Thursday 6th Apr4:00 PM
“
Hello! I've been working in Silicon Valley / San Francisco for the last 20 years. I started my career as a software engineer, transitioned to a product manager, and served as Head of Product at 3 startups where I have done a mix of hands-on PM work and managing other product managers. I am currently on sabbatical, spending more time with my family (I'm a new dad) and deciding what's next. I have always enjoyed coaching my teammates (not just my direct reports but also indirect reports and peers), and enthusiastic about helping out others here. Specific topics I enjoy talking about: - Identifying how a PM can best contribute to their particular team, by matching strengths and weaknesses to find complements - Adding just enough process to prevent chaos without hurting agility - Resolving personality conflicts - Changing career from engineering to product management
About me
Key stats
Seniority
8 Years
Hierarchy
Manager of ICs
Industry
Do you want Walter as mentor?
Develop yourself to become a stronger engineering / product leader
Media
Stories
Nothing yet
Videos
Nothing yet
Podcasts
Nothing yet
Links
Nothing yet
Experience
Head of Product
Stessa
Jun 2018 - Aug 2021
First Product Manager at Stessa. Managed team of 1 PM and 1 Product Designer. Stessa was acquired by Roofstock in February 2021, and I stayed to complete the transition.
Head of Product
Leanplum
Jan 2014 - Jun 2018
First product manager and employee #7 when company was at Seed stage. As the company grew from Series A through D, I grew the product team to 6 product managers and 3 designers. This role required me to be both hands-on and strategic: I got my hands dirty answering customer support questions, triaging bugs, and writing stories and acceptance criteria. At the same time, I was also responsible for managing & communicating the overall roadmap, presenting to executives at customers & prospects, and attending & presenting at board meetings.
Co-Founder and Head of Product
Virtrue
Feb 2012 - Feb 2014
As one of 3 co-founders, I wore many hats: product manager, front-end engineer, API architect, and dev ops. I drove all phases of our lean development process: prioritizing features, building product, delivering to customers, learning from metrics, and iterating. We were a member of Orange Fab's inaugural class.
Director of Product Management
NileGuide
Nov 2009 - Dec 2010
Product owner for all NileGuide content, including system for producing original content and platform for integrating content from external partners. Coached 1 new product manager who transitioned from an editorial role. Led acquisition of another startup and managed the integration.
Product Manager
Aug 2008 - Oct 2009
Product Manager for Google TV Ads and YouTube Partners
Software Engineer
Feb 2003 - Sep 2008
Software engineer for Google AdWords and Google TV Ads
Software Engineer
Handspring
Jul 2001 - Feb 2003
Software engineer for Handspring Treo
You're a great engineer.
Become a great engineering leader.
Plato (platohq.com) is the world's biggest mentorship platform for engineering managers & product managers. We've curated a community of mentors who are the tech industry's best engineering & product leaders from companies like Facebook, Lyft, Slack, Airbnb, Gusto, and more.
