The UMOC contest was sponsored by Alpha Phi Omega, and began as the “Ugliest Man on Campus” in 1953. The idea came to be when an APO brother from another chapter suggested that the MIT chapter might run an “Ugly Man on Campus” competition as a fundraiser for charity. Originally limited to men, the contest’s name…
Investment Trade-offs Between Go-To-Market and New Features
Imagine your most beloved Product Marketing leader arm–wrestling with your favorite Engineering leader. Does this really ever happen? One of my most trusted leaders I have ever had the pleasure to work with once told me that you build products for the channels you plan to sell them through, optimizing the feature sets to provide customer…
Part 2 of 3: My Best Hacks at MIT – Still relevant in 2016
No, my buddies and I did not put the MIT fire department truck on the top of the dome. One of the most infamous hacks when I was at MIT was the appearance of a balloon under the field at a Harvard University football game in 1982. While none of my hacks (or hacks performed…
Can a Traditional On-Premise Product Morph to Multi-Tenant SaaS?
I have worked with enterprise software products that were either single tenant on-premise or were multi-tenant SaaS services. There is no doubt in my mind that while many of us who have been in the industry 20+ year have worked with on-premise products, we became very comfortable with how to define, build, test, release, market,…
My Best Hacks at MIT – Still relevant in 2016 (1 of a 3 part series)
MIT is best known as the top engineering school in the world (yes I know there are a variety of close seconds…) and traditionally as a place where kids of blue-collar families went to increase their prospects in life through science, math and engineering. I fit into that category particularly well. Most MIT students did not…
Go Broad or Deep, What is best for New Job Seakers
This is a question I get asked a lot, more than I expect—by a large multiplier. I have been asked by students in college, or those just about to graduate, or even folks in their 20’s that are looking for guidance on their next job opportunities and selection process. We have all seen the very…
Insider Insights: High Performing Product Leadership Team
There is much talk about how an organization should drive product direction and execution. I am currently involved with quite a few companies who are looking to tweak their performance in this area. Product teams strive to provide the right direction and it is that critical analysis of the holistic product situation which is crucial. Some think…
Top 8 Things I Think About When Road Biking
I am an avid road biker who really enjoys solo rides in the city, suburbs and off the grid back roads. A family member recently commented that biking for such a long time at a stretch would seem very boring. Au contraire, I find riding multiple hours at a time to be loaded…
My Top Blogs while at Cisco – Early Insights into Cloud
After the acquisition of Tidal Software where I was working by Cisco and the teams moved toward cloud automation as a major area of focus, I decided to jump into blogging. A close colleague, Rodrigo Flores, suggested that it was critical that I figure out my blogging voice. Of course my Cisco blog was not…
New College Grads and Networking Skills
Have you noticed the trend where some folks just graduating from college are taking a bit longer to find a meaningful job? This doesn’t include situations when Mom and Dad find their kid that perfect job lead or internship. Former school connections certainly help, but does that really teach the 20-something the right lesson or…
Invent Thirty Ideas in One Hour
Think is isn’t possible? Intellectual Property (IP) is a force that drives innovative product and service development and deployment. Big companies protect their positions through strategic use of their patent portfolio. Some companies maintain a bank of patents and make money solely by attacking other companies unlicensed use of their portfolio. At HP Labs, as…
Get Ready for Constructive Confrontation, Don’t Run Away
No matter how similar, all companies develop their own distinct cultures. Hopefully you have all had the opportunity to experience what it is like to work in a great company culture and working environment. On the contrary, I sincerely hope that your time working in toxic, poorly developed company cultures has been limited. Company culture can…
