Dan Olsen is a product management trainer, consultant, author, and speaker who has worked with both small startups and large public companies. He began his career designing nuclear-powered submarines and later transitioned into product leadership roles at Intuit and several startups. As a product management trainer and consultant with Olsen Solutions, Dan helps CEOs and product leaders build high-performing product teams that drive growth and innovation. His impressive list of clients includes Google, Walmart, Amazon, Facebook, Box, Microsoft, Medallia, and One Medical Group. Dan is the author of the best-selling book, The Lean Product Playbook, and is a frequent speaker at business and tech events. Dan has a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Northwestern, a Master of Business Administration degree from Stanford, and a Master's degree in Industrial Engineering from Virginia Tech.
Today, Dan and I discuss the best practices every software product manager should follow for optimal success. Dan shares his observations about the increase in product management roles, training new product managers, and the global tech expansion. We dissect remote work, whether it’s preferable to employees returning to the office, and the trend of getting rid of leased office spaces in favor of it. Dan also describes his journey into product management and what he learned from designing nuclear submarines for the Navy.
“If you really want your software to be successful, you need product managers to be there.” - Dan Olsen
This week on Innovation Talks:
- How Dan transitioned from designing nuclear submarines to product management
- The best practices that all product managers should follow
- The bell curves of product management in different types of companies
- Best practices with respect to product management
- How to train new product managers
- The core roles of design and development teams
- Why product managers are more in demand than ever before
Resources Mentioned:
- Book: Crossing the Chasm, 3rd Edition: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers by Geoffrey Moore
- Book: What Customers Want: Using Outcome-Driven Innovation to Create Breakthrough Products and Services by Anthony Ulwick
Connect with Dan Olsen:
- Dan Olsen Website
- Dan Olsen Newsletter
- Book: The Lean Product Playbook: How to Innovate with Minimum Viable Products and Rapid Customer Feedback
- Dan Olsen on LinkedIn
- Dan Olsen on YouTube
- Dan Olsen on Twitter
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