Micro-Interview: Konstantin Dinev, Director of Product Development
đĄProduct management tips & tricks in 220 words.
EDITORâS NOTE:
Konstantin Dinev is a Director of Product Development at Infragistics, a global software company that publishes user interface development tools and components for various developer applications, across all platforms.
Konstantin is based in Sofia, Bulgaria.
In under 500 words, he shares:Â
How he got into product managementâŠ
How he starts his morning for maximum productivityâŠ
Some of his sources of learningâŠ
And moreâŠÂ Â
Enjoy!
âHow did you get into product management?â
It happened naturally as I progressed through the ladder at Infragistics. You do what youâre most impactful at and whatâs needed the most at any given time. When the company needed me to step into a product management role, I did.
âHow do you start your mornings at work?â
The business never sleeps, so I catch up on what has happened while I was sleeping. Customer inquiries are my first item to look at because response time is key to building trust between the customers and your product.
âWhat do you know about product management now that you wish youâd known when you first started?â
Even the best product can fail or fall behind the competition if you donât market it well. Never focus solely on product delivery.
âWhat did your biggest product failure teach you?â
Create a narrow target audience for the initial product launch. Donât try to satisfy everyone all at once from the beginning. Always ask yourselves âWhat is the core feature of this product?â. Hint: there should only be one.
âWhatâs the #1 thing that has helped you shorten your product management learning curve?â
Literature and prepping for presentations. The first is core, the second is key to polishing your understanding. I highly recommend books like Built to Last and Dealing with Darwin.
âHow do you stay updated on the best practices in product management?â
I look at resources, like books, videos, blogs, etc., every so often, but mostly I listen to my team. They are ambitious enough to want to raise the bar, hence they are most up-to-date on the âlatest and greatestâ. Evaluate and whenever you feel something may work, apply it.