Rich Mironov

Rich provides full-time and short-term product management help to large and small tech companies:

- Organizing the product organization. How do we define/find/mentor/share work among product managers, product owners, product marketers, Directors, VPs and CPOs? Can we assess product teams and processes? How do we build great product *strategies* and portfolios, as distinct from engineering our products well?

- Interim VP Products. Setting up an effective, strategic product management team takes experience and skill. Rich has stepped in as interim/acting/temporary VP a half-dozen times for software companies that need to get this right. And he has led the interview/search process for the right full-time replacement.

- Agile and lean. Read more

Rich provides full-time and short-term product management help to large and small tech companies:

- Organizing the product organization. How do we define/find/mentor/share work among product managers, product owners, product marketers, Directors, VPs and CPOs? Can we assess product teams and processes? How do we build great product *strategies* and portfolios, as distinct from engineering our products well?

- Interim VP Products. Setting up an effective, strategic product management team takes experience and skill. Rich has stepped in as interim/acting/temporary VP a half-dozen times for software companies that need to get this right. And he has led the interview/search process for the right full-time replacement.

- Agile and lean. As development teams go scrum or Kanban, how do we serve them better and also boot our market insights? Injecting customer validation, rapid prototyping and learning back into engineering-focused processes

- Scaling up. Larger companies face product/portfolio issues more complex than single-product market validation. How do we balance competing interests and technology roadmaps?

Rich wrote "The Art of Product Management"​ and is a voice for the scrappy entrepreneur in all of us. Founder of Product Camp, he's an in-demand speaker for business/executive and technical audiences. Rich has taught at top business schools worldwide, at conferences, and chaired the first product manager/product owner tracks at the annual Agile Conference. He is also a sounding board for CPOs/VPs of Product.

Engagements vary dramatically, from 2 day custom-designed workshops to 6 months interim VP Product Management/executive-for-hire.  We determine what your company needs, and (only) then design an engagement.

Rich has worked with more than 90 technology companies in all markets and segments:

INTERIM VP PRODUCT MANAGEMENT; ORGANIZATIONAL/PROCESS DESIGN
• Rich was interim VP Products for a 20-person startup in the online financial advisor space. Serving both as product executive and agile product manager, he accelerated software delivery while building consensus around roadmaps.
• Rich was interim VP of Product Management for a Silicon Valley firm in the web application security space. He rebuilt core product processes (requirements, priorities, customer input) while establishing trust among engineering, marketing and operations.
• Rich has been Acting VP Product /Marketing at technology startups in remote authentication; mobile software updating and online lead generation segments. In each, he established core product/marketing processes, hired and mentored teams, set pricing and product strategy.

AGILE PRODUCT MANAGEMENT, AGILE MIGRATION AND AGILE ORGANIZATIONS:
• More than a dozen technology companies have engaged Rich to assess product management organizations, recommend organizational changes, write job descriptions and screen/interview candidates, and coach newly hired product managers. These include tech companies in CRM, consumer online financial advice, HR outsourcing, embedded operating systems, credit card services, payroll applications, application performance monitoring, web intrusion detection and restaurant POS systems.
• A Bay Area healthcare-related software startup has worked with Rich for several quarters to help design its product organization, coach product managers, and lead the interview/hiring process for VP Engineering and Director of Product Management.
• Rich worked with a Cupertino-based CRM leader to assess its product management organization/team and propose improvements including: organizational map; roles/responsibilities for senior and junior product managers; hiring criteria; training and mentoring; and division of responsibility with Engineering and Product Marketing.
• Rich helped a leading application monitoring company restructure its product management team, analyze its portfolio and rethink its product packaging.
• He worked with a leader in embedded operating systems on agile initiatives, organizing the product management, and as a part-time coach to product owners.
• Rich helped a major oil & gas exploration company fit agile methodologies into its software development lifecycle, and to train product teams on product management (agile and waterfall).
• He helped a San Francisco startup providing objective consumer financial advice to structure its product and agile development teams.
• Rich provided Agile product management services to Yahoo!, including an extended role as product manager for a company-wide user identity service.
• A Midwest provider of medical billing software brought Rich in to sharpen its agile development methodology and identify opportunities for organizational improvement.
• He provided strategy consulting and agile product advice to a major Wall Street investment management company on a Fed-related money center banking application.

PRODUCT/PORTFOLIO ANALYSIS, PRICING, MARKET VALIDATION
• Rich led a product portfolio analysis and process review for a Bay Area leader in website performance monitoring. This included new pricing models, repackaging/renaming, organizational changes, and recommendations to retire products.
• He managed a team doing assessing market needs in the retail analytics space for a Silicon Valley technology research laboratory. This included overseeing first-person interviews with B2B prospects.
• For a Bay Area leader in personal finance and accounting software, Rich consulted to the CIO organization, reviewing a next-generation web services architecture for fit against business objectives, pricing/value models, and organizational adoption.
• Rich helped a major vendor of x-ray and cancer therapy systems identify ways to reorganize its product management / marketing groups, and better define roles.
• At a VC-backed leader in IT log analysis, Rich led a team designing pricing/ packaging changes and analyzing the multi-year financial impact of those changes.
• For a startup in agricultural supply chain tracking, he created a simplified pricing model able to anticipate upcoming products and expanded value.

Rich has worked with more than 90 technology companies in all markets and segments:

INTERIM VP PRODUCT MANAGEMENT; ORGANIZATIONAL/PROCESS DESIGN
• Rich was interim VP Products for a 20-person startup in the online financial advisor space.   Serving both as product executive and agile product manager, he accelerated software delivery while building consensus around roadmaps.
• Rich was interim VP of Product Management for a Silicon Valley firm in the web application security space.  He rebuilt core product processes (requirements, priorities, customer input) while establishing trust among engineering, marketing and operations.
• Rich has been Acting VP Product /Marketing at technology startups in remote authentication; mobile software updating and online lead generation segments.  In each, he established core product/marketing processes, hired and mentored teams, set pricing and product strategy.

AGILE PRODUCT MANAGEMENT, AGILE MIGRATION AND AGILE ORGANIZATIONS:
• More than a dozen technology companies have engaged Rich to assess product management organizations, recommend organizational changes, write job descriptions and screen/interview candidates, and coach newly hired product managers.   These include tech companies in CRM, consumer online financial advice, HR outsourcing, embedded operating systems, credit card services, payroll applications, application performance monitoring, web intrusion detection and restaurant POS systems.
• A Bay Area healthcare-related software startup has worked with Rich for several quarters to help design its product organization, coach product managers, and lead the interview/hiring process for VP Engineering and Director of Product Management.
• Rich worked with a Cupertino-based CRM leader to assess its product management organization/team and propose improvements including: organizational map; roles/responsibilities for senior and junior product managers; hiring criteria; training and mentoring; and division of responsibility with Engineering and Product Marketing.
• Rich helped a leading application monitoring company restructure its product management team, analyze its portfolio and rethink its product packaging.
• He worked with a leader in embedded operating systems on agile initiatives, organizing the product management, and as a part-time coach to product owners.
• Rich helped a major oil & gas exploration company fit agile methodologies into its software development lifecycle, and to train product teams on product management (agile and waterfall).
• He helped a San Francisco startup providing objective consumer financial advice to structure its product and agile development teams.
• Rich provided Agile product management services to Yahoo!, including an extended role as product manager for a company-wide user identity service.
• A Midwest provider of medical billing software brought Rich in to sharpen its agile development methodology and identify opportunities for organizational improvement.
• He provided strategy consulting and agile product advice to a major Wall Street investment management company on a Fed-related money center banking application.

PRODUCT/PORTFOLIO ANALYSIS, PRICING, MARKET VALIDATION
• Rich led a product portfolio analysis and process review for a Bay Area leader in website performance monitoring.  This included new pricing models, repackaging/renaming, organizational changes, and recommendations to retire products.
• He managed a team doing assessing market needs in the retail analytics space for a Silicon Valley technology research laboratory.  This included overseeing first-person interviews with B2B prospects.
• For a Bay Area leader in personal finance and accounting software, Rich consulted to the CIO organization, reviewing a next-generation web services architecture for fit against business objectives, pricing/value models, and organizational adoption.
• Rich helped a major vendor of x-ray and cancer therapy systems identify ways to reorganize its product management / marketing groups, and better define roles.
• At a VC-backed leader in IT log analysis, Rich led a team designing pricing/ packaging changes and analyzing the multi-year financial impact of those changes.
• For a startup in agricultural supply chain tracking, he created a simplified pricing model able to anticipate upcoming products and expanded value.