- My ~spicy~ startup takesI wanted to share some of my ~spicy~ takes that apply best to developer and infra-centric, earlier-stage startups. As always, there’s nuance to all advice,Continue reading “My ~spicy~ startup takes”
- PLG is not always the answerPLG or product-led growth has become the status quo in SaaS companies. The general premise is that the product itself helps acquire and convert usersContinue reading “PLG is not always the answer”
- Lessons from 20232023 felt both long and short for me at the same time! It was a year of professional changes, and I wanted to capture someContinue reading “Lessons from 2023”
- $how me the moneyOne thing about me – if I’m ever trying to learn something new, my first instinct is to check if there are good books availableContinue reading “$how me the money”
- Two months of life at a startupAfter deciding to leave big tech, I wanted to join a startup because I wanted to ~learn~. I’m pleasantly shocked at how much learning I’mContinue reading “Two months of life at a startup”
- Mo cloud, mo problemsI’m always surprised when I find infrastructure problems that transcend company size and scale. A few have been coming up for me recently, all ofContinue reading “Mo cloud, mo problems”
- What is Temporal?It’s fairly difficult to explain what Temporal is, not necessarily because the product is so complex, but because the product means so many different thingsContinue reading “What is Temporal?”
- Why I joined TemporalI’ve been in a creative rut for the last few months, but I recently started a new job at Temporal and I finally have myContinue reading “Why I joined Temporal”
- Wasm – all roads lead to serverlessWriting my previous post about serverless at the edge was an education. The space is moving quickly and the reality is that the big cloudsContinue reading “Wasm – all roads lead to serverless”
- Serverless at the EdgeApparently I missed the memo but somewhere in between 2020 and now, edge computing became cool again. The old-school definition of edge compute was toContinue reading “Serverless at the Edge”
- Pricing for serverless computeRecently I’ve been thinking about pricing models for serverless compute consumption in the context of my role at Google. Serverless per its definition means thatContinue reading “Pricing for serverless compute”
- Cloud RepatriationCloud repatriation tends to be a pretty controversial topic. What is it exactly? It’s when companies decide to move off public cloud to their ownContinue reading “Cloud Repatriation”
- Getting promoted as a Product ManagerIf you’re a product manager at a mid-to-large company, then there is probably a well-defined path for career progression. But when it comes down toContinue reading “Getting promoted as a Product Manager”
- Where have we landed with Kubernetes?There has been a lot of chatter recently about whether Kubernetes (hereby referred to as k8s) has actually delivered its users to the promised land,Continue reading “Where have we landed with Kubernetes?”
- Thoughts on value accrual in infraIt’s fascinating to see where value accrues in the tech infra stack. As far as I can tell, accrual patterns seem to be fluid acrossContinue reading “Thoughts on value accrual in infra”
- Choosing between abstraction and customization as a PMIt’s been a hot second but I’m really excited to start writing again in 2023! I’ve been a PM for (internal) compute infrastructure aka BorgContinue reading “Choosing between abstraction and customization as a PM”
- Internal vs External Product ManagementMoving from VMware to Google was straightforward for me in many ways. At VMware, I was working on the compute virtualization layer and built aContinue reading “Internal vs External Product Management”
- Working BackwardsA lesson I’ve learned the hard way is to not have a singular idol, whether that’s a person or a company. In one way orContinue reading “Working Backwards”
- Ramblings of a PMThis post is a transcript of a conversation I had with Rachel Spurrier from Merit, a wonderful platform for mentorship in tech. Rachel lightly editedContinue reading “Ramblings of a PM”
- Thinking in BetsI’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Most business books ever written could have been a (long) blog post instead. That’s how IContinue reading “Thinking in Bets”
- The Mom TestI’ve been working my way through a list of product/business books, most of which I discovered through Shreyas‘ recommendations. The first book I read wasContinue reading “The Mom Test”
- How I’m navigating NFTs and web3I’ve never been a huge crypto nerd. I vaguely heard about Bitcoin in 2012 when friends were making questionable purchases on Silk Road, and thatContinue reading “How I’m navigating NFTs and web3”
- Domain specific interviews for Product Management roles in Google CloudI’ve been getting a TON of questions about how to prepare for domain specific product management interviews for Google Cloud, and honestly I don’t haveContinue reading “Domain specific interviews for Product Management roles in Google Cloud”
- 30 things I’ve learned at 30I turned 30 last week and it felt like a foregone conclusion. Partly because I was dreading and/or anticipating the big 3-0 throughout my 29thContinue reading “30 things I’ve learned at 30”
- Onboarding to a PM role at GoogleI spend hours, nay days writing a thoughtful, well-researched blog post and it gets zero attention. But it’s this hastily written post about landing aContinue reading “Onboarding to a PM role at Google”
- Tips to land a Product Management role at GoogleI rang in 2022 with exciting news – I joined Google as a product manager! I work in the Google Cloud team, with a focusContinue reading “Tips to land a Product Management role at Google”
- First Principles with Gojek: B2B vs B2C product managementMy talk in the #FirstPrinciples series at Gojek went live recently. If you missed it, here it is!
- Cloud is eating softwareSoftware is eating the world Marc Andreessen immortalized the phrase in his essay in 2011. An updated version of that statement today might be “cloudContinue reading “Cloud is eating software”
- Forest or the trees?I recently shipped the biggest feature I have ever shipped. In the grand scheme of things it wasn’t even that big, but I wrote theContinue reading “Forest or the trees?”
- Why Kubernetes and How to Develop Applications for Kubernetes?I gave my first technical talk on Kubernetes with Aparna Subramanian (Director of R&D at VMware) in a session organized by Women Who Code. It wasContinue reading “Why Kubernetes and How to Develop Applications for Kubernetes?”
- February Reading ListMy brain has been super rusty and distracted, so I’m being kind to myself right now. I read 3 books in the month of FebruaryContinue reading “February Reading List”
- Five questions to identify a good PM cultureWhen asked about for advice about product management, I almost always preface my answer with “well, it depends” likely on one or more of theContinue reading “Five questions to identify a good PM culture”
- January Reading ListNew year, new books! I love starting the year with a pile of books at home waiting to be read. Here’s what I kicked offContinue reading “January Reading List”
- Measuring personal growth as a product managerIt recently occurred to me that I’ve been in the tech industry for almost six years now. Practically an infant when compared to most people,Continue reading “Measuring personal growth as a product manager”
- 2020 Reading ListI read 76 books this year. Last year, I was at 68. In terms of the quality of books though, I think I read betterContinue reading “2020 Reading List”
- November Reading ListWell, the end of the year has made me a huge slacker so this post is coming pretty late. Better late than never as theyContinue reading “November Reading List”
- October Reading ListNot a good reading month whatsoever, with no good excuse. Monogamy: The plot was fine, the characters weren’t as interesting as they could have been.Continue reading “October Reading List”
- Internal-tooling vs customer-facing product management (at Twilio and VMware)I was catching up with my friend and fellow alum from UCLA Anderson, Harshal Patil (product manager at Twilio) about how work was going, and I wasContinue reading “Internal-tooling vs customer-facing product management (at Twilio and VMware)”
- September Reading ListI could blame work being crazy for my lack of reading this past month, but that would be only partly true. The main culprit isContinue reading “September Reading List”
- Three reasons why I’m not a great product managerThis blog has been rapidly gaining subscribers, for which I am excited and grateful. At the same time, I’m also realizing that my posts areContinue reading “Three reasons why I’m not a great product manager”
- Keeping up with product (blogs, newsletters)I love asking my colleagues and friends in product management what they read to keep working on their craft, and I get asked this questionContinue reading “Keeping up with product (blogs, newsletters)”
- The Product Angle: Conversation with a Software & Non-Software PMIn this session, Pippa Gittings, Product Manager at the Natural History Museum in London (UK) and I compared and contrasted the experience of working asContinue reading “The Product Angle: Conversation with a Software & Non-Software PM”
- Influencing without authorityInfluence without authority This is how I describe what day-to-day product management is like. I wish the whole “CEO of the product” thing was accurate,Continue reading “Influencing without authority”
- August Reading ListI moved apartments this month, and let me tell you, regardless of how many times I’ve moved in the past five years, it’s still anContinue reading “August Reading List”
- July Reading ListI’m a bit late this month but this is a [short] list of the four books I read in July. A midpoint check shows I’veContinue reading “July Reading List”
- Do you need an MBA to transition into product management?Do I need an MBA to transition into product management? I get this question a lot and my answer really depends on who’s asking. There’sContinue reading “Do you need an MBA to transition into product management?”
- My top 5 PM tipsI apologize in advance for the Buzzfeed-style title but I promise this is not clickbait. My last few posts have been long and ramble-y soContinue reading “My top 5 PM tips”
- B2B versus B2C product managementI’ve made a lot of swerves and tried a bunch of things throughout my career. My first job was a software engineering role at aContinue reading “B2B versus B2C product management”
- June Reading ListJune was an appalling month of reading for me. Coming back to San Francisco from India and all the uncertainty around the immigration ban certainlyContinue reading “June Reading List”
- There is no great UX without great CX[UX: user experience, CX: customer experience, PM: product management] I gave what turned out to be a really fun talk organized by Hello Meets andContinue reading “There is no great UX without great CX”
- HelloMeets: There is no great UX without CXThis was my first “official” speaking engagement, the topic of which stemmed from a blog that I wrote a few weeks prior. When I startedContinue reading “HelloMeets: There is no great UX without CX”
- Technical skills to break into product managementYou don’t need a background in engineering to be a product manager. You also don’t need to know how to code to be a productContinue reading “Technical skills to break into product management”
- May Reading ListI can’t believe this still needs to be said, but here it is again. BLACK LIVES MATTER. As an ally, my goal is to putContinue reading “May Reading List”
- How I choose what books to readAnonymous Potato left a comment on my previous post: “You must write a piece about how you choose your books.” I thought it was aContinue reading “How I choose what books to read”
- April Reading ListI binge-read a lot this past month. 13 books is a lot even for me although most of them weren’t intellectually strenuous. The ability toContinue reading “April Reading List”
- Cataloging my 500+ booksI started reading when I was fairly young, not at child-prodigious levels, but early enough where I was that kid with my nose in aContinue reading “Cataloging my 500+ books”
- The product manager’s work diaryWhen I started working at VMware right out of business school, I was determined to learn from my career mistakes in the past and useContinue reading “The product manager’s work diary”
- March Reading ListMarch has been such a weird month. I am so unbelievably fortunate because COVID-19 hasn’t affected my life in a meaningful way. If you areContinue reading “March Reading List”
- February Reading ListFebruary was a relatively slow reading month for me (a grand total of 4)… but in my defense, it is the shortest month! I readContinue reading “February Reading List”
- January Reading ListStarting in 2020, I thought it would be fun to document my thoughts on the books I’ve read each month, albeit briefly. So for theContinue reading “January Reading List”
- Reading summary for 2019Earlier this year in July which was Week 28 of the year, I hit the 39 book milestone. Now at the end of the year,Continue reading “Reading summary for 2019”
- Day 1 at KubeCon!2019 was a big conference year for me. I kicked things off with VMworld US in San Francisco and followed up with VMworld EU inContinue reading “Day 1 at KubeCon!”
- The learning curveOne of the hardest parts about moving to the enterprise space, particularly one as complex as virtualization, was that I knew nothing about it. TheContinue reading “The learning curve”
- ELI5 Project PacificI recently published a post on the official VMware vSphere blog that describes the architecture of the product (Project Pacific) my team has been workingContinue reading “ELI5 Project Pacific”
- Tracking my goals through metricsI have always maintained that people who keep meticulous records of their daily habits are serial killers or psychopaths à la Patrick Bateman. At theContinue reading “Tracking my goals through metrics”
- Influencer marketingI happened to see the following tweet storm by Brianne Kimmel on Twitter and it got me thinking (spoiler alert: I agree with her). 1/Continue reading “Influencer marketing”
- Learning from Robin MatlockI spent two years of my life in business school, fell off the blog train, and have finally returned to the real world. I amContinue reading “Learning from Robin Matlock”
- Quantum ComputingFinishing the first year of my MBA at Anderson and starting an internship at one of the giants in Silicon Valley have so far servedContinue reading “Quantum Computing”
- Vanity vs SanityI just read a great post by Dan Wolchonok at HubSpot about the impact of retention on user growth and revenue. At face value, thisContinue reading “Vanity vs Sanity”
- Fake it till you make itI recently met with my friend and former colleague, and over a few drinks we started talking about how our careers have panned out. WhileContinue reading “Fake it till you make it”
- How not to find a mentorIn order to succeed in the tech world, the most frequently touted piece of advice is to find a mentor—a mentor is someone you aspire toContinue reading “How not to find a mentor”
- Data firstIt’s been a while since I last blogged, and I can only say that I’ve been managing my time poorly! I really need to getContinue reading “Data first”
- The deluge of emailA friend once joked that product management is 20% talking and 80% email. Even with modern collaboration tools like Slack, most PMs I know stillContinue reading “The deluge of email”
- Product Manager: Spiderman or Peter Parker?Most people in the tech industry can attest to the fact that the definitions of roles vary across industries and companies. This definitely holds trueContinue reading “Product Manager: Spiderman or Peter Parker?”
- The Feedback LoopI’ve posted before about the Idea, Build, Launch and Learn loop, but the essence is that getting feedback about a design is the only wayContinue reading “The Feedback Loop”
- Regression to the MeanWikipedia defines regression to the mean as the phenomenon that if a variable is extreme on its first measurement, it will tend to be closerContinue reading “Regression to the Mean”
- Your data smellsYou know what a product manager eats for breakfast, lunch and sometimes dinner? Data. It’s always about the data, and it’s not always palatable. WhenContinue reading “Your data smells”
- The unbearable heaviness of being lateIf it’s one thing I am terrible at, it’s being on time. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not the worst. I can compare myselfContinue reading “The unbearable heaviness of being late”
- Both Sides of the TableI’m going to be a bit of a fangirl here so bear with me. Twitter is proving to be a great source of reading material,Continue reading “Both Sides of the Table”
- The Design SprintWhen I was at the Google Women Techmakers event, I participated in the design sprint that was conducted by Melinda Klayman, UX Program Manager. We wereContinue reading “The Design Sprint”
- Moonshot thinkingI was at Google’s Women Techmakers event this Saturday and it was a somewhat productive way to spend my day. I did expect it toContinue reading “Moonshot thinking”
- Combining form, function and designI came across what I think is a stunning product – one that combines form, function, and design. It’s called a soft scale and whatContinue reading “Combining form, function and design”
- Behavioural DesignI happened to read a really interesting paper on Behavioural Design and the impact it can have on development policies. In technology, decoding user behaviourContinue reading “Behavioural Design”
- Words with FriendsI recently started playing Words with Friends on my phone and I quite like it apart from the pesky ads that show up after everyContinue reading “Words with Friends”
- The quagmire of A/B TestingWhen I first started as a product manager, I didn’t know what an A/B test was. I read about it briefly and I thought “Okay, allContinue reading “The quagmire of A/B Testing”
- Mind gamesYou know what’s worse than mind games in relationships? Mind games in interviews… or as they’re more commonly known—puzzles. I had my first experience withContinue reading “Mind games”
- Technology – with meaningA lot of people decide to get an MBA because they want to switch careers. I’m not one of them. When I graduated from collegeContinue reading “Technology – with meaning”
- Texts from the NewsInstead of making New Year’s resolutions this year (which I inevitably fail at keeping), I decided to go with themes for the year instead. OneContinue reading “Texts from the News”
- Parallels – Neopets, Xanga and Twitter?My journey on the interwebz began with Neopets when I was eleven. For the uninitiated, it’s a virtual pet community with “free games, shops, auctions, chatContinue reading “Parallels – Neopets, Xanga and Twitter?”
- The trials and tribulations of the online travel industry – Part 1After nearly 7 months working for a travel startup, I have concluded that this industry is a notoriously tricky one. While the concept of travelContinue reading “The trials and tribulations of the online travel industry – Part 1”
- Finally giving in to the FitbitI’m not usually a huge believer of tracking devices because I think if you do what you’re supposed to be doing, you should be fine.Continue reading “Finally giving in to the Fitbit”
- Disruption by Innovation – Fireside chat with Vinod KhoslaFirst posted on my personal blog Quixotic Semiotic Let me just start by saying how grateful I am to be located in a place likeContinue reading “Disruption by Innovation – Fireside chat with Vinod Khosla”
- The Global Mobile Internet Conference, BangaloreFirst posted on my personal blog Quixotic Semiotic When I first heard about the GMIC, let’s just say I got pretty damn excited because after years ofContinue reading “The Global Mobile Internet Conference, Bangalore”