“Find Your Focus”

My Path, and Lessons Learned

Maneesh AroraMay 2, 2011Stanford

About me Product Management - Google, Zynga500Startups Mentor and LP Angel Investor (7 companies)Working on 2-3 projects

My First Job (after College)

Consulting/Enterprise(1997-2003)“real world”

Internet - Consumer(2003-2010)“new world”

Startups – Investing Building

Mentoring(2010 - ?)

“Planning is guessing” - 37 signals dudes)

My “plan”– Get a high paying job at a big

name organization– Optimized mainly for $ and

title– At some point get an MBA or

MS in Computer Science– Repeat….

What happened– Left high paying job at big

paying organization– Optimize for being

around smart people– Never pursued graduate

degrees

Google – great, career-changing• Great products; treat user with respect• Engineering driven, results-based• Everyone smarter than me (it seemed)• Opportunities to learn everywhere• Open, transparent culture – employee trust• Clear, compelling mission: “Organize the world’s

information and make it universally accessible and useful”

• Founders’ “religion” permeated the organization• Very strong alumni network (better than MBA?)• (perks)

Product Manager at Google• “Quarterback” of the product

– Coordinate with everyone: Engineering, Customer Service, UI/UX, Legal, Marketing, Biz Dev, PR

– Everything “miscellaneous” is your responsibility• Who’s the customer, what do they really want/need?• Give them something they “didn’t know they wanted”• Day to Day: Features, Metrics, Product Strategy• Attributes

– Technical Bias– Understand “80% of everything”– Thick Skin– Grades matter (should they?)

• Lessons Learned:– Don’t build for each other (Like Minded folks)– Google’s brand and distribution advantage– Less is more

Google -> Zynga

• Why I went there (in retrospect)– Publicity / Hype– Money– Change (force myself)

Big Lesson Learned: Don’t follow the money/hype Believe in the product, company, and people!

My Lessons Learned

• Take more risks earlier• Learn how things really work vs what `they’ tell you

or what’s in the handbook or training manual• Switched from enterprise to consumer earlier• Surround yourself with smarter people than you• I’m a better creator, leader, and builder than I am a

follower and operator• Perks are nice, but…• $5k or $10k might seem like a lot…but…• “Optimize for happiness” earlier

Familiar?

• Followed the rules• Listened to parents/family• Studied hard• Did things “the right way”• Got “great” internship / job

Years later…Satisfied? Happy?

Knowing Yourself

• Natural tendencies• Leader or Follower?• Creator, Seller, or Operator

– Creator: “There’s a better way to do this”– Seller: “We should eat at this restaurant”– Operator: “Gimee all that stuff, I’ll organize it and

make it run smoothly” • Prefer structure/rules? Or prefer some chaos?

It Ain’t About You!

• It’s About:– Making a difference (“adding value”)– Helping someone or something– Using your talents

Do stuff that solves a problem or helps others, that people will pay for!

Resumes• Mostly Keyword Searches.• Most readers will do a very quick browse and only

1-2 things will catch their eye.• What stands out: Results with measurable impact

and real #’s.• Don’t kill yourself debating length/format/fonts• Trend: Resumes are becoming obsolete – LinkedIn

and online aggreators like About.Me will win over time

About.Mehttp://about.me/alexis

Separation

• Lots of smart people (look around you)• What separates them?

– Communication / Connection– (Hustle + Persistance) > Talent ?– Explain/convince/show their value– GETS THINGS DONE (Joel on Software)

“Standing out”

• Show actual work (Demo links, github repos, videos, blogs) versus a “fluffy” PDF/Word resume

• Learn about the person and company – recent news is best. Show that you know what’s up. (Tweets, Google News Alerts, etc)

• Startups – many jobs aren’t posted; almost always in hiring mode

• Know your 1-2 liner “value pitch”, vs. “I think I can be a great asset to the company”

Corporate vs. Startup• Cog in a machine vs building a machine• Predictability vs Chaos & Uncertanity • Process over Results• Politics vs meetings over beers• Follow in line vs “Figure shit out”• Headaches taken care of• “Corporate Culture” matters. BIG TIME.

– Great Netflix deck• Appearances vs. Reality• Effort vs. Effectiveness• Easy answer to Social Pressure

Overrated / UnderratedOverrated: • Titles• Fancy resumes and cover letters (BS words/phrases)• Commodity Online Connections (e.g. LinkedIn (commodity) )• Following a status-quo process

Underrated:

• What you actually did and learned• Working with strong team, esp your boss• Authentic Connections and Network you build over time• Ability to sell & explain your value

Leaving Your Mark

• Did I Make a Difference?• What did I contribute?• Did it matter?• What’s my “legacy”?• “Giving Back” – why I’m mentoring startups

Looking ahead…

Solve someone’s problem(don’t invent new ones!)

Save time….for the world….

Online Banking + ATMs

- Saves Trees- Saves Gas- Saves Money Postage, Late Fees

30 minutes / week52 weeks / year200 million people

3,500,000,000 hours saved per year

Where’s things are heading…

MobileIt can see – it has eyes

It can hear – it has ears

It can talk – it has voice

It knows where you are - GPS

It’s your music collection

It can do email and internet

It’s everywhere

6.8 Billion people in the world; 5 Billion cellphonesOnly 4 million Kenyans have electricity; 16 million have cellphones

Location-Based Services

With GPS in most smart phones – it knows where you are

- Businesses can send you real-time offers

- Alerts

- “Let me know if my friend is nearby…”

Person-to-person lending: Prosper.com

10.81% Return (2009)

Group Buying: Groupon

30

Your Health Records in One Place

Imagine if…

A pipe bursts in your house while you’re on vacation…and before much damage is done, you get a text message

Imagine If…

You got a phone call telling you that your garage door was left open?

Imagine If…

The only possession you ever needed to take with you was your mobile phone?

- You could open your car and house, or any personal possession with it.- You could buy everything with it.

Imagine If…

Thank you… Q & A