Product Management October 19, 2006
Posted by erik in : PM , add a commentI run a product management team for a Atlanta based software company and for those who don’t know, it’s the greatest job in the world. One of the goals I had for this blog when I created it was to share my experiences with folks and perhaps learn a thing or two in the process. Since starting this blog however I don’t think I’ve talked about this subject once. I’d like to change that, and get back to my original goal. Sure I might rant form time to time, but I’m going to try pretty hard to stay on topic for once.
So for starters, what is Product Management? I’m only going to talk about software product management because it’s what I know and let me tell you from one company to the next it’s hard to nail down. Product Managers wear a lot of hats, do a lot of things, share a lot of information, we glue a lot of things together, we heard cats.
The Product Manager is the “CEO” of their product. Responsible for the general management of the product including product definition, pricing, positioning and distribution strategy. The product manager leads a cross-functional team of engineering, QA, marketing, operations and sales to build, launch and deliver their product into the market and they do this all without anyone reporting to them.
That last part is pretty important, in short it means if you can’t convince your peers that what you are building is both awesome and necessary, you probably won’t be able to convince the market either (unless you are part of a dysfunctional team but I’ll discuss that topic later).
For me, Product Management is also it’s own entity, definitely not part of the engineering department, maybe part of the marketing organization but ideally it’s own group free to focus on two thing - market needs and market trends. It’s absolutely imperative that good product management teams get to focus most of their energy in this direction and not get bogged down in other tasks. It’s not a product managers job to make stuff up, and if we are not out listening to the market when crunch time comes along that’s exactly what will happen. To quote Steve Johnson from Pragmatic Marketing “Your opinion, while interesting, is irrelevant.” We need to be always listening for the good ideas and be molding them into great ones. We need to make sure that our products meet market needs and support market trends.
OK, so that’s the basics, my next articles will focus on some of the more thorny issues I see facing PM on a daily basis. See you soon!
Clinton on FOX News September 26, 2006
Posted by erik in : politics , add a comment
Former President Clinton recently let loose on FOX news during an interview with Chris Wallace. They were supposed to be there to talk about the billions that had just been raised as part of the Clinton Global Initiative but less than 5 minutes into the interview things got Interesting. The Nation did an excellent job summing up the event, but you really have to see it to believe it.
Is it naive of me to think that this kind of upfront, straightforward, pull no punches type of discussion when attacked by our sleepy media is exactly what people are looking for from our leaders? How many people would have voted for Gore if he had just pulled out the baseball bat during the debates? Don’t get me wrong, the democratic party is in shambles, and has been for a while, it’s pretty clear they lack any sort of strategy whatsoever, but throughout both the 2000 and 2004 elections I was just begging to see the Dems go on the offensive. I was hoping to see just one ounce of conviction, the Dems couldn’t pull it off and America went with the stronger looking choice (Was anyone really surprised at the outcome?). I’m strongly opposed to the regligious right and a deep suporter of the seperation of church and state, so you can guess who I voited for, but even as I went to the polls I knew I was voting for a loser.
So way to go Clinton, I hope you have set a good example this time around and your party or the party that will one day rise up from it’s ashes has taken notice and won’t back down. Please don’t back down, because the battle is just getting started.
Just what is going on? September 24, 2006
Posted by erik in : politics , 1 comment so farAmerica! Just what is going on? As a people, we have become polarized, trained to think red vs. blue. Any doubts in our leaders intentionally, almost willingly, buried by the fears implanted inside of us. We have been programed.
It’s all making me sick, but what has made me most ill of late is the lack of accountability and security in what is perhaps the most sacred right of any free nation - voting
Image Source - Electronic Frontier Foundation
I’ve recently read the Princeton report that describes how just about anyone with a hotel mini-bar key can fake an election, whoops you say you don’t have a mini bar key? No problem. It seems every time someone turns around there are more and more reports of voting irregularities, stories of lost votes that could have swung presidential elections and now Rolling stone has released a chilling tale complete with quotes from a Diebold whistle blower. Diebold by the way is the company responsible for the hardware, but they are not the ones responsible for the mess. No, that honor belongs to our politicians whom we “elected” and are, for the time being stuck with.
What can you do? For starters you (yes you) need to call, write or e-mail your elected officials. I know, I know, what a pain in the ass that is, but it’s pretty easy these days. Your Representatives have web sites and nifty little forms you can fill out. In the time it took you to read this sentence you could have easily popped off a few words like “Hey, I’m a constituent and I’d like to know what you are doing about all this voting nonsense, I urge you to support a voting system that is accountable (has a paper trail) and if an electronic system, is open for public scrutiny. Please let me know your position on the matter”. It’s that simple, but wait, too difficult you say? The EFF has made it so simple you don’t even have to write that, just go here, fill out your address and it’s taken care of. Don’t want to even do that? Then outsource it, send some money to a political group that will take the fight for you. I like the EFF, and Common Cause, but the choice is yours, please use it. What, you say that both of those institutions are filled with a bunch of bleeding heart liberals? Damn it man, stop thinking about which side you are on and pay attention to the issues! Sheesh…
You have no excuse - this as they say, is my call to action, you, right there in that chair, get moving. Now.
Blackhat August 12, 2006
Posted by erik in : General, security , 1 comment so far
I survived. Sleep was not an option.
This year’s Blackhat conference was the best event i’ll attend all year. It’s awesome to see a whole track of presentations dedicated to web application security which has only been my life for the past 7 years. The highpoints for me were the talks by Jeremiah Grossman & TC Niedzialkowski of WhiteHat Security on hacking intranets using JavaScript malware and of course the talks by Billy Hoffman and Bob Auger of SPI Dynamics (my company) where we brought attention to RSS issues, discussed new AJAX threats and presented analysis on web worms and viruses. The events during the day were awesome, the crowds were intense and for those who fought their way through them to our demo booth, we salute you.
I also spent a day wandering around DefCon, which is definitely a different vibe than BlackHat. Post-apocalyptic technologic organic anarchy comes to mind. I enjoyed wandering around, hanging out in the CTF room for a bit and browsing the shops, I didn’t get to see the talks I wanted to unfortunately. Despite all the technology IQ wandering around, event planning is a lost art at DefCon, you just have to go with the flow and I had a schedule to keep.
There was of course the fact that I was in Vegas with thousands of hackers and we were all hell bent on tearing up the town. After the sun went down the event parties kicked in. Leaving time travel for another time, I had to choose from many events, here are the reviews of the ones I attended.
Aug. 1st
Everyone… - Shadow Bar at Caesars
Ok, ok, this wasn’t an event party, but after getting off the plane, and checking into Caesars it was off to Shadow Bar, drinks were not free nor cheap (rough!) but the night was well spent seeing old faces and meeting a few new ones. Shadow was IMHO a nice way to ease into Vegas, no lines, simple atmosphere and dancers wearing next to nothing behind shadow curtains.
Aug. 2nd
SPI Dynamics - Tao Nightclub at the Venetian
I’d be pretty remiss if I didn’t go to my companies own party. Of course that means I can’t give a unbiased review, but I bet if you ask someone who was there, they will tell you it rocked! If you were there, add your comments and let people know what you thought.
Tipping Point - Body English at the Hard Rock
After all the fuss to get a pass, I didn’t go! Well I got my Tipping Point collectors key ring, maybe next year guys! Instead I headed over to…heck I really can’t remember…
Aug 3rd
Microsoft - the Pool at the Palms
Ok, despite the evil outdoor layout, the place was rocking. On arriving I ignored the “be careful around the pool warning” and I managed to step right into the crazy pool edges after receiving my first drink (damn sneaky 3 inch deep water “feature”!). I took my now soaked foot up to the SPI cabana, and quickly realized the amazing power of the dry Vegas heat to dry anything off in seconds. From there the drinks were flowing like water, the staff at the Palms was great and the Music was perfect. DJ Keith Myers rocks. Billy, thank you for his CD, I’m enjoying it right now.
Microsoft - After Party - RAIN at the Palms
The pool shutdown around 12:00, but with free entry into RAIN we decided to check it out. With fire shooting out above the dance floor so close I could have roasted marshmallows and a packed house I was impressed. Unfortunately there was some really annoying staff that kept on hitting people in the eyes with mag lights and overall RAIN was not the liquid experience I was hoping for. I bailed, and unfortunately a little too soon as KPMG showed up later and invited a bunch of the SPI folks up the VIP room. Next time, I’m listening to Caleb.
Aug 4th
Acuvant - The Foundation Room at Mandalay Bay
The foundation room is the best club I’ve ever set foot in, period. Members only, except for Monday nights, The foundation room is considered one of the most exclusive clubs on the strip. The entrance, which is a pretty non-descript, was guarded by one guy and a list (you are on the list right?). Once past the entry way you find your way to an elevator with one button. The ride to the top of Mandalay Bay is swift, and soon you find yourself standing in a club where no detail has been overlooked. Private rooms with a dark middle eastern flair, plenty of spaces to relax and enjoy on comfortable leather couches or just as many places to be in the thick of things in the main room, talking with friends and strangers near the bar or outside on the patio that overlooks the strip. The foundation room is not a simple club, it a complex experience. As the evening unfolded the hackers of Blackhat and the high rollers of Vegas mixed it up and shared stories. In between conversations on web application security with Jeremiah, Billy, TC, Rsnake, Arian, Bob, Matt, Caleb and others were amazing conversations with Vegas locals like Ed and Isaac about what really goes on behind the scenes in Vegas (I’m sworn to secrecy). Be careful if your taxi starts heading out the desert - you might not be coming back.
End of the Road
On the 5th we downshifted and slept in, had lunch and wandered around the strip. We did the tourist thing and watched the fountains at the Bellagio, shopped for friends back home and hit the road to the airport. It was a week spent to its fullest, any longer and I might have just spontaneously combusted. BlackHat, I’ll see you again next year.
Ask A Ninja June 3, 2006
Posted by erik in : General , 3 commentsEvery day, one has to make hard decisions, like, umm do I use the vanilla flavored toothpaste, or do I use the classic mint flavor? Generally one can safely get away with making such difficult decisions without consulting anyone else, other times, not so much. For days when things get rough, I recommend you ask a Ninja. 
Filling the music void May 21, 2006
Posted by erik in : Music , 4 commentsWhen I first heard of podcasting, I somehow got it in my mind that they were just recorded talk radio shows on esoteric subjects. Ok, I didn’t think they were all like that but I didn’t quite get it at first. To explain, let me get a little nostalgic. Ever since I started to buy CD’s on the Internet (anyone remember CD-NOW?) I lamented the loss of the music store experience. There was something special about walking into your favorite music store (for me it was Virgin Megastore Vienna) picking out 20 hopefuls and then power listening to them all. On the good days I left the store with 20 cd’s in hand.
Fast forward to today. I haven’t been into a music store in years that I wanted to spend more than 5 min. in (ok Virgin London rocked, hmm perhaps this is an American only issue?). Which means I’ve been totally dependent on my friends and random chance to find my music (thanks Michael!) and yes before you tell me there are thousands of news groups and web pages dedicated to finding music, let me just say that when it comes to music, I’ve got to hear it, talking about it just doesn’t work for me.
Enter the music podcast.
If you are not finding new music via podcasts, you are missing out. For the first time in a long time I’ve got that music store experience back again, I’m enjoying those 20 cd’s and on the good days I’m puting in an order to iTunes or AllofMP3.com.
So there are a few podcasts you need to know about, and since i’m on an electronic kick right now, I’ll point you to two of my favorites.
Spacemusic is podcasted direct from the Netherlands by TC and generaly falls on the beat oriented ambient side of the house. Occasionally TC mixes it up and IMHO it’s always a nice way to keep people on their toes. Orbital Grooves falls more on the dance/trance/drum n base/house side and the latest podcast has induced 100 mph speeds at least twice now.
The void has been filled.
Progress Part 2
Posted by erik in : General , add a commentIt’s done. The site is moved, and hopefully you are enjoying the new clean look of silvexis.com/blog 2.0. For those of you just showig up, well you missed it, the old look is gone and I didn’t even save a screen shot. I did manage to save some of the old posts from the previous system, overall not an entierly painful process. I’m totaly digging wordpress…for now.
Progress part 1
Posted by erik in : General , 2 commentsI sense that i’m finaly emerging from my XBOX 360 induced coma. I’d like to thank the makers of oblivion for taking away about 3 weeks worth of 24/7 playing from my life. Really. Ugh.
The first order of business is a facelift, the look and feel of this place is driving me nuts. I’ll be upgrading to wordpress later today. I’m sure in the process that all my past entries will disapear and links will break so for my readers out there, please be prepared to adjust your TV set.
I’ve upgraded a friends blog from BoastMachine to Wordpress and well it wasn’t pretty. There are hardcoded paths all over the place and sparse documentation that just make it a pain in the ass to change something as simple as the blog root, so no i’ll probably not have a link to the old blog, sigh… In the meantime enjoy some very excelent Orbital Grooves, it will get you through the transition…
Why you won’t be seeing much of me in the coming months March 28, 2006
Posted by erik in : General , 1 comment so far
’nuff said!
Funny February 19, 2006
Posted by erik in : General , add a commentFun read, those of you who are security minded and live a bit in the grey will appreciate this. N074H4×0r … I’m no Hacker