Stefan
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2023 is nearly over, and this is always a trigger for me to reflect. The less intense weeks around the New Year give time to let the mind wander, go back to good moments, and also take in some of the tougher messages and digest them with more of a distance. During the 2023 end of year planning cycle, looking ahead into 2024, I did wonder how we did this at the end of 2022, and how the events of 2023 would be a surprise in so many ways.
2023 was special in many ways
When it started, I didn’t quite know how many things would actually be worthy of deep reflection. 2023 had some surprises in stock, not all good. In hindsight, I feel as a PM in Tech, we are part of an incredible journey, and it is not always clear to me which part of the curve we are on at any given moment. When you zoom in close enough, even an upward trend can feel like a shock to the system. Conversely, sometimes we believe too much in the everlasting scale of technology and find ourselves ‘course corrected’. Both scenarios have happened in the past, and both will happen again in the future.
My professional highlights of 2023
- First full yer as a people manager in Product 🙌
- 12th year at Google, 3rd site (London -> Mountain view / California -> Munich / Germany) 🇩🇪
- First full year as a PM lead in Education 🦉
- Broke the 5k follower mark on LinkedIn 🎉
- Increase of passive income by +60% YoY 💰
- Closed my 4th angel investment 💸
Professionally, this year has been a series of very high ups, and very low downs, making each of these milestones special to me.
My first full year as a PM people manager at Google 🙌
Being a manager at Google is an honor, and a huge responsibility. While I like to think that management is special elsewhere, I came to believe that my manager-peers at Google take this job to the next level. Just going through training for the role was intense. But the main reason why I know this role is special here is simply the caliber of people you manage. Boy, that is incredible. Managing high performers, with such curiosity and focus on excellence, is simply intimidating at times. And understanding that you are the main way they get ahead in their career, adds to that pressure. There is just no other way to say it. I couldn’t be more proud of my team, and all the folks who help me grow in this role on a daily basis. You are the real stars here. I am humbled to be able to work with you and so impressed with your caliber.
It was my 12th year at Google overall 🇩🇪
I admire people who are willing to go over various opportunities in the market, and pursue their growth across various companies. For me, this came from moving teams and Product Areas (PAs) inside of Google as a corporate PM. Sometimes these places felt very similar to one another, and sometimes there were massive differences. The main thing for me was always growth. When you feel stuck, you tend to think the wrong thoughts. I love how Google has built a culture around positive internal mobility, with a focus on growth. It helped me stay here for so long, and I feel like I can still contribute a lot to the company. 12 years for me is a true testimony for that. I worked in 3 PAs, 6 teams, across 3 countries for Google. This has been truly a whirlwind, and reflecting back on over a decade of a front row seat in the Tech craziness of the 2010’s. I continue to be grateful for the opportunity.
My first full year as the lead PM for Education at Google 🦉
As for most folks out there, we believe our success is owed to our teachers and mentors along the way. Education plays a special role for all of us, as we believe it contributed to our journey and our successes. While at Google and beyond, I found that many people in Tech are excited about education, and want to contribute to it in a positive way. I am no exception. I tried to break into Education once before, and failed. Working in this space, at Google, is the highlight of my career.
Beyond Google, there were some non-Google professional goals which are meaningful to me:
Broke the 5k follower mark on LinkedIn with my content helping Product Managers grow 🎉
Through my blog theproductinsider.com, and my content on social media, I reach thousands of people. What an incredible honor this is. I am inspired by the many amazing folks out there who are building outlets to support the growing ecosystem of Product Managers globally, and I am so glad I can play a part in this.
A massive milestone here was my first co-authored article published by BuiltIn “5 Ways AI Will Evolve Product Management in 2024”, together with the product expert & author Mike Hyzy. We are looking at the trends in Product Management for 2024 and beyond, and it was an incredible experience.
Increased my passive income by over 60% YoY 💰
Through improving my dividend portfolio performance, more coaching engagements, and gains from my angel investments. Financial Independence is a massive goal of mine, and one I started pursuing 10+ years ago in earnest. Glad to be continuing the journey, and learning more every day.
Closed my 4th angel investment 💸
By investing in Blue Lake VC I closed my 4th angel investment. With this investment, I am supporting the incredible success trajectory of David Gilgur and Lyubov Guk, as they support the growing startup scene in the UK and beyond.
My personal highlights of 2023
- Moved into my own home 🏠
- Ran a half marathon 🏃♂️
- Completed he Haute Route ⛰️
Beyond that, there are some personal goals which I also managed to complete or make significant progress on in 2023:
Moving into my first owned home 🏠
After moving 21 times in my life, and living in nice rentals, and $%tty rentals, I am finally moving into a place that is my own. My own furniture, my own pictures, just the way I like it. 2023 was the year where I created living space for myself and my loved ones, and it is something I am incredibly proud of.
Ran a half marathon 🏃♂️
While I ran many half marathons before, this was truly special. After injury and setbacks, this one was my ‘first half’ back on track. So glad to have shared the event with good friends and made it a celebration of friendship, sports, and endurance.
Completed the Haute Route tour ⛰️
The Haute Route is a 100km high-alpine ski tour, crossing the Swiss Alps between Chamonix and Zermatt. It takes 7 days and 6 nights, hiking 7-9 hours a day at an altitude between 2500 m and 3500 m. It is one of the most endurance heavy multi-day alpine tours out there. And I did it. Still can’t believe that this is something we completed. With friends from the US, we set out to achieve this massive feat, and we did. Our guide, Luc, brought us in and out safely, and we were over the moon as we descended into Zermatt, looking like real heroes.
Summary & outlook
2024 poses to be an interesting year. I think there will be more of the same: crazy good stuff, and a lot of challenges ahead. Here are my hopes and predictions for 2024:
- The breakthrough of generative AI in many more helpful ways
GenAI is already affecting much of our lives, but I think the rapid evolution of the underlying technologies, and the ‘gen AI arms race’ will bring so much more creative and helpful experiences to our fingertips.
Humanity spent the last decades storing digital information. Now we seem to have found a way to unlock this information in a useful way, that also truly scales. That is remarkable, as it makes answers to queries accessible, that were previously gated behind simply too much effort. We will see who can bring the ‘killer app’ to market in this context, and how we are all going to benefit from it.
My main hope here lies with personal assistance, and education.
Personal assistance because the digitization efforts of the past decades pushed so much work away from services providers, into the hands of consumers. While that is good, and gives agency to consumers, it also becomes a burden. Checking in to a flight, organizing transportation to / from the airport, visiting a city, selecting experiences, all of that has become so much more accessible, but at the same time so much more overwhelming. Especially for an ageing population.
Education because we have massive promise still to unlock here. Tutoring has shown a remarkable effective way to help people learn, and uplevel humanities capabilities. We have not yet found technology to truly enable this in a way that it enabled say finance and commerce. IUnlocking this promise is something that gets me out of bed in the morning.
- A return to a more balanced set of economic factors
Bringing interest rates to a historic low exposed many of us to a type of growth which was hard to give up on. Not just in a personal sense, with salaries shrinking and stock packages disappearing, but also in a broader, economic sense. Startups and entrepreneurs waking up to a new world order of higher interest rates and a focus on more monetary discipline, while still retaining growth.
Looking at the broader ecosystem, this form of diligence is helpful. It rewards the balanced risk taker over someone who is highly speculative, a distinction which is hard / near impossible to make when we think about early startups. Taking the learning from the past hyper-growth years, and pairing them up with a more responsible approach is helpful to everyone.
- A (personal) focus on health
There are three main factors for me here: nutrition, sports, and work / life balance. 2024 is a focus area for me in all three areas. As i am entering my ‘mid 40s’, I am looking to stay physically fit, and still engage in sports I like, such as tennis, skiing, and cycling. This requires me to stay engaged in strength training and flexibility / mobility exercises such as Yoga. I plan to try Pilates to see if this is a helpful addition.
Work wise, things have been pretty intense for the past 2 years. Working at of Germany is fun, as I can be close to my family, but it isn’t as easy given my personal setup. Leading out of a place 9 hours removed is tough, no matter what. A lot of sacrifices are made, and I want to see if an increase in travels can support this better through the coming year, than doing all night shifts all the time.
With this, I am wishing all of you Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and a very Happy New Year.
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