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Episode 39 - Tessa Menges, Product Manager at Enduco
18 Plays3 months ago
We're back! In this episode, Sade is joined by Tessa Menges, Product Manager at Enduco.
They cover a variety of topics, including:
- Tessa's experience as a Product Manager in a startup.
- The pros and cons of working in a startup.
- Dealing with lack of confidence and overcoming this.
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Transcript
Introduction of Tessa and Her Role
00:00:13
Speaker
Hello and welcome back to a new episode of Women Talk Tech. Today I'm joined by Tessa, Product Manager at Nduko. We chatted all about her experience being a product manager and most importantly, being a product manager in a startup.
Challenges and Opportunities for Women in Startups
00:00:26
Speaker
Startups are great, right? But for many women, it's not their first choice of environments to working. So I was happy Tessa was able to share her positive experience. We also spoke a little bit about dealing with the lack of confidence and overcoming this in the early days of your career. I hope you love this conversation.
Tessa's Dual Role: Sports Scientist and Product Manager
00:00:39
Speaker
So Tessa, tell me a little bit more about yourself Yeah, thank you for the invitation. I'm very excited to be here. and My name is Tessa, so um I'm a sports scientist and product manager at the startup called Enduko. And Enduko is a training app for endurance athletes. So um something about myself. um I studied sports scientists at um Mainz and Insebrucken, so in Germany. um And I chose to do two study programs.
00:01:11
Speaker
The first is about the high performance in sports. So this is in particular the adaption of training. and How does the muscle adapt to an intense training or how does it regenerate from it? and the set And the second study program is about the rehabilitation.
00:01:34
Speaker
And um I get to know everything about the sports related injuries and how to regenerate from these. so
Transitioning from Sports Science to Tech
00:01:44
Speaker
yeah And um the reason is why I chose both specifications was that I thought working with athletes, both um specifications are important. So yeah, and now I think it's very clear that I have just a sports science background and not a technical background.
00:02:05
Speaker
Yeah. And um yeah, how did I get to Nduku? A very good friend of mine um made me aware of Nduku and so I applied to them as a sports scientist and that worked well. ah From that point on, I get to know the technical realization of sports scientists ah sport science. So um how do I need to specify the training science?
00:02:35
Speaker
all the sports science to our computer scientists so that they can develop an AI-based training algorithm um that is um able to adapt the training plan according the current study situation. So this was a very big challenge for myself.
00:02:55
Speaker
Yeah. And that was 2020. And I think at this point, it was a very new work of area to combine sports science and technique. So yeah, to sum it up, it is my big to do, how can I create a highly individual training plan for endurance athletes, um which is always ourtu orientated to the goals of the athletes.
00:03:23
Speaker
and is able to adapt on the daily life. Wow. Wow. And is that how you kind of got into the world of product management? Because of course, yeah, like you said, right, combining the two worlds of sport and tech and technology, um it is, yeah, it's a weird combination, to say the least, right? But you know, you don't see it too often. um So how did you kind of get into product management?
00:03:45
Speaker
Yeah,
Embracing Product Management Responsibilities
00:03:46
Speaker
so obviously I started as sports scientist at Nduku and duo and um over time I was given more and more tasks and responsibilities, which I was happy to take on. And um yeah, by gaining a bigger overview about what is working, what is the current state of development,
00:04:07
Speaker
what is the most advanced or the most, the biggest wishes of our customers, um, make me to, to get the essential key position at the company and to have this big overview about all these things. And, um, yeah, I guess this was the reason why I will, why I am the product manager right now. Interesting.
00:04:34
Speaker
And you know what do you what did you like about product management? you know Now you've been doing it for quite a while. What
Communication and Task Management Challenges
00:04:39
Speaker
do you like about it? What do you not like? Because I think you know product management is such ah an interesting space for many other people to want to get involved in, right especially for those who don't have a tech background like yourself. So yeah, what do you like about it and what do you hate about it?
00:04:53
Speaker
It's a quite good question. So and what I really like about it is to communicate with the whole part of the team, um with a sports side ah with the sports science, with the data science, with the design, with um our marketing team and so on. um I really appreciate that. And currently we are a team of 12 people at Anduco. And I really like to be connected to everyone.
00:05:23
Speaker
um And I guess I have a good sense of when someone is unhappy with the way of things are going, and then I can put qui yeah quickly put something into place that work it makes work better. um And I think it's quite important to have one of those feelings to make the team as efficient as possible to make the best product um Yeah.
00:05:54
Speaker
yeah yeah and Well, it's a hard question what I don't like at the position of the product manager, but um yeah, maybe sometimes it's hard to make a structure of all the different tasks I have. So I.
00:06:15
Speaker
do the sports science as well, then all the tasks regarding the product management and um to to get the overview about which task is still in progress, which is done, which one is in testing, which one is ready to launch. All these things are sometimes hard to manage, but I think somehow I love it too, because I just um yeah go with all the task states from the beginning of the specification from the Sports Science two and ah to the launch of the feature in our app.
00:06:58
Speaker
Wow. And I guess it's been really cool to kind of see the transition, right? Because, of course, you did sports science at university. um And then, of course, then moving it into the world of tech. I'm sure tech is a place you didn't thought you were ever going to be in, right? You know, with your degree. No, not really. I was thinking about to um train some athletes or be in person with the athletes, but not at the technical side.
00:07:26
Speaker
so um Yeah, it's quite a new area of working. Yeah, I think I really enjoyed it. Yeah, I also think it's fairly new to the sports world in general, right, you know, and, you know, combining the world of tech, you know, normally it's, it's kind of, you know, I see tech being used in different aspects, but, you know, to have apps like a dico out there that help people with to train better. It's crazy how tech is really taking over all aspects of our world. Yeah, that's true. Yeah. Wow.
Team Connectivity and Market Adaptation in Startups
00:07:54
Speaker
And for you, what's it like working in a startup as a product manager? you know Startups are chaotic, right? Let's be honest, they can be all over the place. yeah And especially when you are building a product, what's it like for you working in a startup as a product manager?
00:08:08
Speaker
Um, I think one benefit as working as a product manager in a startup is to have to be connected to all team members. I think this is a very great, um, yeah, possibility, possibility to stay in contact with everyone. And, um, yeah, I, I really liked that. So, and one of the biggest, um,
00:08:37
Speaker
advantage is that we always need to be very quick quick at the market. So we need to check which one, which other companies have which feature and do we also have the feature in our um product pipeline or not. And this requires a very big overview of all the other companies and um yeah.
00:09:04
Speaker
Yeah. Wow. Wow. And, you know, you know working in a startup as a woman is is is different, right? You know, working as a woman in any industry is very different. um What's it like working in a startup as a woman? um I know
Perceived Risks for Women in Startups
00:09:16
Speaker
you mentioned there's less women in your company as well. How has that been? Yeah. Yeah. and Fortunately, in my working environment, I not really have difficulty working as a woman in a very male dominated profession. ah So I consider myself as very lucky.
00:09:32
Speaker
um But yeah, it's a good question. I think in general, I have i've noticed um that fear women are working on startups. And i I think some may perceive startups as a high risk environment with uncertain futures. So every woman asks herself at a point whether she wants to have children or not, and then um wants to be as well prepared as possible. They want to have um a sure job, they want to have the money, they want to have the security of the future. So when you're working as a woman in a startup, you need to make a kind of commitment um that you are working with a little team and that you don't know how is the job in two to three years. So um yeah, I think
00:10:29
Speaker
um To encourage more women to consider startups, it's crucial to highlight the benefits of working in a startup, such as the opportunity of rapid personal growth or the direct impact on different projects or products.
00:10:45
Speaker
yeah And further, there's so much more like i flexible working hours or the very inclusive work culture. yeah Yeah, I do agree, though, because I think the the the topic of families do come up quite a lot when women do consider startups, right? you know For example, maternity policies may not even be in place yet. you know You may be that first woman in the company to have a baby. um So all of the things which you naturally look for more information, they may not be there versus, say, a larger corporation right where they have a maternity policy that's been there in place for the last 20 years. And you know you see so many other women go back on government and leave and come back. so
00:11:24
Speaker
Yeah, I think the topic of families and startup is one that I know many other women also kind of, you know, think about in their heads, you know, how will this work? And I also think about that as well, you know, I know how chaotic startups can get, you know, how do you manage, you know, man you know balancing a family and at being in a startup, you know, it does feel a bit crazy. Yeah, I think so. So I i did not like know a lot of women who are working in a startup. um And Yeah, just have a baby in a startup. is So yeah, I don't know. it's I think it's possible, but I think for the most of the women, it's a bit of dangerous and um yeah, not so secure. Yeah, yeah.
Building Confidence through Feedback
00:12:11
Speaker
And you know, I think the topic of confidence always comes up when I do speak with many other women in tech. And I think it's an aspect which we definitely underlook or and underestimate how much confidence does carry you throughout your career. Whether you're in a larger company, a smaller company, especially being a minority, confidence is what really carries you. um How have you found kind of dealing with confidence, a lack of it or too much of it? How have you found confidence in aspects of your career?
00:12:36
Speaker
Yeah, I think um every one of us, don't matter if it's ah male or female, um often experience a lack of self-confidence. In our company or in our team, we are openly and honestly addressing this ash issue.
00:12:56
Speaker
yeah so um For example, when when I said to my colleague, hey, I didn't feel that that good today, or can you give me some feedback um of the meeting? How did I represent myself or the company, or I don't know, the task which we are going to work on? um Yeah, I think one of the best advices is that to speak over your issues or the strengths and weaknesses we every everyone knows about and to ask for feedback regarding your weaknesses. And with a great team in your company, you are able to um
00:13:45
Speaker
getting better and to get those or this confidence and I don't know making a big lecture or a presentation of a lot of people um is something you need to to work on and practice. And if you have the team around yourself and you can say, Hey, um do you have maybe 10 minutes, 15 minutes to help me with this um presentation? yeah And can you give me some feedback on it? So I think this is crucial to, to gain more confidence and to be more
00:14:24
Speaker
in this topic. Yeah, yeah. And how have you personally overcome this? um Especially, you know, I can imagine coming from a sport background, I mean, granted you were working in a sport company, so that of course helps, but transitioning into any tech degree with no tech background can be quite nerve wracking. How have you kind of personally dealt with the lack of confidence?
00:14:47
Speaker
on your side. Yeah, so um I was asking for feedback and um in our company we have a feedback session each year or two times a year and this is very helpful to um get an orientation of how how am I in the company, what is my position, what are my to-dos, how do I do the to-dos or how good um do I do this? um And yeah, one of the most important things for myself is to receive some feedback and to give or to learn to give feedback to some topics maybe. And um last year I um joined a leadership company in Berlin. This was something, this was an organization from Lea Zuffie-Krama, maybe you know this woman,
00:15:47
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And this was a six week leadership program. Um, we did, and this was all about self-confidence, self-grow and build your vision, dream growth and so on. And this was something very helpful. So I've learned about myself. How am I reacting to some, I don't know, feedback, which is not that good.
00:16:14
Speaker
or what should I learn from it and so on. And this leadership program really helped me to just to.
00:16:26
Speaker
get more of this self-confidence. Yeah, yeah. No,
Fast Feedback Loop Advantages in Startups
00:16:31
Speaker
I think you're right. I think, you know, getting feedback is really important because I think it then also doesn't feel like it's you that's nitpicking other things. You know, it could be other things which you may not have thought that you could improve on, right? That are really important and vice versa. There could be so many things which you think aren't good, that are, you know, amazing for your career. So I think that feedback point is super helpful and I think that's what everyone should be looking to do as well.
00:16:55
Speaker
Yes. And I think one of the biggest improvements or one of the biggest points of working in a startup is the self growth, because you're confronted with so many different topics or so many different situations you have to overcome, you learn so much about yourself. So how are you working in a very difficult, this at difficult situation? Or how do you communicate with a very ignorant people or person. So um yeah, and you can learn so much of working in such a fast company. And um yeah, I really
00:17:43
Speaker
really appreciate this effect of working in a but startup. Yeah. And I think that the kind of feedback notion does really help in a startup as well, right? Because in a large corporation or larger company, you may have to wait until your monthly or or yearly review to kind of get some feedback. Whereas in a startup, you could turn to your boss and say, or turn to the founder and say, hey, what could I be doing better? And the access to feedback is a lot quicker than versus being in a bigger company. I've also experienced that as well. Yeah.
00:18:10
Speaker
Yeah, that's true. So, and one of the big things is that we are all working in one big room and so we are all locally together and um it's more easily to to get some feedback from, I don't know, from the data scientist of how the specification was or um if I need to dig deeper into some topics or I don't know, it's each or it's everything more um easier to receive the feedback when you are located and in a very small team. Yeah, yeah, totally, totally.
Career Pressure and Family Planning Concerns
00:18:48
Speaker
And I know that when we last spoke, you mentioned that women always look forward and want to fulfil themselves further, you know, I do it all the time, I think about my five year plan, and I totally forget about what's happening today. And I think it's totally normal. And that's not just in females, but I do find, you know, especially with, you know, the the kind of
00:19:06
Speaker
I guess pressure we put ourselves on are to achieve so much in a short amount of time before we say want to have a family, right? You know, I feel like our career span sometimes feels like it's shortened because we know that at some point we may want to have a family and we may have to slow down work-wise. So we tend to just really fast track everything. How's your experience been with this? Yes. um so I just i had these thoughts too and um I was thinking about that and what I was doing is that
00:19:37
Speaker
um I just addressed this topic to all my, um to the founders of the company. And um yeah, it was, if it was easy to talk about that. And at our company, we have three founders, and they are all male. So it was a little bit like a hurdle. And, um but I talked to them about this topic and addresses this thoughts about this topic to them. And it was no big problem I just talk about them and I just talk about this and um they were asking if I don't know if they can help me with some of these thoughts or um I don't know they they just said that there were plans and
00:20:24
Speaker
this is no problem. And um if I have any um questions about this topic, I can come to them every time. This was the way I was go through this. And I think one of the best things I've learned from these situations is that if you have some questions or don't know what to do with some questions in your head, then just addresses address them to someone and then you can talk about that. And after you talk about this topic, it's so much easier to to think about that. And you know, this there is a plan for this situation and so on. Yeah.
Open Discussions on Career Concerns
00:21:08
Speaker
Yeah no definitely definitely because yeah I think you know you can't plan for everything and we can't control everything but having conversations and being really open with how we feel and being communicative like like in any aspect of life right um it's super helpful especially when it does you know to consider our career.