The NAG Show
By Rakesh N N Chinta
The NAG ShowDec 14, 2020
Capturing opportunities & Embracing Risk - Amal Muzaffar, PM at Facebook AI, Ex-PM at WeWork, American Express, UofM Alum
About Amal:
Amal is a Product Manager at Facebook, where she specializes in the AI behind Instagram Reels. She talks about her journey into product. During her undegrad, PM was not as popular as it was today, so she had to make use of opportunities in front of her. Furthermore, she stresses embracing such opportunities even though they give a short term risk. She shares other valuable insights that students can use to propel their journey into product
She talks about:
1. Making use of opportunities
2. Taking risk and experimenting
3. Showing persistence in the face of failure
4. Leveraging your skills, assets, and network to maximize your impact
Check out her LinkedIn for more info:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/amalsmuzaffar/
About Rakesh:
A recent graduate from the University of Michigan focused on Computer Science, Business, and Entrepreneurship. Currently, he is working as a PM at Microsoft.Incoming Grad Student with a focus on CS: ML, Quant at Harvard University. He previously worked with various firms in a mix of product, strategy, and software engineering roles: Google, Uber, SpaceX, Facebook, Single store. He also loves to spend his time looking at new venture investments, closely working with VC firms like Soma Capital, Heartland VC, Unshackled VC, etc. He spends his time experimenting with various product ideas within the realms of the venture.
About 'The NAG Show':
Join Rakesh as he interviews people from various domains of expertise. He dives in with deep informal conversations about their unique experiences, tactics, strategies implemented, learnings from failures, and optimized systems and processes that eventually made them who they are. Topics primarily deal with tech, venture, startups & entrepreneurship, product, and everyday life.
Don't worry too much about the destination, focus on the journey - Mahek Hooda, Product Manager - Microsoft
About Mahek:
Mahek Hooda is a Product Manager at Microsoft. She started her career in the supply chain but constantly focused on the end goal of moving to product. She showed persistence in face of rejections but kept moving forward - embracing her uniqueness and leveraging her skillset. Hear her story, it is truly inspiring.
She talks about:
- How to embrace your uniqueness
- Taking risk and experimenting
- Showing persistence in the face of failure
- Leveraging your skills, assets, and network to maximize your impact
Check out his website for more info: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mahekhooda/
About Rakesh:
A recent graduate from the University of Michigan focused on Computer Science, Business, and Entrepreneurship. Currently, he is working as a PM at Microsoft.Incoming Grad Student with a focus on CS: ML, Quant at Harvard University. He previously worked with various firms in a mix of product, strategy, and software engineering roles: Google, Uber, SpaceX, Facebook, Single store. He also loves to spend his time looking at new venture investments, closely working with VC firms like Soma Capital, Heartland VC, Unshackled VC, etc. He spends his time experimenting with various product ideas within the realms of the venture.
About 'The NAG Show':
Join Rakesh as he interviews people from various domains of expertise. He dives in with deep informal conversations about their unique experiences, tactics, strategies implemented, learnings from failures, and optimized systems and processes that eventually made them who they are. Topics primarily deal with tech, venture, startups & entrepreneurship, product, and everyday life.
Embrace risk and experiment - PM is a unique journey, Varun Perla - Ex Swiggy PM, IIIT, Upenn (Ivy League)
Varun Perla is a current MS student at UPenn. He previously worked at Swiggy as PM, IIIT as an ML Research Intern, and graduated with a bachelor's from BITS-Pilani.
He talks about:
- Business models affected with COVID, his expectations on what to expect once the vaccine hits.
- The difference between a PM at a 10 person team and a 50+ person team
- The core competences of a great PM: clarity and communication
- Retrospective on taking risks and pursuing a process of rapid experimentation.
Check out his website for more info: https://www.varunperala.com
About Rakesh:
A recent graduate from the University of Michigan focused on Computer Science, Business, and Entrepreneurship. Currently, he is working as a PM at Microsoft.Incoming Grad Student with a focus on CS: ML, Quant at Harvard University. He previously worked with various firms in a mix of product, strategy, and software engineering roles: Google, Uber, SpaceX, Facebook, Single store. He also loves to spend his time looking at new venture investments, closely working with VC firms like Soma Capital, Heartland VC, Unshackled VC, etc. He spends his time experimenting with various product ideas within the realms of the venture.
About 'The NAG Show':
Join Rakesh as he interviews people from various domains of expertise. He dives in with deep informal conversations about their unique experiences, tactics, strategies implemented, learnings from failures, and optimized systems and processes that eventually made them who they are. Topics primarily deal with tech, venture, startups & entrepreneurship, product, and everyday life.
How to incorporate the principles of PM in your job search. AWS Senior PM - Srini Sekaran
Srini Sekaran is a senior product manager at Amazon. He talks about:
- How to incorporate PM principles into your job search
- How to embrace your unique journey when reaching out to recruiters
- How to differentiate yourself from the other job applicants
- Precious advice on students seeking to break into PM
His achievements:
- Machine learning at NASA Ames, for diabetic retinopathy diagnosis.
- Founded Gavano, an enterprise startup venture-backed by Georgia Tech.
- Publishing a book on launching products with 1k+ reads.
About Rakesh:A recent graduate from the University of Michigan focused on Computer Science, Business, and Entrepreneurship. Currently, he is working as a PM at Microsoft.Incoming Grad Student with a focus on CS: ML, Quant at Harvard University. He previously worked with various firms in a mix of product, strategy, and software engineering roles: Google, Uber, SpaceX, Facebook, Single store. He also loves to spend his time looking at new venture investments, closely working with VC firms like Soma Capital, Heartland VC, Unshackled VC, etc. He spends his time experimenting with various product ideas within the realms of the venture.
About 'The NAG Show: Join Rakesh as he interviews people from various domains of expertise. He dives in with deep informal conversations about their unique experiences, tactics, strategies implemented, learnings from failures, and optimized systems and processes that eventually made them who they are. Topics primarily deal with tech, venture, startups & entrepreneurship, product, and everyday life.