110. Andre Marquet: the creation of Productized, “crazy” entrepreneurs and impact-driven education
In this episode, João was speaking with André Marquet, CEO at Productized and one of the speakers of the first Product Weekend event.
André has a long experience in Product Management having worked in the field for around 15 years, currently working at Cofidis. Besides being a Product leader, André is also a father, an educator at heart and an entrepreneur.
This is a very special episode, not only because it’s the last episode of the season but also because it’s the first time André is a guest on the podcast.
Time notes:
[0:15] Introduction of André
[1:00] First time being interviewed at Produtized podcast
[1:37] What is Product Management in André’s perspective
Product management is finding a balance between customers’ needs and business needs.
Architects are the closest thing you can be to a product manager on the artistic landscape.
[4:53] What is the role of a product manager in society
[6:34] Ethical constraints of product managers should be about not doing harm to your users
Don’t do something to your users that, deep in your heart, you don’t believe is the right thing.
[10:06] Evolution of product management definition
[12:00] Chemistry experiments in childhood out of the curiosity of being a scientist
[16:27] University path and education experience
I recommend people to get their hands dirty while they are at university, and get their first job in their field.
[18:45] Master’s degree research and challenges
[21:30] Starting a professional career in engineering from an international internship
[24:20] Career path from pre-sales consultant to a product manager
[29:10] Starting entrepreneurial life while still being in the product manager positions
It was a very special group of people who believed that we could make a better world through entrepreneurship and startups.
[34:40] The feeling of “mission accomplished” while working as an entrepreneur
[38:35] The main advice from the experience in startups
The team is critical. Before you incorporate any company, you should work with a team of co-founders to understand the work chemistry.
If the chemical bond is here, then you have a much higher chances of making it happen.
You have to be up all night to get lucky. […] You have to do what it takes.
[45:03] Creating Productized and the fondest memory of all the products created
“Startups in Portugal? It’s an oxymoron.” And now it’s the opposite narrative.
[50:39] What is intuition and its role in product management
Good product managers are also good intuition machines. […] This pattern matching should serve a purpose. And that’s how I think you should use intuition.
[56:20] How does trusting intuition without checking up on the data turn out
If you use your intuition and use it to find the opportunity and test the waters, I think that’s a good thing.
[57:18] The early stage of discovery as the favourite thing of working in product
[58:45] Role model in product management
I’ve never met a good product manager and realised “oh, that person is in the profession for money”. I think it’s something rare in the product from a long-term perspective.
[1:01:14] Being an educator and building his own Product Management course
I felt like I’d been having a real impact on the students.
[1:08:40] What are the most interesting opportunities for the future of cities, based on the past season of the podcast
The next level might be having the CPO of the city.
In the end, it’s never about technology. It’s about the need of the user and his happiness.
[1:14:30] Biggest trends coming up in the defence and aerospace technology
War is becoming more and more technological. […] Humankind is great for good things, as well as for bad things.
I think defence is an education, to be honest. I don’t see defence as a duty or anything else.
[1:18:40] Seeing serving in the armed forces as part of education at the university
[1:25:48] One lesson from product management
Be effective at managing stakeholders. It’s one of those arts that you should definitely try to develop.
[1:27:20] Advice for the 18-year-old self
Trust in your gut feeling but give yourself enough space so you can search for your answer.
It really pays off to have good mentors in your life. Look for those people.
[1:29:55] Recommendations
📚 3 favourite books:
📕 Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making by Tony Fadell
📕 The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness by Eric Jorgenson
📕 Turn the Ship Around!: A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders by L. David Marquet
🏙 3 favourite cities
🇵🇹 Lisbon
🇹🇷 Istanbul
🇺🇸 Boston
🎙 3 favourite podcasts
E o Resto é História
a16z Podcast
The Deep End
PRODUCTION
This podcast was hosted by João Moita from Product Weekend, with sound edited by Miguel Sousa and production help by Productized, André Marquet and Evelina Bogdiun.
