MProduct <Spotlight>: Philip Ruffini, Program Manager on Microsoft’s Cloud and AI Team
Hey MProduct Community!
In December, we got a chance to sit down with Philip Ruffini, a program manager at Microsoft (program manager is Microsoft’s version of a product manager). We’d like to share a few things he had to say about his PM experience and his advice to become a great PM.
Philip’s Background
Philip Ruffini graduated from the University of Michigan in 2019 with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration and a minor in Computer Science. During his time at Michigan, he interned at a startup called Juicero and at Anheuser Busch’s venture capital arm, ZX Ventures. He also started his own profitable office product company with yearly revenue in the mid-six figures before selling the business. Philip currently works at Microsoft and recently founded an online PM course, HackingPM. His team at Microsoft mainly contributes to their Azure and AI software.
Getting a job or internship in Product Management
For some, there is a very defined path to enter a PM career: major in CS, earn a soft skill minor such as in business, and TA for a technical CS class. Land a software internship followed by a PM internship, and finally, earn a full-time offer.
Philip, however, does not have a degree in computer science and pursued experiences he would enjoy that would also build skills for a PM job. “The most important skills to develop are how to lead a team, working with people from different backgrounds, launching a product and dealing with ambiguity in your role.” Many tech companies will recruit computer science majors, but Philip says that it is more important to show that you can communicate with the engineers and understand what they’re doing.
“The most important skills to develop are how to lead a team, working with people from different backgrounds, launching a product and dealing with ambiguity in your role.”
One skill he suggests working on (and one he wished he had when starting at Microsoft) is being able to ask intelligent questions instead of basic ones. This allows for better communication with colleagues in technical and engineering roles.
Basic Question: “How does this code work for our project?”
Insightful Question: “How can we make the interface of our product more efficient and helpful for the user?”
He also suggests aligning college experiences around one central goal. For Philip, it was landing a job in product management. One of the main reasons for this is to show employers’ your passion and breadth for a certain area of expertise. Many recruiters will state they want to see students who are passionate and focused in what they are involved in. At Michigan, Philip was mainly involved with his company, as well as the University of Michigan consulting club, 180 Degrees Consulting. Philip also got the chance to take an independent study through Ross to learn how to expand his start-up. These experiences all developed his skills as a PM as discussed above.
Going from “zero to one” on a project
One of the hardest things to do in college is finding time between classes, clubs and social life to launch a product or tackle a side project. Most of the heavy lifting comes when first getting your idea off the ground: going from “zero to one.” Philip said this experience is extremely valuable because you will learn different skills and lessons every time you start something new. It is something that will differentiate you from others in interviews, and so much learning happens just from quick rounds of trial and error.
One example of a project Philip started is his e-commerce service, First Rate Suppliers, which imported office products. He says he was able to do this because it was a realistic idea, and ended up becoming a very successful business. During his freshman year, he and his friends also attempted to found a start-up that required partnering with nursing homes and being aware of medical information that was out of scope for Philip and his friends. This idea failed because it wasn’t within his constraints to start a company in a field they had no expertise in. Philip took this failure with a positive attitude and was sure to simplify his later ideas to an MVP he was sure he could get off the ground.
“Everyone knows that failing is learning, but few actually execute and actually try building something.”
Philip recommends learning what other people have done that has led to success and copying these skills to your project. He also says it is helpful to write down the small steps that lead to an ultimate goal. A great way to break down your project into achievable steps is by using “SMART” goals. These are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (S.M.A.R.T.). For a product, Philip said these steps could look like: what’s the solution, what’s the easiest way to test it, how do I gauge interest, and how do I get it made?
“It’s all about coming up with an idea and trying something.”
Another suggestion from Philip is no matter what that goal is, keep practicing going from “zero to one”, and be sure to spend time reflecting and learning from the inevitable little successes and mistakes along the way.
What is HackingPM?
Philip’s newest side venture is an online course that helps students earn PM offers, from the first steps one can take during their freshman year to negotiating full-time job offers. His service provides coaching, lessons and full interview preparation. The first three lessons are available for free! The website also has additional free resources such as resume templates and interview recordings. HackingPM is a great resource for students interested in recruiting for PM, and it has also helped Philip refine his skills in product. It is only one of his many examples of taking an idea from zero to one, and we are sure he is taking notes of his learnings.
One Last Question: What skills were directly transferable from University of Michigan to Microsoft?
In college, Philip would reserve a private room in the business school or the undergraduate library to work out problems and plans on a whiteboard. He would use this before starting a product or before taking on a new client for 180 Degrees Consulting and plan out the next three months. Before he starts a new project at Microsoft, Philip will do the same thing to plan out the entire process. This has been very helpful for him to see each step and visualize the project.
As always, we are committed to creating the next generation of Product leaders. If you’re someone passionate about product management, we hope you will join our community. If you want to keep up with MProduct, follow us on Medium and LinkedIn, or check out our website!
Go Blue!
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