Moving from PM to Founder - Alexander Hipp

11/24/21 • 34 min

At some point, virtually every product person has had a run in with their CEO and thought to themselves, "Hey, I could do a better job than they do. Maybe I should start my own thing." Most of us then think about all the things we'd have to take on (or about the lack of a steady paycheck) and decide to keep working for others.

But some of us don't - we hand in our notice and follow the dream of starting something new. This week, we talked to Alexander Hipp - co-founder of Beyond, formerly of Xing and N26 - about why he made the decision, what it's been like so far, and what he'd advise anyone making a similar decision.

Featured Links: Follow Alexander on LinkedIn and Twitter | Beyond - a community platform for Creators | The PM Library - be part of the first social book library for the Tech and Startup industry | Eco-friendly products at Riptide

Previous Episode

Why do we lie to ourselves? - Janice Fraser

One of the biggest challenges of working in product is figuring out what story we're trying to tell, and bringing everyone on board with that story. On this week's podcast, we talked with Janice Fraser about ensuring that the story you're telling is rooted in truth—and all of the things that can get in the way.
Featured Links: Follow Janice on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram | Janice's Website | Janice's piece and talk on 'Uncovering the Truth' at Mind The Product

Our Hosts
Lily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She’s currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She’s worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath.

Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury’s. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group’s Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He’s the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager’s Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon’s music stores in the US & UK.

Next Episode

Rerun: South and Latin America - Guido Lonetti

Guido Lonetti’s career started out at age 14 in his bedroom – he built an MP3 search engine website that immediately started making money until his parents quashed that idea! In this episode, he shines a light on the diverse product culture in South and Latin America, where he’s spent time as a Head of Product and the co-organiser of ProductTank Buenos Aires.
Featured Links: Follow Guido on LinkedIn and Medium | Biggest Product Management cultures in South and Latin America: Marketplace and Travel | Startups: Mural and Tiendanube | New companies: Nubank and Rappi