Micro-Interview: Deniza Kulaxazova, Sr. Product Manager | MobiSystems
💬 "Sometimes, an imperfect team might deliver an imperfect product that finds the perfect market niche and succeeds."
EDITOR’S NOTE:
Deniza Kulaxazova is a Senior Product Manager at MobiSystems, a leading provider of mobile productivity and business applications for Windows, Android, iOS, and macOS used by over 500 million people.
In under 500 words, she shares:
How she got into product management…
How she starts her mornings for maximum productivity…
Some of her sources of learning…
And more…
Enjoy!
“How did you get into product management?”
Product management was a natural fit for me. You must be analytical and comfortable with data to understand your product’s metrics. At the same time, you need to work with different stakeholders and find creative solutions to take your product to the next level. Before moving into product management, I was a digital project manager. While I enjoyed project management and the skills I had developed, I missed engaging user insights to solve customer needs and seeing the long-term impact of my work. Product management has allowed me to do this and much more.
“How do you start your mornings at work?”
Before work, I set myself in the right state of mind. I enjoy some daily rituals: mindfulness meditation, a healthy breakfast, and good coffee. At work, I use my mornings to focus on the highest priority issues at the given moment. It might be a new release, checking the results of an A/B test, or working on a new feature.
“What do you know about product management now that you wish you’d known when you first started?”
To make the right decisions, you need to spend more time not thinking about the various possible options but what type of input information you need to decide on and then find that information.
“What did your biggest product failure teach you?”
Sometimes, a great team might deliver a great product, but it might not find market success.
Sometimes, an imperfect team might deliver an imperfect product that finds the perfect market niche and succeeds.
“What’s the #1 thing that has helped you shorten your product management learning curve?”
My first product team worked as a start-up. This role was challenging because there wasn’t a detailed onboarding or other PMs to consult and learn from. I was the PM from day one and learned by doing. I oversaw all aspects of managing a cross-platform product: working closely with all FE & BE engineers, developing Android and iOS apps, collaborating with the UX designer, liaising with marketing, and reporting to upper management. In the long run, it paid off: I built a broad understanding of the product manager role and its dependencies.
“How do you stay updated on the best practices in product management?”
A good product manager must keep up to date with product management trends and the tech field. For many years, my main source has been TechCrunch. I regularly keep in touch with the PM community to learn more about best practices and lessons learned. My colleagues at MobiSystems and the PM community at large, for example, at ProductTank Sofia Community meet-ups, are great sources. In the last two years, I participated in McKinsey’s Product Academy, which brought a more global and less product-specific perspective to my thinking.