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Evan, Product Manager at B2B SaaS Marketplace for Creative Production: Advize Career Interview
A career path from psychology and professional writing at UCSB to a thriving Product Manager role at a B2B SaaS AI startup, demonstrates the power of persistence, networking, and transferable skills.
This individual's journey highlights the dynamic day-to-day life of a product manager—from market research and user interviews to prototyping and sprint planning—all fueled by a genuine curiosity and a problem-solving mindset.
The most rewarding aspect is translating customer needs into impactful solutions, while the biggest challenge involves effective prioritization in a fast-paced startup.
Advice for aspiring product managers includes starting small with personal projects, pursuing internships, and proactively seeking feedback.
Informational interviews proved invaluable in shaping this career, emphasizing the importance of early, frequent feedback and understanding the iterative nature of software development.
This individual's story showcases the exciting intersection of AI, creative production, and the entrepreneurial spirit, making a career in product management an attractive and achievable goal.
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Evan Bradshaw
Product Manager
B2B SaaS Marketplace for Creative Production
UCSB
UCSB: Engineering School, Master of Technology Management (MS)
Psychology
Technology
Product / Service / Software Development and Management
Greek Life Member
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Career Path of a Product Manager at B2B Creative SaaS Marketplace
Evan's career path, beginning with a psychology and professional writing background at UCSB, involved a sales role, a Master's in Technology Management, and a project management consulting project that helped secure a program management role at a microfabrication company. This eventually led to a product manager position at a B2B SaaS startup, where they learned the importance of persistence and networking, ultimately transitioning to an AI-related startup focusing on creators—a testament to "staying persistent, keeping engaged with your network," and transferable skill development.
Main Responsibilities of a Product Manager at a B2B Creative SaaS
Evan's role as a Product Manager involves translating business strategy into product strategy, "aligning the actual development with the goal of the organization," encompassing roadmapping, analytics-driven decision-making, and extensive market research, especially in the rapidly evolving AI field. A significant portion of the work focuses on direct customer interaction, from interviews to feedback analysis, alongside prioritization of the product backlog and user journey mapping, all while contributing to support in this startup environment.
A Day In The Life Of A Product Manager At A Creative Production SaaS Marketplace
A Product Manager's day is highly dynamic, beginning with reviewing previous deployment results to inform the day's activities, which might include user interviews, addressing support tickets, and market research ("see what OpenAI's last announcement was"). The role also involves prototyping, articulating requirements for the tech team, sprint planning, and prioritizing tasks based on customer needs, making it a constantly evolving process where "one of these tasks might take up the whole day".
Most important skills for a Product Manager at a Creative Production SaaS
A product manager's most crucial skill is "genuinely be[ing] curious," further complemented by project management, technical writing, and stakeholder management skills to effectively navigate the complexities of a B2B SaaS environment. Success also hinges on strong communication, market research, prioritization, and the ability to visually communicate ideas through prototyping and wireframing, all essential for driving results in a fast-paced startup.
Favorite Parts Of Being A Product Manager At A Creative SaaS Marketplace
Evan, a Product Manager, finds the most rewarding aspect of the role is "the excitement" of deeply understanding customer problems— "seeing their eyes light up when you actually understand their problem"— and then successfully translating that understanding into impactful solutions, gaining buy-in from executives and engineers alike. This "evangelism," as Evan calls it, drives resource allocation and fuels the successful implementation of impactful product improvements.
Biggest Challenges Faced By A Product Manager At A SaaS Creative Marketplace
Evan's biggest challenge as a Product Manager is prioritization, juggling many responsibilities including "support, prototyping, and talking to customers," in a self-guided role where justifying time allocation, especially for abandoned projects, proves difficult. This highlights the inherent difficulty of navigating a startup environment and the need for effective prioritization skills.
Favorite Parts Of Working In Software Development As A Product Manager
Evan, a product manager with experience in both hardware and software development, finds the speed and agility of software development most rewarding, contrasting it with the lengthy timelines of hardware projects. The ability to take "the seed of an idea" and quickly create "a meaningful prototype that got board approval within a day," exemplifies the exciting pace and iterative nature of their current role in the B2B SaaS marketplace.
What Type of Person Thrives in the Creative Production Industry According to a Product Manager at B2B SaaS
To thrive as a product manager in software development, a person needs "curiosity" to uncover underlying problems and a "problem-solving" mindset to dig deep and understand their root causes, employing methodologies like "the five whys". Furthermore, the ability to adapt quickly to changing priorities and "drop something" to pursue new initiatives is crucial for success in this fast-paced environment.
What A Product Manager At A Creative Production SaaS Company Wishes They Had Known Before Entering The SaaS Industry
Evan, a Product Manager at a B2B SaaS Marketplace, advises aspiring product managers to "start small and try out your own development," suggesting building small projects using AI tools to gain practical experience and demonstrate initiative. This early hands-on experience, even something as simple as a "python project," would have significantly strengthened their own early career trajectory and made transitioning from psychology into software development easier.
Entry-Level Positions For Aspiring Product Managers
Entry-level product roles are competitive; Evan suggests pursuing "product internships or operations internships," or even project management roles, to gain relevant skills. Working with founders or in companies with strong product disciplines, even in roles like sales support, provides valuable experience and increases chances of securing a full-time product management position.
Significant Career Lesson From A Product Manager At A B2B SaaS Marketplace
Evan, a Product Manager, emphasizes the importance of seeking "feedback early and often," advocating for proactive communication of plans before significant time investment. This approach, applicable at all career levels, fosters collaboration, improves outcomes, and prevents wasted effort on misguided projects.
College Experiences That Helped A Product Manager At Creative Production Succeed
Evan's most impactful undergraduate activity was conducting informational interviews, "reaching out to people...and asking them just to talk about their job," to gain a clearer understanding of various career paths and "test assumptions" about their own potential. This proactive networking significantly shaped their career trajectory by revealing unforeseen opportunities and bolstering confidence in their abilities.
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