UW PM Podcast

In this episode, Sophia shares her journey from discovering product management to landing her first internships and building the technical and creative skills that set her apart. She offers practical advice for breaking into PM as a student, covering timelines and applications, side projects, and networking tips. Whether you’re curious about the technical side of PM or how creativity can give you...

In this episode of the UWaterloo Product Management Podcast , Rodolfo, a seasoned product leader whose work has shaped the way millions experience music, creativity, and connection. With an impressive track record at Meta, Reddit, Cameo, and Spotify, Rodolfo brings a rare blend of strategic rigor, cultural sensitivity, and creative experimentation to everything he builds. We explore the journey fr...

In this episode, we sit down with David Currie, a Product Manager at Pepper, a hyper-growth Series B startup, who brings a unique perspective on what it really takes to succeed in product management. With a background spanning engineering to solutions engineering to product, David shares hard-won insights about prioritizing customer understanding over technical prowess. Join us for an honest conve...

What does it take to grow from an intern still figuring it all out to leading high-visibility products at one of the world’s most iconic tech companies? In this episode of the UWaterloo Product Management Podcast, August sits down with Swarathmika Kakivaya, a Product Manager II at Microsoft, to unpack her 6+ year journey — starting from her Explorer Internship to becoming a full-time PM owning str...

This episode flips the usual format. Instead of chatting with someone who’s already graduated, we sat down with Palak Agarwal, a 4A Computational Math student who's navigated multiple PM internships - from early-stage startups to companies like Scotiabank, Arteria AI, and Gamma - and is heading to Microsoft next. Join us for refreshingly honest conversation about navigating PM internships, bui...

From starting as a software development intern to becoming a Senior Product Manager, this episode dives into the ups and downs of navigating a career in product management. We talk about the challenges of making the leap from intern to PM, the importance of self-advocacy, and how treating your career like an MVP can help you grow and adapt. There are stories about overcoming setbacks, finding conf...

This episode features a recording of our fireside chat at ProdCon with Jeffrey Chan, Senior Manager at TD Invent. The conversation dives into Jeff’s strategies for driving industry-first innovations, balancing vision with execution, and cultivating an intrapreneurial mindset. From launching Canada’s first mobile commerce store at Dell to pioneering groundbreaking customer service advancements at T...

In this episode, we dive into the contradictions of product management with Prashanth Rajendran, Senior Manager of Product Management at Samsung Research. From balancing technical expertise with business knowledge to navigating data-driven decisions and intuition, we discuss what it takes to succeed in this challenging and ambiguous role. Drawing from his 14+ years of experience, Prashanth shares...

We dive deep into Product with Curtis from how he got his break into Product to advice to his younger self.

Today we’re here with a very special guest, Iris, who is a Waterloo alumni and has previously worked in product management roles across both Canadian and American landscapes at companies like Google X, Microsoft, Neo, and Scale AI. Currently she is working with Arteria AI. On the side, she is also completing a Masters degree in Analytics and AI. Iris formerly founded an impact-driven non-profit ca...

In this podcast episode, we meet Justin Ford, the co-founder of Javelin Sports, a company on a mission to combat social isolation through sports. They initially set out to create a platform for adults to connect through sports but had to pivot when the pandemic hit. [00:00:02]: Introduction and Welcome [00:00:33]: Introducing Justin Ford, co-founder of Jafflin Sports [00:00:44]: Javlin Sports'...

Discover the captivating journey of Manon Modi, a product management expert with a diverse background in government and big tech. Join him as he explores the dynamic world of startups, fintech, and the profound power of making a positive impact. Tune in to the UWPM podcast for an inspiring and insightful episode you won't want to miss! Timestamps 00:00-Introduction and Background 3:15-Work bef...

Hey UW PM listeners!  We are switching it up a bit for our design folks by welcoming UW PM alumni Catherine Hoang! Soon to graduate from the GBDA program Catherine currently works as a Program and UX Strategist at Adobe. She also used to create gaming content on Youtube and worked previously as a Go-to-Market Manager Intern for Microsoft’s Minecraft for Education. In this episode, Matthew talks wi...

Welcome back UW PM listeners! It’s been a few years and we’re super excited to start the podcast back up again! What better way to kick off the podcast than to talk with previous UW PM podcast host Kasey Fu! Kasey is a Waterloo and UW PM Alumni currently working at Microsoft as a Search and AI Product Manager. Kasey is also an avid writer, publishing medium articles related to AI and Product Manag...

Welcome back to all UW PM Podcast listeners! We're starting this term off with an awesome long chat that your co-host Kasey had with his former manager at SAP, José! José is not only a proud Waterloo CS and Laurier MBA grad, but he also has over 20 years of product management and cross-functional experience under his belt. His extensive journey in technical B2B software while working with sales, e...

A final episode for this semester with UW PM features Neil, who's currently an EPM at Apple! Neil's experiences at Apple are rich in content and his knowledge of product management as an intern brings amazing discussions to the table with UW PM's co-host, Kasey. Neil talks about what it takes to land a PM role, as well as the cross-functional and highly applicable experiences he's had that landed...

In today's episode, Seeam sits down with Adam Thomas, the former Director of Product at Informed.co and a seasoned product author. Here, the two dive deep into Adam's story of how he discovered product management during his earlier years and then soared to become the highly reputable leader he is today. In addition to his journey, he discusses how existing PM's can give back to the community by de...

Kevin is a product manager on the Uber Eat's team and has extensive knowledge in product and engineering, as well as leadership activities back when he was a student at Waterloo. Being a Kleiner Perkins fellow and a founder of Hack the North (Canada's largest hackathon), he bring many great suggestions and expertise to the table. In this episode, Kasey and Kevin chat about Kevin's journey to PM an...

In today's episode, Seeam sits down with Kai Gandhi, the former Co-Founder of the UW PM Team and an Associate Product Manager at Verizon Media, down in San Francisco. Here, we dive deep into Kai's journey co-founding his own startup after graduation, named EPOCH. He discusses different aspects of his journey, from the ups and downs, all the way to how he leveraged his background in product managem...

Daivik is a current Waterloo computer engineering student, PM intern at Tesla, former member of UW PM, an accomplished product author, and a podcast host himself. Today, Kasey sits down remotely (amidst the COVID-19 crisis) with Daivik and together they chat about product management responsibilities, PM job search advice for students, applications, and future outlooks and career paths!

Meet Jocelyn, a current PM intern at Veeva who also worked at a robotics company called Avidbots and a startup called Avail, all within a PM role. Today, Kasey sits down with Jocelyn (remotely, amidst the COVID-19 crisis) to talk about her co-op experiences, how she obtained her first co-op in PM, and how future and current students can leverage their current network and experiences to obtain thei...

Mario carries with him years of experience in the product management field, as well as years of experience as a software engineer. Having worked with Veeva for 5 years, Mario is a full-time principle product manager who is a leader in the product management practice at Veeva Systems. Holding a both a degree in software engineering and an MBA, Mario talks about his path to jumping into product from...

Today, Seeam sits down with Mark Azer, a graduating student at the University of Waterloo and former Product Manager at Datadog, BlackBerry, and SAP. Here, they discuss his transition from software engineering to product management, even covering all kinds of in-between topics such as nailing your first interview. This is a great resource for any students interested in breaking into the field!

Hi everyone! Today Kasey sits down with Karan Jain, a student from the University of Waterloo who is a current product owner at Top Hat! Karan studies chemical engineering and shares his story of how he got into product management, and awesome advice for anyone who wants to pursue the role and nail the interview. In this episode, Kasey and Karan also chat about Karan's different experiences in his...

Hello again! Today's episode features former podcast host Nick Yang and the featured guest, Anish Ganesh, who is a current Product Manager at Rangle.io! Rangle.io is a digital transformation consultancy company headquartered in Toronto! In this episode, Nick and Anish discuss both their experiences in product, how Anish got into product management, and tips and advice for anyone looking to get int...