As failed engineer turned entrepreneur, I understand the importance of high-quality #realtalk feedback. Something that I didn’t get when I probably needed it the most. Starting a product company in Bangalore, mecca for BPOs and Service tech, meant it was extremely hard to find good product mentors who understood web scale solutions, product market fit and strategy. I did manage to find a handful of folks who helped me through every pivot in my startup and career, but I wanted several more perspectives to thinking deeply about the combination of design, tech & business.
I want to pay forward all the great advice, feedback and mentorship that I have received from folks over the years. So, I plan to set aside time (every year) for mentoring folks in product thinking and strategy.
Over the years, I did have the occasional phone call about PMing, startup ideas and pitches. But, I felt like I didn’t have much to contribute. After a decade operating in this space (first as an engineer and second as a PM) I’m over the imposter syndrome, and would love to genuinely help out folks looking for a sounding board.
Who am I? 🧐
Engineer -> Entrepreneur -> Product Manager.
I’ve been in a product role since 2011. I spent 6.5 years at Google working on Search, Android and Gmail. You can read more about my experience and background here.
Who is this for? 👩🎓👨💼👩💻👳
- Engineers / PMs looking to startup
- Entrepreneurs looking for early feedback on their ideas
- Startups looking for expertise or capital
What’s in it for me 😇
- A chance to give back to the community, what I have received in plenty over the years
- A way for me to sharpen my skills and learn more about effective leadership and mentoring.
- Connect with the community of product managers, hackers, entrepreneurs and change makers of tomorrow.
How does it work? 📅📄✉️
- DM me on Twitter or send me an email (itsmeritesh at gma..).
- Important: communicate clearly what you expect from me in our time together.
- Include any decks, demos, apps, that I should see. I’ll schedule a 45 minute video session with me soon.
- I might bring friends along if I think they have a perspective you should hear.
Have others found it useful?
You can see feedback scores from previous participants and more metrics about this here in my retrospective.
FAQs
- Will I meet everyone who signs up? If I feel like I have nothing meaningful to contribute, I’ll let you know early and not waste both our time.
- Will I sign an NDA to see your pitch deck? I’m happy to if you feel strongly about it.
- What timezone am I based in? Pacific Standard/Daylight Time (California, USA)
- What can I expect from these sessions? I will mostly help answer your questions and point you to the right resources.
- what can I discuss during these sessions? Anything. You can talk about your product, ideas, growth, starting up, raising capital and more.
You can find me here: Twitter LinkedIn