Thoughts on software engineering, product management, mid-life career changes, Silicon Valley, women in tech, adoptive families, parenting, and more.
Bet you're dying to know what the formerly Cranky Product Manager thinks of this whole Google memo [https://techcrunch.com/2017/08/05/theres-an-anti-diversity-manifesto-circulating-around-google/] situation [https://medium.com/@yonatanzunger/so-about-this-googlers-manifesto-1e3773ed1788] , right? No? Well, the whole situation has made me so cranky, it's brought me out of blogging retirement. I'm going…
Sometimes I help companies (usually startups) kickstart their Product Management function. These companies often know they WANT Product Management, even though they often don't have a clear idea of what Product Managers actually do. In another post, I speculate about why this widespread ignorance of Product Management exists [https://blog.…
My answer, originally published on Quora [http://www.quora.com/Why-arent-there-more-female-programmers/answer/Sue-Raisty] . My Answer The most obvious answer: 1. Fewer and fewer girls are studying math and computer science in college, and 2. Of those women who do graduate in those fields, and who even become programmers, they are…
I feel like the tech industry has gotten increasingly nasty since 2010 or so. Where there was once a community feel and a sense that we were all in this together, trying to do the right thing for our customers…
My answer to a question about adoption on Quora [https://www.quora.com/Why-is-having-biological-children-usually-a-couples-first-choice-rather-than-adopting-a-newborn/answer/Sue-Raisty] : Q: Why is having biological children usually a couple's first choice, rather than adopting a newborn? My Answer: Because the adoption process is: * Potentially…
Let's say that you're a junior-ish Product Manager. Your product is NOT killing it (not yet, anyway). You have stiff competition. Your product is missing key capabilities that the market demands -- perhaps because this technology looks to fundamentally disrupt…
Originally published in 2010. Updated and republished in May, 2015. A reader asks: "Can you please enlighten me on the art of pricing?" At the risk of misinterpreting, I believe the reader is asking specifically about enterprise software, where price…
This is my youngest son. He's 4 years old and is a total goober. Let's call him "J". J is probably going to be a sales person when he grows up. He is extroverted, charming, funny, naturally positive, and when…