To Startup or Not to Startup?

Are you a Product Manager at a startup, or have you thought about becoming one? Some large company Product Managers gaze at startups with a sigh and wonder about having more responsibility, title, and personal impact on their products and markets than being a “cog in the machine.” At the same time, startup Product Managers look up to Fortune 50 companies and dream of bountiful resources, conquering whole new markets, and retaking their work-life balance.

What are the differences and similarities in Product Management between a startup company and a more established, larger company? Are you a better fit for one versus the other? What can you expect when making a change? Most importantly, how do you make your company a raging success, and build a Product Management process that works?

In “To Startup or Not to Startup,” John Milburn of Pragmatic Marketing and I answer these questions, and others. For the past two years, I have been Director of Product Management for a high-tech startup called NetStreams, and built a Product Management process from the ground up. In prior experiences I was a Product Manager and Product Marketing Manager for Cisco Systems. John has over 20 years experience ranging from IBM and Dell to launching venture backed startups.

Download “To Startup or Not to Startup” (522 Kb PDF)

“To Startup or Not to Startup” appeared in the April 2007 issue (Vol. 6, Issue 2) of The Pragmatic Marketer, a magazine published by Pragmatic Marketing - the leader in training Product Managers and Marketers.