Product Night: Learning from the Experts, Expanding Product Managers’ Network
Product Manager role dates back to 1931 when the President of Procter & Gamble Neil H. McElroy hired more people whose absolute responsibility was to manage the brand, from tracking sales to promotion. As time went by, Product Managers in the FMCG industry became pretty much a part of the marketing function. They were focused on understanding customers’ needs using Marketing Mix: the right Product, in the right Place, at the right Price, using the right Promotion. Product Managers weren’t responsible for product development.
In the tech industry, however, the separation of product development and production is implausible. Tech companies couldn’t rely only on packaging and pricing to gain their success. In addition, to understand customers and their needs, tech companies also need to align product development with their customers.
This is where product managers play their role.
Product managers in tech companies are responsible to manage products that are valuable and usable for your customers while also feasible for further development. They also collaborate with many stakeholders including data scientists, engineers, management, customers, and many more.
“We are responsible for every aspect of the products, from product discovery (finding out products that customers need) to product monitoring (ensuring the products works well). We are also the one that solves customers problems while growing the business,” said Prasetyo Andy W (also known as PAW), Senior Product Manager at Bukalapak.
Paw considers his field as an art where he learns to love the problems, manage stakeholders’ expectations, and develop useful products for customers.
In Indonesia, in spite of plenty recruitments for the Product Manager role at tech companies, we’re not familiar with the role in the last 3 years, according to Paw. “There was no clear definition of Product Manager in the tech industry because the role itself is pretty new for us. I would say that the role continues to evolve. Product Managers learn their responsibility as they go; they don’t learn it in college.”
Today, the tech industry remarkably grows both in Indonesia and in the region; the demand for Product Manager also increases. “The demand tends to be higher than the supply in terms of quantity and quality,” Paw concluded.
How Bukalapak bridge the gap
Understanding the current situation, Bukalapak then came up with an initiative called Product Night — one of BukaMeetup programs that aims to expand Product Managers network whilst providing learning opportunities for new talents.
“We learn that only a few tech-based communities in Indonesia that are focused on product management, hence we set up Product Night to flourish a discussion and collaboration among professionals,” he added. Paw is one of the committee members of Product Night. Together with his colleagues at Bukalapak, they share their experience in product management and startup in general.
The response is exceptional. Every Product Night session is often overbooked. “The audience comes from various roles: product managers, business development, data scientists, and students who are learning about the industry.”
To keep the event insightful and fun, Bukalapak manages to have less talk session, more interactive discussion. They also provide relevant topics such as prioritizations, stakeholder management, customer obsessions, and delivering results. The audience is also able to contribute topic ideas.
“Let me give you an example. This is a common case in product management. A Product manager usually sets up a roadmap beforehand. But, for some reason, another issue happens that might affect our roadmap. A Product Manager should communicate the situation to their team and other related stakeholders regarding how they handle the sudden changes.” Paw illustrated.
Paw would like Product Night to provide a more in-depth thematic discussion. He’d also love to invite more regional and international speakers, reach out to a broader audience, and strengthen their online presence.
“We do hope Product Night would become a learning platform while also encouraging Bukalapak as a thought leader in Product Management in the country,” Paw expressed his hope.
Learn more about product management at our next Product Night.
Are you the next product manager we’re looking for? Join our team today!
