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.
Problem-Solving, Communication, Project Management, Executive/Leadership, Product Management
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, Advertising, Communications & Marketing
Product / Service / Software Development and Management
Greek Life Member
Video Highlights
1. Helping customers solve their biggest challenges and seeing their excitement is very rewarding.
2. Successfully proposing and implementing solutions that are impactful for both customers and executives is fulfilling.
3. Sharing one's passion and vision with customers, engineers, and executives, and seeing the positive results is a key aspect of a successful product manager's role.
Transcript
What do you enjoy most about being in your current role?
For me, I most enjoy the excitement. This applies generally, but also specifically to the excitement of a customer. Seeing their eyes light up when you truly understand their problem is rewarding.
It's about getting to the bottom of what's the hardest part of their day. The customer realizes that someone with a software background, who isn't involved in day-to-day operations, understands their challenges.
For example, in my company, they understand challenges in photography and production. This understanding gets them excited because they think, "If you can solve that, that's the worst part of my job."
Conversely, if you can solve that problem, it would be the most exciting part of their job. I really think that's what gets me going.
The same applies internally. Proposing a meaningful solution to an executive's request is exciting. Putting a prototype in front of them and showing that customers are already enjoying it and watching that excitement grow is the best part of the job.
This leads them to direct resources to your efforts, allowing you to accomplish what you've planned. I see it as a form of evangelism.
If you can share your passion not only with the customer but also with the engineer and the executive, that makes for a successful day as a product manager.