kennethn

I'm a member of the GV team, and one of those who helps run the workshop series. In many cases, workshops are available only to employees of the portfolio because it supports more open and candid conversations.

In the case of our security videos, we've restricted them because there were discussions about particular companies' security needs that aren't appropriate to share publicly. It's unlikely the talk would have been as beneficial to our portfolio companies if people felt the need to hold back knowing the details would be made public.

As casca mentioned, we've opened many of our videos to the public and we'll continue to do so when the workshop leader and audience participants agree: https://www.youtube.com/user/GoogleVentures/videos

At GV our mission first and foremost is to serve the employees of our portfolio companies. Google as a whole is of course dedicated to improving internet security and the company dedicates tons of people and resources to that.

Indeed. I had originally left off the ending, but a few people who previewed the essay told me they showed it to others (who don't know me), and they said they weren't sure if I was joking or serious.

It wasn't officially recorded, although audience members might have captured some of it. I wish it had been: I can only really give this talk once.

As an aside, if you're not familiar with the Ignite format it's great. You have 20 slides, and each slide auto-advances after 15 sec. So I really had to practice the timing.

(Author here.) I've long wanted to write a follow-up piece addressing exactly these questions, but haven't gotten around to it.

First, find a PM to talk to, especially one you admire who's made the switch. Everybody's situation is different, and having someone to mentor you through it is invaluable.

Second, make sure you have the right motivations. A friend of mine says "run to product management, not from engineering." If you want to switch because your current manager is a jerk, you hate the project you're working on, or (gasp!) your PM is an idiot, you might be doing it for the wrong reasons.

You could test it out with a small project at first. Stepping up and saying "I'd love to take on more of a PM role on this feature/bug/release" will often be positively received by a healthy organization.

Startups are ideal places to make the switch (that's where I did it.) Everyone is used to wearing many hats and the "all hands on deck" attitude is much more welcoming of someone raising their hand and volunteering to be a PM. Smart, bigger companies (like Google or Facebook) often have formal programs for moving into PM. At Google, for example, we even have a six-month rotation program that lets you try it on for size.

And if you're convinced you want to do it and your current company discourages you, find a new one.

No brain teasers. Good analytical questions are open-ended, fuzzy, and don't have "right" or "trick" answers. I want to test problem-solving abilities, not interview research and memorization skills :-)

(Essay author here...)

Excellent additions, "ability to deal with ambiguity" is a critical skill for PMs.

If institutions like UCLA and UCSF want to be world leaders, they need to pay top dollar to attract the best surgical talent. That's just reality.

P.S. I never said my child was healthy.

I see a seven-figure salary next to the name of a surgeon who's saved my child's life on three occasions. Yeah, that's about right.

-- (Rare?) I never applied, but was hired anyway!

Me. I came in 4+ years ago by way of an acquisition. Note that "never applied" doesn't equate with "never interviewed" - we all had to go through the same interview process as regular candidates.

That's like "training" a cyclist to use a helmet by smacking them in the head.

I also recommend A.K. Dewdney's The Planiverse, published in 1984. It tells the story of computer science students who communicate with denizens of a 2D world. The diagrams and graphics are delightful.

I read it when it came out (I was 13) and it's one of the reasons I entered computing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Planiverse