Suggestions
Mayank Gulati
Get ship done
Mayank Gulati is currently a Product Manager at DoorDash, where he has been instrumental in enhancing the company's parcel delivery capabilities. Under his leadership, DoorDash significantly increased its parcel delivery volume from 10,000 parcels a day during the 2022 holiday season to 50,000 parcels a day in 2023.24
Gulati holds a degree in Systems Design Engineering from the University of Waterloo and has a diverse background in product management and engineering. Before joining DoorDash in January 2022, he worked at several prominent tech companies, including Lyft, Uber, and Microsoft.3 His professional journey reflects a strong commitment to creating products that positively impact users' lives and an enthusiasm for technology and innovation.2
In addition to his technical expertise, Gulati's educational background includes courses in human-computer interaction (HCI), artificial intelligence (AI), control systems, linear algebra, and computational neuroscience, which equip him with a well-rounded skill set for product development.1
Highlights
Do you see my posts float by on your feed and think to yourself, “I could do this idiot's job better than him?” Well now you can because we’re #hiring!
Ever wanted to ride an ebike, scooter, or bike from Citi Bike, Divvy, Bay Wheels, CaBi, or Lyft, but just not been able to find one nearby? Ever been riding a bike and not able to find any open docks at the destination station?
If you are excited to make these frustrating micro-mobility experiences a thing of the past, you will want to check out this PM role for Pricing Bikes and Scooters at Lyft.
It's a job description I personally wrote, as I am front-filling my own replacement for the role.
Some perks of taking over teams I run: ✅ The team is used to absentee visionary PM in me; low bar for you to meet. ✅ First few months / quarters have free wins from long planned efforts ✅ Engineers, Scientists, Designers on the team are sharp and deeply engaged with product ✅ I provide free unlimited ramp up / advice that doesn’t end when I leave ✅ Me leaving opens up a large budget available for your next perf cycle ✅ You get to take on all-time-greatest-hits managers, in this case Frank Hebbert
Don’t believe me? I wouldn’t either! Let’s ask some PMs that have taken over my teams: Miraj Rahematpura, Mojin Chen, Janie Gu, Griffin Thomson.
Just a heads up that this particular role is probably not a good fit if: 🚫 You’re not super comfortable with numbers, feelings, numbers about feelings, and feelings about numbers. 🚫 You are looking in the near term for more people management rather than IC product management experience.
Do me a favor and tag your favorite job seeker below!
Have you ever felt entirely unmotivated, disillusioned, and dreading to go on with work day in and day out?
This state is called burn out. 🥵🔥🚫
Personally, I've found myself annoyingly engaged at work even during times of extreme uncertainty, and am often told that I infect teams with a similar optimism.
While luck has definitely played a factor, here’s some actionable and some unconventional insights that have kept me sane through the years, including during a global pandemic:
📖 Our attitude, feelings, and approach are all a result of the stories we tell ourselves, which is, for the most part, entirely in our control.
📅 Deadlines are just a construct, and fabricated urgency is a one way ticket to burn out. Unless externally imposed, drop the due date.
🎯 OKRs are vanity metrics, especially after they’ve been set, and I’m not a fan of vanity coloring the way I see my worth.
😁 Only do the work that is going to bring joy to you or someone you care about. You’d be surprised how much you can skip without any complaints.
👥 Keep collaborations to a minimum, and define boundaries when they happen. Stay in control of your own destiny by avoiding critical dependencies. Avoid especially the trap of ‘working’ with other PMs.
🕒 Turn your pessimism into optimism by changing the time scale you think over “this is impossible to do this quarter, but boy can we knock it out of the park in a year.”
🏋️ When I find myself repeating existing skills rather than gaining new ones, I frame it to myself as practice — so I always feel like I'm learning and improving, just like never skipping leg day.
✨ Don’t ever drink the Kool Aid. Falling for magical thinking is just the first step towards disillusionment. We are all cogs in money making machines, not agents of change for society at large.
⚖️ Internally your organization can be quite unstable, so keep your loyalties solely with your customers. User needs don't change every time there's a re-org, and neither should your focus.
🏫 Keep yourself surrounded by people smarter than you, and remember to move on when they do.
👨🏻💼 Terrible managers will, given enough time, win out in the war against your drive. Avoid them like the coronavirus.
⚱️ Once you’re burnt out, there’s no going back. Get out — either off your team or company. Even if you don’t have your next gig, your sanity is worth more than your next vest.
🧂As with any advice, take with a grain of salt and your mileage may vary. Also, feel free to vehemently disagree in the comments and provide your perspective.
💬 Have your own tips and insights on avoiding burnout? don't hold out! Please share them below.
