T18:34:00.002-05:002009-11-21T18:40:19.646-05:00Intense Work/Personal LifeI went from having a sane work-life balance to one where I am scrambling to maintain some sanity in my personal and professional life. Suddenly realized that I defined personal life as time with my family (wife), and professional as time spent at work. This leaves me with no time for myself :)<br /><br />The first casualty of any work-life balancing act (based on definition above) is the much needed me-time.<br />Anyways, am straddling a life between Toronto and San Francisco. My mobile product is getting closer to launch. I love what I am doing. Though as life is Google generally is, I feel like I could be better rewarded for my efforts :) But that's probably because I am working so hard; harder than I ever have till date, and will need a break soon lest I burn out!<br /><br />Will write more about the mobile world soon. Right now, I have gotten a few years worth of mobile experience in about 5 months! Such is the rigor, excitement and intensity of Google's mobile organization. Fun! And Crazy!Punit Soni's Adventures in VClandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02535297016230179492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33769151.post-39528457241396852222009-08-14T19:44:00.003-04:002009-08-14T20:16:08.219-04:00The comments are better than the blog!Ok, so I am pretty impressed with the kind of comments I have been getting on the blog. It is certainly inspiring me to write more and respond to the comments through my posts. Appreciate the commentators and their interest.<br /><br />@Singh, yes, I am definitely enjoying my job a lot. It is super challenging, and a lot of fun, and plays to one of my biggest strengths - Managing Complexity. So I love what I am doing, and what more can one ask for, right?<br /><br />It is hard for me to give a % or a number to the number who are as passionate. If it's an Individual, its easy to give an opinion (wrong or right). A group? You have to be a bit more circumspect I think. There is a good chance of falling on my your face.<br /><br />Having said that, Google PMs (the ones that I have interacted with) are typically pretty smart, very organized and ambitious. A smaller percentage are very very good, very bright, understand the industry in and out, very aggressive, and have been some of the strongest people that I have worked with. Doesn't make them easy to work with :), but then their job is not easy by any means.<br /><br />The industry works on reputation. Reputation is built by your body of work (and by luck). In Google, the hierarchy is reasonably flat still, and very senior folks are still called "Product Managers". My argument is that yes, if you become a VP, you rock and you must be very good. But there are tons of PMs in Google, who are rockstars and have a legacy of success behind them. I can bet that any of those could easily go to any other company and become Directors or even VPs. Don't get hung up on the title. Yes, title matters no doubt. But what do you say to a guy who is titled "Product Manager" and manages a multi-million dollar business with millions of views? <br /><br />Now about the challenge...<br /><br />About building the user-base versus building on user-base. What's the difference in terms of people adoption? In either case, you are adding numbers to the bottomline and thats what matters most. Granted, there is a huge edge for a Google PM. We start off based on numbers that impossible for many companies. That is a huge advantage. But do keep in mind, other companies had that advantage too, and squandered it. Maybe one day Google will too, its not that day yet.<br /><br />You cant beat up someone up for having a strong advantage. You still need a huge sizzle to build on that advantage. However, I don't think you are wrong in saying there is an edge. <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><br />Is it as challenging as organically building a product from scratch with no Google behind you?</span><br /><br />I think building a product from bottom up and organically drawing millions to it is amazing. You have to be a very strong, passionate person and really really lucky. That is a very hard task, and I will never underplay that.<br />I just think you are comparing apples to oranges.<br /><br /> Who is more brilliant? The guy who invented the Telephone or the guy who led the mapping of human Genome (backed by some of the foremost research labs of the world)? I know who is more famous :)Punit Soni's Adventures in VClandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02535297016230179492noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33769151.post-66082392366237266772009-08-12T23:55:00.004-04:002009-08-13T00:25:05.126-04:00Should I have taken those offers?An interesting comment on my previous post prompted me to blog the response. First of all, Anon, thanks for your wishes on my wedding. Am a punjabi, so it was days and nights of Bhangra and eating :)<br /><br />VC has always been a niche industry, but there was still something in it for the smaller firms, and now I do not think this is true anymore. I think the opportunity has shrunk dramatically. Its hard to sit here and make generalizations on the demise of a whole industry, and so I will stay out of that. I just think it is way way harder to become a partner these days. Who wants to join a VC firm to stay an associate?<br /><br />Now comes the fun part of the question which deals with the wisest of all thought processes, Hindsight. In hindsight, <span style="font-style:italic;">would I have taken those not-so-sexy VC offers and then traded up to better VC firms now?</span><br /><br />Here hindsight and my present sense of where I am come together to respond with a resounding NO. Here is why it would be a bad idea to take those not-so-sexy opportunities (I do not think there were sexy or unsexy by any means, they were just not right for me):<br /><br />- Two years in a job you don't like is a very high price to pay for anything. Period.<br />- Two years of your life doing anything that you don't like is a high price to pay in general with some exceptions<br />- I did not fit there, then I would have probably been not good at it<br />- The industry is reputation based, whatever you do, create a brand for yourselves. Taking those jobs would have been counter-productive (if I didnt fit)<br />- Very few people get VC jobs. Even fewer trade UP from a Tier II firm to Tier I. There is a lot of horizontal shifting but very little vertical<br /><br />And then some more reasons..but I think you get the drift.<br /><br />Now the second part of the question: <span style="font-style:italic;">Is it better than being one of 300-400 PMs at Google?</span><br /><br />Are you kidding me :)? You know how amazing it is to be a PM in Google? Yes, even with the crazy matrix organization. And no, I have not drunk the Kool Aid. But think about it for a moment. Google is probably one of the most influential companies in the world. Lets say there are 5 companies in the world which are comparable in terms of impact (Tech or otherwise). Lets say each of them has on average 300 PMs (unlikely but lets take this for now). <br /><br />I am one of 5x300 = 1500 folks in this world (atleast in the field of technology) who have a shot at impacting millions of life. And this is not hyperbole (or arrogance). I can't even begin to tell you how much impact each PM (in Google, you are basically <span style="font-style:italic;">the</span> visionary on your product area) can have through their products. Even a failed product in Google is used by thousands nay... millions.<br /> <br />I get this chance because I work for Google. So I have to give this opportunity the respect it deserves. I am very happy that I made the choices I made. That was for most part, luck and sound advice.<br /><br />Finally, I am not saying we should all become PMs in Google, there are sexier jobs in top VC firms, PE or whatever floats your boat. But for me, the sexiest job is to do what my friend A does. He bootstraps his way around, he is passionate, he works hard in a room somewhere in Menlo Park, and is slowly but inexorably building a team around him. He is building his own startup.<br />Damn, thats cool. I wish I had the balls to do what he is doing.<br /><br />Definitely one day.Punit Soni's Adventures in VClandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02535297016230179492noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33769151.post-27160423836016691202009-08-07T18:41:00.004-04:002009-08-07T19:02:45.540-04:00So long...so long (since I blogged)So a LOT has happened in the last year or so. I have launched another product, have shifted sectors within Google. Am working on a crazy new product which is both intense and invigorating, and involves shuttling between Bay Area and Toronto.<br />And most importantly, I got married :) More about all this later.<br /><br />All this may explain the lack of blogging to some extent. But the real reason was that I got so immersed in the operational world, that the core motivation to write this blog became at odds with why I started it in the first place.<br /><br />Initially, it was my chronicle of the journey towards becoming a VC. Now, after a couple of years in the industry, that motivation has become incidental. I am not sure if I want to <span style="font-style:italic;">find</span> the opportunity to be in VC anymore.<br />Now, before you get me wrong :)... I would like to be in investing and I would love to work with startups, but the intersection of great group, culture, awesome investment thesis, good people, and luck is so small, that I don't think this is an industry choice anymore. If an opportunity works out for you, great! But there are so many I know who just do VC for the heck of it, and are not happy about it.<br /><br />The few who are doing it and are happy, are those who landed in that small intersection. So, instead of looking, I am just going to do what I like, and if the chips fall in the right place, and I like the opportunity, then I will do it.<br /><br />This means that I am equally likely to be a VC, entrepreneur, operational guy in a large company, cafe owner or run a bookstore :)<br /><br />Somewhere along the way, ambitions morph from a specific role to a state of mind. With marriage, good job, happy family, my ambitions are turning...like the leaves outside in Toronto. Its going to be fall.Punit Soni's Adventures in VClandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02535297016230179492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33769151.post-87824397188289168532008-09-09T04:27:00.005-04:002008-09-09T04:34:14.686-04:00New Product LaunchedMy first product launched today :)<br /><br />Here are the details: <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/bringing-history-online-one-newspaper.html">Google Official Blog Post<br /></a><br />Excited.Punit Soni's Adventures in VClandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02535297016230179492noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33769151.post-10921030985901518532008-07-16T19:30:00.002-04:002008-07-16T19:39:10.063-04:00Long time...It has been an incredibly long time since I posted. I need to get back to this before I make it a habit of neglecting my blog. So while I am out here, let me post an update.<br /><br />Work is progressing at a fast clip and I am feeling more and more certain of my products now. It is amazing how something which is such a small piece in terms of the overall scheme of things, needs so much work and coordination to get done. My products are small, probably will not be noticed much in the first couple of years of their existence as they evolve and gather critical mass, however they require an enormous amount of time, resources, money to put together.<br /><br />This whole experience has been very humbling. We spend so much time using Internet based services, and it is so easy to be critical of a product experience, or worse, just take it for granted. However, the truth is that a lot of thought and work goes into building a usable, intuitive and smart product. I have been a part of technical teams building up ideas, invested in companies, built one before myself, and still I am constantly overawed by the creativity and vision required to take the seed of an idea and make it into something that impacts people's lives. <br /><br />So yes, I am having an incredible amount of fun trying to build this up. My life is chaos currently, work-life balance has gone for a toss. And I am just loving it!<br /><br />PS: Will write more about the key issues one should worry about when putting together a consumer facing product. Right now, this is just to signal that I am alive!Punit Soni's Adventures in VClandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02535297016230179492noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33769151.post-25558289225827605972008-04-25T03:33:00.002-04:002008-04-25T04:32:01.663-04:00Stay CoolThe atmosphere in the room was tense to say the least. I was in a meeting discussing certain decisions that we had to take recently in the product. One person in my team were not happy with the way things were going. I knew that we were doing the right thing in the long term for the product, and was attempting to reach out to him and explain the reasoning behind the way we were approaching the problem. But he was just ranting at this point, lacing his responses with heavy sarcasm. Now Google is an intense environment but rarely have I seen folks lose their cool. There is a lot of discussion, and hashing out of solutions through arguments and discussions, but never this way. At that point, the one thing that was going on in my mind was "Stay Cool". <br /><br />It is how we react under intense situations that defines us. We can all be genial, happy, smart and cool when the going is good. It is way harder to do that when your decision making skills are under question, and you feel as if you are in the middle of an inquisition. <br /><br />As the discussion moved on, I kept my head up and kept answering his questions. You could cut the tension in the air with a knife, and I knew I was getting angrier at every step as the discussion dragged on. Thankfully the meeting ended. I got up and went for a long long walk, cleared up head, calmed down and headed back to work.<br />Soon I found out that the person had gone through a very tough time lately. A few days later, I approached him and we sat down and sorted out the issue.<br /><br />In work, board meetings, team meetings, negotiations, and in many other situations, there are constantly conflict points in a discussion. One could get defensive and lose one's composure, or one could take it lying down and suck it up. But there may be a third way. Be firm, be logical about your opinion, respectful and lastly, dignified. In all, just stay cool.<br />You will not only be respected a lot more, you will also sound consistent and more credible.<br /><br />PS: Don't try this in personal situations. Logic does not work there!Punit Soni's Adventures in VClandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02535297016230179492noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33769151.post-65505406081302442812008-03-07T20:04:00.004-05:002008-03-22T04:11:01.401-04:00Warren Buffet on life and work (and the economy)I would be foolish not to post this. This guy is amazing and yet all that he says is plain old commonsense. Just goes to prove how amazing plain ol' common sense is.<br />Do yourselves a favor, read these notes from a recent reception hosted by Warren Buffet for some MBA folks.<br /><br /><a href="http://undergroundvalue.blogspot.com/2008/02/notes-from-buffett-meeting-2152008_23.html">Notes from Buffet Meeting</a><br /><br />Love him, hate him, but you can't doubt the wisdom of his words.Punit Soni's Adventures in VClandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02535297016230179492noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33769151.post-34282696466325793382008-03-03T15:50:00.003-05:002008-03-03T16:05:49.335-05:00Get your hands dirtyOne of the common Bschool misconceptions is that we will (after we graduate) spend all our time sitting behind fancy oak desks, and making strategic decisions. That our life would be like the typical Hollywood depiction of an executive. Fancy suits, ties, shiny shoes, board meetings etc etc. Some of that actually does happen, but what we miss is the grind behind all of that.<br /><br />I have noticed a strange reticence to step in and actually do some of the grunge work, be it coding if this is a technology company, or operations, or something else. The common thought is, "Hey, I went to Bschool to escape all this! Why would I do this again?". However, the truth is that it is practically impossible to make the right decisions for your team/startup/product/company unless you took atleast some time out to get down and get under that hood. This tenet probably applies to those with operating roles more than the others. Services can be a different story. The only exception might be folks in Venture Capital who tend to be better if they have seen some of the mess that they invest in firsthand . <br /><br />The more you come up through the grind, the more respect you have for the folks sitting across you, the more credibility you have when you are trying to influence others into buying into your vision, and finally, you are more insightful when you have to make those great strategic decisions from behind those lovely oak desks.<br /><br />I spent some time last week at an operating site. For that week, I was an understudy to a great engineer who taught me the details of the product that I was supposed to be building. I worked with ground floor technicians who explained to me the intricacies of the hardware we used and the deficiencies of the software we build. Now, I am back home and have a 10x better understanding of my team, our product, and know how to optimize things much better than I could earlier.<br /><br />So my learning from all this? Don't be afraid to muck around the code, get under those machines, work as a underpaid technician for day, learn the details of your business bottom up and then make decisions from the top.<br /> <span style="font-style:italic;">"Get your hands dirty!"</span>Punit Soni's Adventures in VClandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02535297016230179492noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33769151.post-566672725376971472008-01-30T23:08:00.000-05:002008-01-31T00:35:19.803-05:00Don't take your job too seriouslyAs I ramp up on my other product, I am faced with two very different teams. One is huge, spread out, with a large budget, and complex operations that need to be set up from scratch; the other, small, agile, and with relatively simpler operations. One has such complexities that most sub-teams prefer a clear-cut direction and do not want to bothered with the issues across teams. The other has people who are very engaged in every aspect of the product and proactively involved in areas beyond their core work. The only thing common among them is that they are both startups of some sorts.<br /><br />Both, are ideas that are coming to market in their own styles. And both require dealing with in slightly different ways. However, some things stay the same (and work like charm). Like most engineers (by training), I tend to deal with complexity with process. But while process can make things easier, they do not help deal with personalities. While dealing with atleast 6 different personality types in a single day, things can get messy. And in dealing with this, I have hit upon the perfect mantra. If I had thought of this when I was younger, my previous jobs would have been much easier.<br /><br />While your job is important, it is not <span style="font-style:italic;">that</span> important. Maybe just maybe, we want too much control in our jobs. We want to be able to control all the things that our position implies we do, we want picture perfect roadmaps, and teams which work like clockwork. And since people (or rather all of us) do not work like that, the trick might be to just let go a little bit. Trust that things will sort of work out the way we think. Plan but not over-plan. So I let go of certain things, and share responsibilities a bit more. Trust people to make up on those roadmaps which are sliding. Let someone keep a bit more control, while you cede a bit on your end. The end result: A bit more relaxed team and a calmer me. There are lot of people around me who are biting their nails and worrying about things. I believe that if we really want to lead, we need to stay calm and composed. Even amidst chaos. In fact, I propose that to be effective in today's chaotic product development environments, the prime capability one needs is composure. <br /><br />Maybe the trick is to remember that we are all in this together and there is no clear-cut definition of what we do or what we need to do. I realized that by maintaining a balance between process and controlled chaos, definition and ambiguity, control and lack there of, I was calmer and much more effective at my job (successful? I do not know yet). <br /><br />Maybe, Ladies and Gentlemen, the idea is not to take our jobs too seriously.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">PS: On a crazy travel schedule for the past 4 weeks. Have visited Bombay, Delhi, Bangalore, New York, Boston among other places. Right now, all I want to do is to head home and sleep.</span>Punit Soni's Adventures in VClandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02535297016230179492noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33769151.post-10450108849439437912008-01-16T16:27:00.000-05:002008-01-17T13:59:46.156-05:00Happy New Year from IndiaYes, it has been some time since my last post but then things have been crazy here. Addition of a product to my suite of things-to-do has effectively trebled my work. Travel wise, I am on the plane most of the time these days. Right now, I am in India. Spent the last few weeks at Bangalore and now in Bombay before heading back to Mountain View. Then will be off again traveling coast to coast. This lifestyle is teetering on the edge of being dysfunctional.<br />Incidentally, it was the first time I ever worked in India per se. It was an interesting experience by all accounts. A few observations:<br />1. Bangalore is disgusting infrastructure-wise. All I could see was a tons of cars driving crazily, and a few non-Indian expats hopping/dodging trying not to get killed as they navigate their way on the streets of the IT city. Thankfully, I hadn't yet forgotten how to run across a street full of traffic! Though the weather rocked.<br />2. Larger cities like Bombay and Delhi are doing so much better in terms of infrastructure and life seemed like it was getting better here relative to where we were years ago<br />3. The Engineers in Google India office are unbelievably brilliant. Just awesome<br />4. I "felt" (and this is mere opinion and a gross generalization) while I worked here, that people interactions tend to be more personal in nature. I also felt that folks were a lot more nervous where it came to day to day work (risk averse). This actually makes sense given the cultural context. Now crucify me for stereotyping the whole country<br />5. The country is piping hot. Reliance Power IPO was gone literally in 60 seconds and oversubscribed multiple times in the time it takes to watch an average Indian soap. Love the excitement. You can see it literally everywhere!<br />6. It is exciting but harder to live here (still), but that has to be balanced by the tons of opportunities here currently.<br /><br />Now time cometh to head back home to Mountain View. As usual, India is glorious in its contradictions. I can no longer figure out the right amounts to tip people, and what to haggle for with the rickshaw drivers, since the prices are so convoluted. Anything labor oriented is so cheap, it is silly. Everything else pricewise, might as well as be in US. Its gotten do expensive!<br /><br />Enough about India. Back to US now.Punit Soni's Adventures in VClandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02535297016230179492noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33769151.post-49953414356484414852007-12-10T01:02:00.000-05:002007-12-10T01:37:09.312-05:006 MonthsSo they gave me another product to manage. Well, since it is a mere idea yet, more than "managing", it needs to created and launched. On one hand this is a good thing (<span style="font-style:italic;">validation, more responsibilities, higher profile, yada yada</span>), on the other hand, it puts me in a situation where I will have rework my 6 month old working style and reinvent a new one. More on that in a later posting.<br /><br />Can you believe it? This week, I will finish 6 months at Google. It is almost time to think about the next step (<span style="font-style:italic;">grins</span>). The following values have helped me be moderately successful at what I am doing (<span style="font-style:italic;">which is: not getting into trouble</span>). Most of it is commonsense and somewhat contradictory.<br /><br />1. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Over-communication</span> - I run a constant roadshow about my product in the company. I write monthly notes to my team, I make every presentation on my product as if it was a pitch to investors, and I constantly keep updating relevant folks with the latest state of the product. This has built momentum, reduced misunderstandings, and help garner attention for my product internally.<br /><br />2.<span style="font-weight:bold;"> Under-communication</span> - On the flip side, it is a good idea to shut up and not to say a lot more than is needed. This does not mean I am the authority on what needs to relayed and what not, but sometimes keeping quiet is the best way to maintain the sanity of the larger team.<br /><br />3. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Create Consensus</span> - Instead of dropping my supercool product onto the laps of the various reviewing committees, I spend a bit of my time meeting most of the relevant folks in smaller groups unofficially (1-on-1, office hours etc) as I develop the product. This means that by the time the official reviews roll along, I would have probably got the backing I needed. More importantly, my product would be a good, solid product which would have incorporated much needed feedback from a lot of experts around the company.<br /><br />4. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Become Religious</span> - Define a core set of principles (features, marketing segments, UI, etc) that you truly value and believe in. Dig deep into why you believe in them, and what is the logic behind that belief. And then, do not let go of them unless somebody convinces you (or rather teaches) why the contrarian view is appropriate. Being religious about your product's core values helps, because the barrier to criticism and opinions is so low in a product which is unproven and still a concept.<br /><br />5. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Do your Homework </span>- And do it well. Last but not the least, you have to make sure (if you are CEO or a PMM or a PM or an engineer whatever) that you are absolutely on top of all those things that are directly your responsibility. If you are good at what you do, you will have the credibility to push others to line up behind your vision.<br /><br />All this is barely keeping me afloat, whether I am truly good will be decided when I actually can implement these principles. The proof of the pudding will be in the day my product sees the light of the day, and is used by some of you out there. Till then, here's to the next 6 months at Google. <br />Hopefully (<span style="font-style:italic;">grin</span>).Punit Soni's Adventures in VClandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02535297016230179492noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33769151.post-54040757373563904022007-11-15T03:00:00.000-05:002007-11-15T03:17:03.067-05:00The key to starting upI write these monthly letters to my team. I call them <i>PM Notes</I>. In these letters, I outline the state of affairs in the various sub-teams of the product, progress, and finally concerns/issues that I see us facing the near future. Invariably, engineering is the least of my concerns. Why is that?<br />I believe I have never seen the kind of engineering talent that Google has amassed within its confines. I have a Bachelors and Masters in engineering myself, and am no pushover where it concerns software or hardware. However, the kind of issues that would take a week or more to deal with, is solved within a few hours out here. Truly the prime reason for Google's success is the quality of its engineering. Larry and Sergei were hard core technologists too. Though it is true that they had to build an ecosystem of business savvy people around them to get to where they are now.<br />Where am I going with this? <br />My point is that the key to starting up is engineering talent. If you want to start a company, find a great technologists and then wrap them up with business acumen. I have spent the last two months helping a friend kickstart her company, and the biggest challenge we face is to help her find a great engineer. I can figure out the financing, help her write a business model, fine-tune target segments, do what it takes for her business to have a shot at success, but if I cannot code, she can't even get started. <br />A good engineer can take a company from A to D, a good savvy entrepreneur with business acumen can take it from D to Z. But without the first few steps, everything is useless.<br />It is actually quite ironic. When I was an engineer, I used to look at people with business sense with awe. Now that I am on the other side of the fence, I look back at my engineering days with a lot more respect and awe. <br />So, if you are first time entrepreneur struggling to get off the ground, the first person you should be actively looking around for should be a fantastic engineer. That will ensure that you get from A to D. Don't bother about ideas, ideas come when smart people get together. Find that engineer.Punit Soni's Adventures in VClandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02535297016230179492noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33769151.post-26027670970992078952007-10-23T03:49:00.000-04:002007-10-23T04:10:40.461-04:00State of Politics (and Bay Area)Today, for the first time ever, I encountered politics in Google. Now, I was not naive. I was sure there is a ton of it floating around but I still believed that it is a lot less than what we have in the outside world. That observation holds true. My observations about Google and a corporate job anywhere is that there are primarily two kinds of politicians on campus:<br /><br />1. A few very dominating people who will have opinion but will not do their homework before honoring us with it<br />2. A set number of people who are insecure about their job and so try to protect it by exercising their (so-called) power, or worse keeping critical information to themselves. They usually make for bad bosses and even though I am lucky to (really) have an awesome mentor/boss right now, I have seen enough employees go bad because the boss is insecure<br /><br />The best way to deal with this (other than to start a company of your own, which seems like the best way to deal with anything these days) is that if you encounter the first kind, then just do way more homework than they do, and keep asking very intelligent questions. At some point or the other, you will notice the sound of a big ego slinking away.<br /><br />In the latter case (usually the most egregious kind of politician), have a heart to heart. Talk to the person, make them feel at ease. Actually try to decrease their insecurities. And if they are scared (or scary) enough that a simple chit-chat does not help, then just remove all the potential grouses they could have. Establish better communication channels, be on the right side always, and then keep working single mindedly towards the goal.<br /><br />As a wise man once said, "<I>There will always be people that don't see eye-to-eye or are distracting. Just work hard, be<br />aggressive (in a good way) and get the product launched. Stay focused on the goal and others will get behind you."</i><br /><br />The moral:<br />- Be good (and on the right side)<br />- Be open <br />- Be focused<br /><br />All else will follow.<br /><br />Epilogue: Life in Bay Area is going well. Work is going well, weather is awesome, the itch to do something has restarted. All in all, perfect recipe for Bay Area living. The company is exploding to put it mildly, and one has to be in the center of the hurricane to see what the hell is going on here. Though at a macro level, some storm clouds appear in the horizon for Silicon Valley. Oh well, I have seen those before.Punit Soni's Adventures in VClandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02535297016230179492noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33769151.post-40416346663510330522007-10-09T03:26:00.000-04:002007-10-09T03:49:00.314-04:00Taking responsibilityIn a nutshell, that is what a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">PM's</span> job is all about. Taking responsibility for the product, its launch, its features, its ecosystem; making decisions. Making decisions is a large part of my day. Making decision with half information is almost all of it.<br /><br />Someone asked me how does Google integrate its various functions like marketing, patenting, partnerships, legal, Ops etc so that they work for the product in synergy. The answer is: Through the PM.<br /><br />The PM owns the product, all the functions work for the product. There is no direct reporting here, however there is one guy who is the common thread between all these functions and it is the PM. Invariably, there are decisions that need to be made at a macro level that define the work and strategy of these sub-divisions. Those decisions are the domain of the PM. Once the structure is set, then these divisions have a free reign to set their agenda. This is how Google manages a flat hierarchy yet ensures efficiency.<br /><br />It makes one person's job incredibly tough. Mine. I spend all my day surrounded by folks who know more than me, but who look towards me for structure. So I have to learn how to think very fast, ask the right questions, and make quick decisions. Almost always the plan I put together needs significant tweaking. However, more often that not, a plan is better than none. Hence my value-add to the product.<br /><br />A lot of people worry that the PM has all the responsibility without any authority. On the contrary, my experience has been that most people are so glad to have you on their side, providing structure to the chaotic product that they are trying to put together, that it has never been difficult to influence people to get stuff done.<br /><br />The <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">bottom line</span> is - People do not like ambiguity. Anything (anyone) who helps decrease ambiguity is welcome and a strong asset. In Google, a PM provides direction, vision, and creates a framework on which multiple teams put together a product. It is the job of a <span style="font-style: italic;">CEO-in-training</span>.<br /><br />Its midnight, I am still working but I love every moment of what I am doing. Its been three months for me out here at Google, and thankfully, I can say now that regardless of whether this was a better decision than going to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">VC</span> (that time will tell), it definitely was not a worse decision. I love my work, and that is more than what most can ask for.Punit Soni's Adventures in VClandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02535297016230179492noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33769151.post-74432033770595477722007-09-12T02:32:00.000-04:002007-09-12T03:25:40.020-04:00Who is a Google Product Manager?I have had a lot of people ping me in recent times to ask this question. What does it mean to be a Google Product Manager? What credentials are required? How does it compare to an APM or indeed to other functions?<br />I will try to put together an intelligent answer to this question based on my initial two months here at Google. (<span style="font-style: italic;">Yeah, it is almost two months! Can you believe it?)</span> I will probably revisit my answer to this question in another 6 months or so.<br /><br /><i><b>What exactly is the role?</b></i><br />Product Management at Google is a complicated beast. Your ass is on the line if the product fails, yet there may not be any direct reports. You are the guy pulling together multiple functions - marketing, legal, PR, Sales, Engineering, Operations, Technical Account managers, User support, and many more, to run the product. The product is yours. The various functions used to run the product aren't. The principle tool that you have at your disposal is <a href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/161/431668898_d070d11cbb_o.gif"><i>Influence</i></a>.<br /><br />At first, this may not sound too different from other product management roles in similar sized companies, but there are some key differences that I have noticed:<br /><br />1. Product Management can be pretty hierarchical in many companies, it is not in Google<br /><br />2. Like the other functions, Product Managers are not tied to a particular product or sector for the duration of their work in Google. They are free to rotate at reasonable intervals to completely different sectors<br /><br />3. Most Google Product Managers are generalists (especially MBAs). They are recruited for their overall well-rounded skills and not necessarily for a particular sector focus. (<span style="font-style: italic;">There are however, some PMs who are recruited especially for their sector expertise)<br /><br /><br /></span><i><b><span style="font-style: italic;"></span>What are the key skills that successful Product Managers at Google have?</b></i><br />In my perception, most PMs at Google have to be good at (in no particular order)<br />1. Managing immense complexity ( a direct result of the mixed structure here at Google)<br /><br />2. Influencing people, a trait that needs credibility, communication skills, and a people-skills<br /><br />3. Making decisions. One needs to be able to decide, take responsibility for those decisions and live with it<br /><br />4. Something that is different from the rest. Have to have something <i>special</i> in terms of achievements in their background. This is especially true for the generalists who can't necessarily distinguish themselves on uber-sector-specific-experience. That special sauce could be starting one's own company at some point, MBA from a top B-school, or some such thing. Something which helps differentiate you from the rest in some way<br /><br />5. Extremely good understanding of the Internet services landscape and opinions on everything form state of online video market to new mobile business models to future of search<br /><br />6. A passionate self-starting personality helps. Self-starting especially because no one seems to tell you what to do out here, yet everything seems to be doing the things they need to do<br /><br /><b><i>Who is an APM then?</i></b><br />Short answer, an APM is usually an undergrad with a little bit of work experience. These guys tend to match the typical profile of that target segment of many of Google's user facing products. They tend to be pretty young, passionate, and incredibly talented folks. Kind of like Wharton undergrads relative to Wharton MBAs (<i>If you went to Wharton, you would know the story here</i>)<br /><br /><b><i>Oh come on, there has to be some glitches</i></b><br />I do not know if these are glitches but they are definitely things that one needs to know before deciding to work here at Google. These challenges ensure that certain personality types love it here, and others hate it:<br /><br />1. You make your own job. I found my product, I am helping define my role, and beyond a minimum bar, have to decide how much I can take a bite off. If you like structure, you are going to be frustrated<br /><br />2. If you like hierarchical companies, with organization definitions, Google will hurt you. It is hard to work just by influencing especially if you are used to a more hands-on approach to delegation of work<br /><br />3. You hate good food :). (<i>That's a little bit of humor, an ode to the obsession with food that Google inculcates in us Googlers</i>)<br /><br />I am sure I am missing something. And I am also sure that some of the traits I pointed out are not Google specific. Keep in mind, its only a couple of months. It will be fun to revisit this in a few months to see what I would like to change in this post. I will compare it to the other functions in Google (OSO, PSO, Biz-dev) etc at a later date. I am in the thick of an exciting new product out here, there are loads of challenges, the team is around the globe, the product has an exciting mix of legal, sales, technical challenges, and my life is awesome.Punit Soni's Adventures in VClandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02535297016230179492noreply@blogger.com137tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33769151.post-54604580201134464812007-08-22T18:44:00.000-04:002007-08-22T19:33:11.824-04:00Lesson II: Propagate those WhysNow this is something that is difficult to do. To build strong companies, you need strong personalities but so often strong personalities overwhelm the company, and create auras of their own. I see this in many large companies, and even in Google. People in positions with strong personalities become gatekeepers of important processes in the firm. This, in turn undermines the same entrepreneurial nature that brought the company to where it is today.<br /><br />Be a visionary, but don't become a cult-head. There is a fine difference between the two and the trick is to know where to exercise your power. This does not mean cult-heads do not work. Apple's CEO is probably the nearest one gets to being one. However, using the power to initiate significant shifts in the industry is one thing. I have seen many instances of amazing ideas not going anywhere because the <i>gatekeeper</i> did not <i>like</i> it. This can be exacerbated if the gatekeeper is not in tune with the trends especially if this is a fast moving Internet services industry.<br /><br />One thing a startup needs to do if it has to survive in today's age, is to avoid the culture of fear. People should be able to question everything and feel like they have a say in things. This obviously should be balanced with not getting muddled in chaos. But there is a way to do things that makes it more transparent and empowers people and yet does not sacrifice efficiency.<br /><br />In a previous company that I worked for, our projects would get shut down seemingly arbitrarily by the VP. As an engineer, this was incredibly frustrating and demoralizing. I am sure there was a sane reason to shut down the project, but it is as important to convey <i>why</i> the project was shut down as to shut it down. The action of shutting down ensured that the company did well fiscally (or whatever the business reason was). The <i>why</i> (and the true <i>why</i> not the business gobbledegook) is what ensures that the creativity and morale stays high.<br /><br />Google is sliding from the startup scale towards the large company scale. As time goes by, the <i>whys</i> will becoming harder to discern, and things will look increasingly arbitrary. However, this place is still way more transparent than most places of its scale. And this brings us to the most important tasks of a Product Manager: ensuring that the <i>why</i> of any action that impacts the team is known, and conveyed truthfully and sincerely.<br /><br />In a startup, the CEO is the Product Manager. And s(he) needs to ensure that the <i>whys</i> are propagated.Punit Soni's Adventures in VClandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02535297016230179492noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33769151.post-85124483621386474672007-08-08T00:04:00.000-04:002007-08-08T00:39:34.675-04:00Lessons for a new age startup I - Subverting the OrderThere are some interesting lessons to be learnt from the success of <a href="http://www.google.com">Google</a> and some other up and coming companies in the valley these days. In this series I will put together a list of lessons that wannabe entrepreneurs like me cannot afford to discount.<br /><br /><B>There is no hierarchy, the old hierarchy is dead</B><br /><br />In a period of 6-8 years, the old way of doing things has been completely subverted, and has been replaced by a new, egalitarian, non-hierarchical system which is revolutionizing the way people work these days. Having spent a month at Google, I have had the opportunity to experience this new way first-hand. I am not saying Google is the perfect example of this new order, but it sure it is nearer to this model than most other companies regardless of industry, location and sector.<br /><br />Nothing is more evident in the new order than the lack of hierarchy. Sure, there are directors, Senior execs, VPs etc, but they are there to provide direction, a way to massage the processes so as to create efficiency which in turn helps scale the company. No one orders others about what to do. Hence, no one is beholden to anyone else. Work is accomplished through influence. In this new order, accounting, finance, marketing take a backseat to the most important MBA course one can take - "Managing People at Work" (<I> Hat tip to my Wharton professor,<a href="http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/faculty/useem.html"> Mike Useem</a></I>). <br /><br />There is no bar for age or experience. You are respected for your work which may be a factor of your age and experience (and then maybe not). So we have high flying, young, out-of-school Associates doing wonderful things because they are allowed to, nay, because they just can. You are only held back by your ambition (and luck). Try telling others what to do, and you will be relegated to the back. The old school of Silicon Valley companies will have to change because the new age tech companies are empowering their employees and in turn, attracting the best ones to their folds.<br /><br />Is this a mirage or is this really happening? My thesis is that this is what is going on around you right now in the Silicon Valley. The whole basis of the technologies that these companies are producing is empowerment of consumers.<br />Products like social networks, blogs, p2p, are harvesting the long tail and leveraging an individual's power to create an interesting era of techno-egalitarianism. How can they peddle these wares if they did not, to paraphrase Google, "<I>eat their own dogfood</I>", and implement the same thought-process and concept in their own internal systems?<br /><br />Anyone who wants to be connected to this coming generation of companies whether as a VC, or an entrepreneur or an executive will need to learn how to work with this new flat order.<br /><br />Look out for Lesson 2.Punit Soni's Adventures in VClandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02535297016230179492noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33769151.post-28200423163273392672007-07-26T14:47:00.000-04:002007-07-26T15:37:39.370-04:00Muggling Along in Googleland (and how Punit Soni got to drink the Kool-Aid)<i> All the views in this blog are mine, only mine, and not of Google's or anyone affiliated to Google..yada yada yada...Need to put this so that I can be a good corporate citizen.</i><br /><br /><B>The Kool-Aid</B><br />So here I am. I came to work in the morning, gave my car to the valet to park, and then applied for reimbursement for my newly connected Internet (which might be useless since the Google WiFi works very well in my new apt in downtown Mountain View). Then I got down to work and saw this guy called Larry Page walk right by my cube. Reminding myself that is no big deal, I got back to work. Then realizing that my legs were hurting because of the early morning move into my apt, and so I went to a massage chair and got myself some machine love. <br /><br /><B>Glug</B><br />So what I am doing now? I am drinking the "Googley" Kool Aid. And no point being cynical about these guys. They are after all, pouring more money back into their employees than most other companies do. Why should we grudge them their riches then? <br />I came here partly because I wanted to experience the buzz around this company myself and partly because I believe there is a learning here about how to build and run a new age company. And so this experience is an eye-opener.<br /><br /><B>Me First </B><br />The company creed is employees first. This is going to be tested these first few weeks where I float around trying to find something that interests me and that they have an opening for. I want something that makes me happy and useful. But the same process that facilitates that at Google also hinders it.<br /><br /><B>The Process </B><br />In many ways, this is a different from going to a regular company. In a regular company, they hire you, make you sit through orientations that talk about the product suite, culture etc. At Google, you come in, and automagically they assign you to a vertical within the company (there are a few large verticals). And they give you a bit of time to snoop around and you have find something pretty quickly. Now that kind of pressure ensures you learn super fast about what the product suite looks like, what is going on in which part of the company, and what is good for them and you. <br />If someone thought of this subtleity and then put in this process, then kudos to them. They found the magic potion to ensuring new employees figure out the company in no time. When you butt is on the line, you don't walk, you scamper.<br /><br /><B>The Glitch </B><br />The only glitch is that this ambiguity also carries with it the frustration of being assigned to a division that you may have had no interest in. And then in your first two weeks at work, you run around like a headless chicken trying to convince others that this is not what you wanted to do, and then providing them an alternative with your 1 week's worth of diligence. Which leads to confusion, nervousness and all that.<br /><br /><br />All in all, I am stressed but having fun. And hoping that things get real fun real soon. I know I will get a couple of very interesting things to do, and so things are good on my end. <br />However, I do not know if this is the best way to recruit PMs. This way increases the chances that the guy is frustrated. Most PMs I have met have figured their way into what they really want to do in a few months or in a year of being here, but that initial time is pretty chaotic for most. Incorporating some feedback from the guy I am hiring before throwing him into the pool should be rule no. 1 if you want to make your employees happy. Or atleast tell them which division they might end up in before making them sign the dotted line.<br /><br />I guess I have not drunk enough Kool Aid yet.Punit Soni's Adventures in VClandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02535297016230179492noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33769151.post-62647501094905395022007-07-17T19:08:00.000-04:002007-07-17T19:46:09.363-04:00WhirlwindI am sitting squat on a red couch. Wore a pant to work yesterday and stood out like Hannibal in a Pixar flick. "Googley", "Noogler", "GBus"...random phrases are swirling around in my head. <br />That this place is a different kind of company would be an understatement of the century. The first thing I noticed was the demographics. I was standing in the central courtyard next to Charlie's cafe, and everywhere, there were young people. At first glance, it looks like 85% of Googlers are in the age group of 20-35. The average age looks like it is younger than at Wharton. This place is young. Very young.<br />The next thing one notices is the food. There is too much of it. Its very good, very healthy and very fun. I, for one, never thought that I too would be carried away by the valley's obsession with the food at Google. But here I am. There are starbucksesque cafes with smoothies, snacks, and what not sprinkled around. And then there are the micro kitchens, juice bars and happy hours.<br />Right now, I have not had the time to notice much beyond this. The next few weeks are going to be intensive and so I will have to get used to putting in such lean, mean blog entries. Will also need to check with the legal about this personal blog. Aaah...corporate life. But I will ensure my blog flows freely.<br />All sorts of people make good product managers. I am not sure which sort I am going to be. Right now, I am just interested in shutting up and listening in. All the cliches about this place are turning out to be true. Let's see how long the myths hold up.Punit Soni's Adventures in VClandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02535297016230179492noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33769151.post-60789072586643911162007-07-06T17:59:00.000-04:002007-07-17T19:58:55.707-04:00The next step<a href="http://www.google.com"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-93IZjjBkL0V8sGwJK7Qn0fA5vCVxIk9DvGK8xpI6XyPdH3es-3Ka86IMk2p3mKUywlEK3mMjQZzvGM83UCFa4I7BILxA0LMmqXxv087vCydFv9IbiOKPdEmXqMK4cCxxGZaEIg/s200/logo.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5084233146492500546" /></a><br />I have spent the last two years on a rollercoaster ride and for most part, you have all been with me. You have seen my thought process go from sniffing at Venture Capital, to being committed to VC, to getting opportunities in VC in the Bay Area, to veering off towards startups and finally getting to this point.<br /><br />I am going to start working as a Product Manager at Google. I have debated this opportunity along with the others that I had for a long time. I spent time talking to VCs, entrepreneurs, people here, people in India, parents, girlfriend among others, and finally decided this is the most exciting next step for me at this point.<br /><br /><B><I> Why Product Management at Google</I></B><br />A veteran VC friend of mine once said to me, <I>"Being a Product Manager at Google is the closest you can get to being the CEO of a small startup without being the CEO of the small startup."</I> <br />And one day, I intend to be the CEO of a small startup.<br /><br /><B><I> Why Google?</I></B><br />Because that is the only operating role that I applied to. The only job in a large, fast growing company that could entice me from Venture Capital and other startups. <br />And because I do have to learn what they have to teach. For all the experience, I am still a startup myself. I have not taken a product from concept to launch till date, and this is my shot at learning it from the best. <br />Because the network of amazing engineers and business types that I will make, will be as useful to me as my Wharton experience has been.<br />And finally, because I believe in the company and the sector I will be working in. For most part, it is the one place (other than my own startup) that will make me feel excited about getting to work (at this point of my life).<br /><br /><B><I> What happened to Venture Capital?</I></B><br />I got a few offers in the space. They were all good solid firms. But I had my concerns as I didn't want a position that would:<br /><br />- Lock me into a niche sector or a nice role<br />- Hinder my chances at being in the best place in whatever field I was (Venture Capital in this case)<br />- Not provide me with the relevant mentorship to grow. And by mentorship, I mean exposure to growth opportunities, and not handholding<br /><br />A lot of my offers failed on one criteria or the other. Even though they were fantastic jobs and fantastic stepping-stones for a good career. At the end of the day, I had to make a call on the choices I had, and I did.<br /><br /><B><I> What happens to this blog?</i></B><br />Nothing. It is still my intention to be a VC one day. Not just in the near future. In fact, I do not fancy looking for a VC job. I think the right one will probably find me if I am good enough. Do expect the content to be a bit more operational in the near future. I am still around cutting edge products, people, entrepreneurs and of course, VCs. So I will keep penning down my thoughts as usual.<br /><br />Some things, like the tagline of this blog for instance, will have to change.<br /><br /><B><I>The Bottom-line </I></B><br />The last four months have been very enlightening for me. I wanted something and wanted it badly. I got it. Then when I was faced with a real decision, I realised that I was happy to leaving them on the table. Maybe I will make a little less money in the short term, but as the say in the MasterCard ad, learning how to build and lauch a product, priceless! So I changed course midway and here I am. <br /><br /><B>The Lesson:</B> It is important not to lock into something so hard that you forget what you really want. What I really want is to be immensely successful and immensely happy. And Venture Capital is one way to it.<br /><br />For those of you who are thinking of MBA, hopefully my thought process helps you clear things about the MBA experience (and what to get out of it) a bit. For the aspiring VCs, hopefully it helps understand the process to getting a position and how to go about deciding on the opportunities. For the others, you can continue to enjoy a ringside view of my loony life.<br /><br />The rollercoaster ride goes on. <br /><br /><I> The next post will be a wrap-up on my Wharton experience. Something a few of you have asked me to blog on. </I>Punit Soni's Adventures in VClandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02535297016230179492noreply@blogger.com15