Around The Bonfire

We welcome JR Emlano, President of Bukas Finance Corp around the bonfire. We talk about his unexpected foray into the startup world, his holistic view of product development, and realistic pieces of advice for the younger generation looking to get into tech.

It’s the return of the comeback! We gather around the bonfire after quite some time and talk to Patrick Mendoza, a college student in Ateneo de Manila University actively pursuing product management, about his journey in transitioning to PM. We talk about his experience as he balances work and academics, how he discovered the role, his struggles in looking for opportunities in the space, and the startups he admires.

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We welcome March with our third episode focused on engineering perspectives. We welcome Around The Bonfire Glenn Santos, an engineer and entrepreneur, who talks to us about being in a company that has no product managers, who does what, and what is needed to be able to function. He also gives tips to product managers on how to work with engineers, their quirks, and everything in between.

You can reach Glenn at glenn [at] traxiontech [dot] net.

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We talk to Ian Bautista, an electrical engineer turned product designer, about his journey in creating and building products. We probe him on mindsets in working with product managers, and his good and bad experiences working with people like us. 

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We talk to Vincent Tio, Country Lead of Experian Philippines. We gather around and talk about his journey in sales (1:50), his accidental foray into the world of tech (3:50), and what it’s like for a sales guy working with good (and bad) product managers (8:49). 

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We end season 1 of the Around The Bonfire podcast with a special episode to talk about the history of the podcast as well as Product Camp. We also used this time to give everyone a glimpse of what to expect in the next season.

Happy New Year, Campers!

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Season 1 of ATB ends with a personal take on how COVID affected product managers (0:33), and how it left a mark on JD and Dino (20:38). See y'all next season. 

COVID has hit us hard, so the trio gathers around the bonfire to talk about how COVID affected the world (0:47), what trends it sees, and how company culture was tested during this pandemic (5:50). 

The trio comes together to talk about tips on how to become a better product manager, starting with the self. They also talk about some amazing resources that can be used to be able to know more about and improve in product management. 

The trio gathers round to discuss what matters most to product managers in searching for the perfect company for them. It's a quick episode of learnings, laughter, and discovery.

The trio meet to talk about their passion products. What idea is burning inside of them that if given a chance, they would definitely act upon it? As well as some rants about the Philippine government as an aside. 

The trio comes together again to geek out on product management, discussing the concepts behind every great product, as well as some best practices in product management. 

Coach Rye, Dino and JD come together again around the bonfire and talk about what it takes to get into product management, and end with a segment on products they have recently come to love. 

Coach Rye, Dino and JD set up camp for the very first time and discuss how found themselves in product management, and try to make sense of it in retrospect.