Nick and Jake talking about FitOrbit on Fox News this morning.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
A Sense of Accomplishment
The last 8 months have just flown by. Back in November I started a new job at a company called Global Fitness Media. At the time, I had been an associate product manager at ThisNext and made a huge jump to being the Director of Product Management at my new company. Though I had clearly never done this before, my new boss Nick had the confidence that I would be up to the task.
At the time, I was the 4th employee of the company, after the CEO, Nick, his assistant and a graphic designer. Being the only product manager, I started out listening to Nick and Jake (yes, that Jake) talk about what the general vision for the company would be.
Between brainstorming, researching the fitness industry and the target market, talking to potential partners and interviewing potential employees, it was insanely busy from the start. Having a hand in building the team was a great experience, especially when there were a few hiccups along the way. I've learned that you can get a general sense of how people will work and fit in from an interview, but you'll never really know until they're in the environment, slaving away with you for hours on end. Everyone has a different opinion about what "hard work" really means.
After deciding the initial feature set, I spent loooooooong hours over weeks and the first couple months defining the product, drawing interface wireframes, workflows, use cases and working with graphic designers, the development team, our copywriter and our CEO to come up with the ideal version 1.0.
One of the biggest challenges in being a product manager and what ends up taking most of my time are the questions and challenges. Weighing whether a certain feature should be implemented or not given the development complexity, user experience, and business and political requirements.
Through the weeks and months, we've built something that I'm truly proud of. Of course there are features that had to be sacrificed or delayed, but I think for the first version of our flagship product, we've done something really cool. With the help of the team, I have to say that this has been the biggest accomplishment of my professional career thus far.
Last minute things are quickly wrapping up over the weekend and the public launch of FitOrbit happens on Monday. Stay tuned!
At the time, I was the 4th employee of the company, after the CEO, Nick, his assistant and a graphic designer. Being the only product manager, I started out listening to Nick and Jake (yes, that Jake) talk about what the general vision for the company would be.
Between brainstorming, researching the fitness industry and the target market, talking to potential partners and interviewing potential employees, it was insanely busy from the start. Having a hand in building the team was a great experience, especially when there were a few hiccups along the way. I've learned that you can get a general sense of how people will work and fit in from an interview, but you'll never really know until they're in the environment, slaving away with you for hours on end. Everyone has a different opinion about what "hard work" really means.
After deciding the initial feature set, I spent loooooooong hours over weeks and the first couple months defining the product, drawing interface wireframes, workflows, use cases and working with graphic designers, the development team, our copywriter and our CEO to come up with the ideal version 1.0.
One of the biggest challenges in being a product manager and what ends up taking most of my time are the questions and challenges. Weighing whether a certain feature should be implemented or not given the development complexity, user experience, and business and political requirements.
Through the weeks and months, we've built something that I'm truly proud of. Of course there are features that had to be sacrificed or delayed, but I think for the first version of our flagship product, we've done something really cool. With the help of the team, I have to say that this has been the biggest accomplishment of my professional career thus far.
Last minute things are quickly wrapping up over the weekend and the public launch of FitOrbit happens on Monday. Stay tuned!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Why I don't want to grow up
Because I have friends that post stuff on facebook like this:
Items lost while partying over the last 2 months & recovered:
- 1 camera
Items still outstanding:
- 1 iPod Touch
- 1 Pair of Black Ray-Bans
- 1 Bottle of Belvedere (it was there when I left last weekend...Jackie?)
- 1 Pair of white-rimmed aviators
- 1 Pair of red-rimmed aviators
- 1 pair of white/purple Ray-Ban knock-offs
- 1 epic Christmas sweater
- 1 purple zegna pocket square
- 1 Soul
Saturday, June 6, 2009
June 2009
Summer's here! Hopefully this June Gloom will quickly change into Sun's out, Guns out. Enjoy the new list!
Full List:
1. Bulletproof - La Roux
2. Cappuccino - The Knux
3. No Sex for Ben - The Rapture
4. Bruises - Chairlift
5. Jigsaw - Lady Soverign
6. I've Seen Enough - Cold War Kids
7. Bang! Bang! - The Knux
8. Men's Needs - The Cribs
9. Give it Up - Datarock
10. Trash - The Whip
11. Homecoming - The Teenagers
12. Dying is Fine - Ra Ra Riot
13. Percussion Gun - White Rabbits
14. Paris is Burning - Ladyhawke
15. The Age of the Understatement
16. Grounds for Divorce - Elbow
17. Boom - Anjulie
18. Bright Side - Soft Pack
19. So Far We Are - French Kicks
20. Clap (See the Stars) - The Myrmidons
Full List:
1. Bulletproof - La Roux
2. Cappuccino - The Knux
3. No Sex for Ben - The Rapture
4. Bruises - Chairlift
5. Jigsaw - Lady Soverign
6. I've Seen Enough - Cold War Kids
7. Bang! Bang! - The Knux
8. Men's Needs - The Cribs
9. Give it Up - Datarock
10. Trash - The Whip
11. Homecoming - The Teenagers
12. Dying is Fine - Ra Ra Riot
13. Percussion Gun - White Rabbits
14. Paris is Burning - Ladyhawke
15. The Age of the Understatement
16. Grounds for Divorce - Elbow
17. Boom - Anjulie
18. Bright Side - Soft Pack
19. So Far We Are - French Kicks
20. Clap (See the Stars) - The Myrmidons
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
May 2009
1. New In Town - Little Boots
2. Say Hey (I Love You) - Michael Franti & Spearhead
3. I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked - Ida Maria
4. Aint No Rest For the Wicked - Cage the Elephant
5. Heroes - TV on the Radio
6. Radio Christiane - The Virgins
7. Lalita -The Love Language
8. Around the Bend - Asteroids Galaxy Tour
9. Zero - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
10. Lucky Today - Cloud Cult
11. Don't Trust Me - 3Oh!3
12. Little Secret - Passion Put
13. Valerie Plame - The Decemberists
14. Bang Bang - K'naan feat. Adam Levine
15. Fake Palindromes - Andrew Bird
16. Still Take You Home - Arctic Monkeys
17. Raindrops - Basement Jaxx
18. Gold Guns Girls - Metric
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