Women In Product Breakthrough Interviews - Hema Budaraju (PM, Health @ Facebook)

“I believe we have a responsibility to use technology for good and build products that make a real-life impact”

Her Journey

> Supply Chain @ Oracle
> Mobile Email & Calendar Apps @ Nokia
> Kindle @ Amazon
> Vertical & Category experiences @ eBay
> Mobile & PayPal Wallet @ PayPal
> Events, (currently) Health @ Facebook

Her Story

Hema Budaraju is an experienced product leader who has worked on transformative products over the last 20 years at companies like Paypal, eBay, Amazon, Nokia, Oracle and now Facebook. Recently, she spearheaded a new and impactful product to help solve the shortage of safe blood available to people when they need it. Since launching the blood donations feature in October 2017, more than 20 million people have signed up to be blood donors on Facebook in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan & Brazil. Hema holds 7 patents and has been nominated as a Silicon Valley Woman of Influence. We had the chance to sit down with Hema and get insights about her career and greatest hits.

AP: What surprised you about your first product role?

HB: I started my product career at Oracle working on supply-chain software in early 2000s. Applying technology to solving large-scale problems had not been the norm. I was surprised that I could make a difference by challenging the status quo. Whenever you start on something new, it feels like a daunting challenge. Remember if you have the intent to learn, there are always teachers and nothing is impossible.

AP: You have worked on products that have been at the forefront of innovation — smartphones, online marketplaces, social media. How did you coordinate your job opportunities with changes in technology?

HB: I have a long-standing passion and interest in healthcare. Two years ago, I spent a couple of months with my son in an ICU — he had a severe burn accident. During his care and recovery, I had the chance to reflect on my passion and wanted it to connect it with my work.

I started with writing a few proposals, met dozens of experts in the health and health tech space, and generated concrete product ideas. It took me a few months to socialize these, get feedback and buy-in. Around the same time, the Social Good team at Facebook was also thinking about health-related ideas and my enthusiasm and proposals found a perfect match. The senior leadership at Facebook agreed to invest in this space and I got started!

One of the first products we built in the last 6 months was “Blood Donations.” More than 70 countries have too few blood donors to provide everyone with reliable access to safe blood, per data from the World Health Organization. When someone in these countries needs blood in an emergency, they often reach out to their community for help. Facebook is one tool people use to find donors in crises like these. In fact, thousands of people use Facebook to find blood donors. This activity inspired us to understand the problems space, the role Facebook can play, and eventually to the features we launched. We believe that Facebook can help connect people, blood banks, and hospitals to blood donors, as well as help to increase blood donations overall.

Blood donation features are now available in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Brazil, and more than 20 million people have signed up to be blood donors on Facebook. I’m proud to be a part of the team at Facebook that helps build safe and supported communities and improves health outcomes.

AP: What advice would you give to a person who is considering a role in product management?

HB: In my experience, a product manager is measured by the success of the products she builds and the reputation she forms in the process. Building a successful product is a combination of customer empathy, vision, strategy, roadmap, prioritization, execution (details), and measurement. Building your reputation is how you get things done — your ability to align and generate momentum on your team, help them make critical decisions, and build fun and resilience within the team.

As you consider a role in product management, strengthen your skill set for building products and building teams!