Technology has advanced the world. It has enabled many start-ups to develop products that solve problems every day, every hour, and every minute.
Geeky Nigeria recently spoke with a Senior Product Manager at Wragby, Mr. Ayomide Adeboye, a bright mind in the Tech world who is doing great work. Below is a piece on Ayomide’s journey and experience as a Product Manager and what it means to be one.
The Journey Into Tech
“I have always been a tech enthusiast! My journey into the tech space started with me writing articles on technological innovations. I was especially attracted to aviation technology and would always watch and read materials on plane crashes and the investigation ensued.
“This was one of the things that spurred me towards Tech. However, the vision wasn’t clear enough. In 2016, I got involved in the Tony Elumelu Foundation, authored a business proposal, in which I infused technology, and was lucky enough to get a $5000 grant from it. This success was my official grand entrance into Product Management. Before this win, I had been developing product documentation unofficially for about 18months.”
” I consumed a lot of the resources online/offline, to groom myself on product management. I self-taught everything I know today and used this to position as a timeline for the best opportunity to get into tech.”
The Hurdles Faced
“The major strengths of a product manager are Communication, Leadership, Taking Ownership, and Influence (words & actions). Asides from your technical skills, you will also be working with people with different skill sets.
“Thus, the most challenging resource to manage on earth is a human. One needs a lot of mental strength to pull that through, since product management is essentially a tripartite entity, dealing with the human, product, and technical parts.
“Now put all of this into making it one is a lot of work, and a tough hurdle to scale. The relationship between all of these is what gives rise to an excellent product. This is not a “caste in stone” approach, because people are different.”
The Transition And The Job
“My approach to problems is to understand the underlying cause and replicating the problem to see my reaction as a user in solving it first for myself and then for others. Therefore, the transition was not easy, but it was worth it. People trusted me with opportunities, and some didn’t believe in me, but overall, the experience has been intriguing, challenging, fun, adventurous, and rewarding.
“As a Product Manager, I developed the first product that won me $5K in funding from Tony Elumelu. Afterward, I moved on to jobs in the Fintech industry and then to Wragby.
The Five Pointers
To succeed in the technology ecosystem, you must possess these skills.
- Be and have the orientation of a team player as you cannot do everything.
- Create a great Interpersonal relationship.
- Possess leadership skills. To be able to have this, you need to have points one and two in other to be a great leader.
- In the tech space, you must clearly state what you want, as people interpret things differently.
- Be Ready to Cry. Attempt to fail as much as possible at the outset of your career, so you can grow and improve. Having enough time and resources will most likely be a problem as that is hard to come by, but you must find ways to joggle them all each day.
On Becoming Senior Product Manager
“Becoming a Senior Product Manager before 30 is a dream come true. I’m so pleased that I can work as a product manager for such a great company — one that values my experience and creativity. After achieving my first major career milestone, my next goal is to be a Director of Product before 35 years old. In all of this, I give credit to God.”
Geeky Nigeria reports that Ayomide Adeboye is a professional product manager with experience in designing, planning, and executing products. He is an enthusiastic team player who works well with diverse groups. Ayomide has excellent interpersonal skills and uses collaboration/solution-focused approaches to challenge complex problems. His ability to create innovative solutions and combined with his interest in the intersection of user experience, business, and technology makes him one of the fast-growing product managers in Tech.
