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Ken Knoll
Interim CPO | Ex-BCG DV
Ken Knoll is a seasoned professional specializing in product leadership and organizational transformation. With a background in finance, entrepreneurship, and multimedia communications, Ken brings a unique blend of skills to the table. He holds a Diplom-Wirtschaftsingenieur degree from Technische Universität Darmstadt and is a Certified Coach from BTA/Berlin. Ken has an impressive track record of working with various companies, from Fortune 500 corporates to early-stage startups, helping them build successful product organizations.
Ken's expertise lies in advising and coaching founders, product leaders, and teams on vision & strategy, innovation culture, cross-functional structures, and processes. He excels in guiding organizations towards excellence in product development, with a focus on delivering high-value products that resonate with users. Ken has held key roles such as Director of Product Management, Interim Chief Product Officer, and Founder Coach & Advisor, showcasing his versatility and leadership skills.
Throughout his career, Ken has led product organizations that have impacted millions of users across industries like sustainability, re-commerce, food-tech, mobility, banking, and insurance. His collaborative approach has enabled teams to build products that are loved by consumers, delivered on time and within budget, and created work environments that foster innovation and success.
Ken's experience includes pivotal roles at companies like IU Group, eBay Kleinanzeigen, BCG Digital Ventures, Mobimeo, and FLIO, among others. His journey from being a Co-founder & CEO at foodQuest to Director of Product Management at ShopNow GmbH demonstrates his adaptability and strong business acumen. Ken's time at BCG Digital Ventures allowed him to work with both established organizations and startups, refining his skills in product management and leadership.
Ken Knoll is not just a product leader; he is a change agent who drives organizational growth and success through his tailored strategies and coaching. His commitment to helping businesses transition towards a new model of product leadership sets him apart in the industry. With a focus on empowering teams and achieving mission-critical outcomes, Ken ensures that companies experience lasting success and innovation.
Ken is available for high-stakes interim product leadership roles, offering his expertise in building, transforming, and leading product organizations to achieve excellence. His passion for creating impactful products and fostering work cultures where teams thrive makes him a valuable asset for any organization looking to enhance its product development capabilities.
Highlights
Excited to be speaking about "𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬" at ProductLab (by berlin product managers founder Daniele Ronca) this Thursday night, starting at 18:30 at Ahoy! Berlin – thanks to the team for making it happen! I think you can still sign up – I'll be sure to pop the link in the comments!
Now I just need to make those slides happen... :D
So what flavor of Product Manager are you? Process-minded PM? Data-driven PM? Technical PM? Who cares! I nerded out and found a much more entertaining way – what's your D&D (Dungeons & Dragons for the non-nerds) character class? Please help me put you in the right corner in the comments... ;)
𝐋𝐚𝐰𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 Teresa Torres likes to hang out here. PMs in this corner believe in the power of frameworks, processes, data and methods – but they also know that these methods have a common goal: To build an organization that "does the right thing" – serving users in innovative ways! Dr. Else van der Berg – I might stick you in that corner, too!
𝐋𝐚𝐰𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐍𝐞𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥 Frameworks and data-driven decisions are so great. Really, really great. Let's use them all the time. Do they change our ways of working? Maybe. Maybe not! The main thing is to stick to the process!
𝐋𝐚𝐰𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐄𝐯𝐢𝐥 SAFe is amazing. Let's hire some more agile coaches and run another agile transformation at this bank which has been living under a rock for the past 30 years – without changing the underlying problems, of course, but hey, the main thing is to run agile!
𝐍𝐞𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 Only one thing matters: Delivering valuable stuff that works both for users and your business. There is no one process that gets you there, there are only principles. Marty Cagan lives here. He's your best friend. You sometimes find it difficult to explain your approach because people claim to have read the books, but really haven't. Sometimes you feel lonely.
𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥 You know Marty. He's a bit too principled for you. Sometimes you gotta be flexible, not every company is "the best (vs. the rest)" that Marty keeps going on about!
𝐍𝐞𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐯𝐢𝐥 You don't care about principles and frameworks, but more importantly, you hate your users. They are wrong. They don't deserve your product. Your target audience is "people who enjoy your product", which is actually just you.
𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 You fight the good fight – but you hate principles and processes with a vengeance. They just get in the way. You go by your intuition. As long as you build something useful, you'll do fine! Steve Jobs is your spirit animal.
𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐍𝐞𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥 Product management is war. You don't care about processes, principles or delivery frameworks. Honestly, you're just here as a firefighter, trying to somehow keep this thing from burning to a crisp.
𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐄𝐯𝐢𝐥 It's a war, but you've secretly switched sides. You hate processes, as they are just corporate's way of controlling you. But also, you really couldn't care less about your stupid product that has no purpose or value. You day-dream about becoming a gardener, Kevin Spacey's little speech to his Boss in American Beauty "My job consists of basically masking my contempt for the a--holes in charge (...)" makes so much sense to you!
