"Where you been man?"

I've been hearing that a lot since my recent post on Pricing. I truly do appreciate the concern for my wellbeing and no, I haven't retired. (I still have a while to go before that happens. If it ever happens. Have you seen the stock market lately? Yikes! My 401k has taken a Mike Tyson level beating.)

I realized after receiving all of this outreach that I haven't posted in quite some time and that a brief explanation of where I've been might make for a good blog post. So, here goes.

On the home front, I've been a little preoccupied with the fact that my wife and I are soon to be, first time grandparents. There's been a lot of running around, planning, getting things ready at the house, etc. Looking at our spare bedroom, you would think that my wife and I are having a baby. But I'm told that we need to have everything that our grandson requires at our house when he visits, and who am I to argue with that? (I can be trained)

On the job front, I completed my journey of finding a new position. It took several months to find what I believe is the perfect role at the perfect company. I ended up with 3 offers in hand, and ultimately I accepted the role as Head of Product at a startup out of New York called meez. (The lack of capitalization is not a typo). I chose meez because of the highly collaborative team. The connection I felt to the CEO and the CTO. (both of whom are awesome human beings.) The amazing product that they've created and the opportunities that lay before it. The opportunity that I have for personal growth. (To round out some CEO level skills by participating in discussions outside of a typical Product role.) For the record, I spent a few days analyzing a pros/cons list for each offer, calling mentors for their opinion, and reflecting on what I want to be when I grow up. It wasn't an easy decision. But I feel great that I made the right one.

Reflecting on my journey to arrive at meez, there are a few things that I would share regarding the interview process:

1. To those early interviewers, I apologize. Wow, was I rusty. I had forgotten how different it was to sit on that side of the desk, so it took a while for me to hit my stride. You all know who you are.
2. Ageism is alive and well. This to me was the biggest shock. I'm not going to pull out my soapbox for this one, but you aren't going to find 15 years of experience in someone that is under 30. Just sayin'. If you're truly serious about taking your startup to the next level, then hire someone that brings experience and wisdom to your team.
3. The interview marathon. Come on companies! If you can't tell in 3-4 interviews that someone is or isn't a fit for the role, then your process is broken. There's nothing you can possibly ask me on interview #8 that I haven't already answered in the first 7 interviews. Unfortunately, and I am not exaggerating on this one, I went through a couple of 10+ round interviews and projects for a couple of positions that I was pursuing. Having hired many people over my career, I completely understand that hiring is a very important task. But this interview marathon reflects poorly on your organization for a few reasons. a.) Is this same inaction the way you make all of the decisions in your org? b.) Is there so much fear of making a mistake in your company that it inhibits your ability to make a decision? c.) You are not respecting my time. You're probably not the only company that I am speaking to. Allocating 20 hours every week to interviews is a lot for anyone to handle, especially on top of a full-time job. It's an employee's market right now. You're going to lose out on the top talent if you can't get your s&#t together.
4. Speaking of projects. If I am ever asked to do another project during an interview, my response will be, "Sure, I'd be happy to do it. My rate is $175/hr". It's not that I don't really want the job, I wouldn't be here if I didn't. It's a matter of time. I have a full-time job already and you should respect that. (Plus, one company was really looking for free consulting work.) If you want to see how I approach the product process, then ask me to tell you about a product that I've launched and how I did it. You're going to get a lot more real world detail and a whole lot more passion in my presentation. Providing me fictitious data for ABC Company that doesn't even make sense isn't going to be a true illustration of my capabilities.
5. Culture. "We want someone that fits into our culture". I don't know about you, but I don't want a room full of clones ("we are Borg"). I want someone that enriches the culture of my team. Someone that brings different perspectives and experiences to the table. (I got the feeling on a couple of occasions that this was code for "you're too old for our team".)

My apologies for going off on a bit of a tangent there. I had intended to blog about the interview process at some point, and apparently I decided that there's no time like the present.

To all of those who reached out, thank you. Marriage is alive and doing very well.

More blogs and more updates to come, I promise.

Wishing you all the best

Mike