P1 Individual Reflection

This project was my very first experience with product management fundamentals, and it was definitely a rollercoaster. I not only learned a lot about my strengths and weaknesses in the context of PM, but also about conflict management, the ideation process, presentation and powerpoint skills, and confidence. I learned that I am a storyteller above all else, and tasks relating to creative and technical writing, presenting complex information, and engaging potential customers are most well-suited for my skillsets. On the flipside, I struggle a bit more with quantitative analyses, financial calculations, and more number-heavy tasks. As my team delegated tasks and split up our work, I was able to get a taste of all types of tasks (ones I preferred, and ones I would rather have skipped). As a result, I learned more about my work style and how to best ask for help from others when I’m unsure of how to proceed. When our team faced disagreements, I felt very tense at first, but eventually grew into a mediator-type role that allowed us to establish compromises and progress with our work despite differences in opinions. After this project, I really feel like the role of a PM is to oil all the little gears in a piece of complex machinery. The bigger, more beautiful picture would not be possible without each and every minor, sometimes tediously-constructed, component.

Our product in particular felt like a unique challenge. I went into P1 expecting to grapple with a smaller-scale product, like an app or B2C service. Wave energy conversion technology definitely wasn’t on my radar–but after reflecting on my experience, I’m grateful to have had a company so different but so relevant. While researching renewable energies, I learned so much about the climate technology revolution and how products like the one we were pitching have the potential to transform and save so many lives. Social impact technology is a major interest of mine, and in that regard, I feel like WavePower Energies was a very good match. I really see this product coming to life from an energy company in the next few decades, even if current technologies aren’t at the level we described as of now. My explorations into this field make me feel well-equipped to engage in discussions about innovative technology and product management on a large scale.

In the future, it would be cool to see activities that allowed us to interact more with other teams; having an in-person session where we bounce TAM/SAM/SOM ideas back and forth with other students would be very helpful, instead of waiting until the pitch presentation for feedback from them. I would also love for us to be able to state on the team formation form whether we are interested in B2C or B2B products/services. I also know that switching companies midway through can disrupt the flow of the pitch deck creation process, but I would have loved to be able to work on activities/projects for some of the other products the other teams worked on so I could have experience with a wider range of products. Overall, I thought this project was really helpful in introducing me to PM as a whole, and I would honestly love to keep doing similar research and presentation based projects in this class.