The Railsware Way - How an MBA Helps (or doesn't) Product Mgmt, with Julia Starun

Code Story: Insights from Startup Tech Leaders

Today, we are another episode in our series, sponsored by our good friends at Railsware. Railsware is a leading product studio with two main focuses - services and products. They have created amazing products like Mailtrap, Coupler and TitanApps, while also partnering with teams like Calendly and Bright Bytes. They deliver amazing products, and have happy customers to prove it.

In this series, we are digging into the company's methods around product engineering and development. In particular, we will cover relevant topics to not only highlight their expertise, but to educate you on industry trends alongside their experience.

In today's episode, we are chatting with Julia Starun, Product Director at Railsware with over 17 years of experience in product management, business process automation and optimization. Julia will share her insights into where an MBA helps you manage a product team - and where it doesn't.

Questions:

• What was your story before MBA, and what motivated your decision to pursue it?
• What real-world gaps between MBA theory and product management practices did you discover at Railsware?
• Does MBA training help with the "people management" side of leading product teams?
• How can the tools and frameworks you learned during your MBA help with uncertainty – or overcomplicate things – when creating products?
• How does understanding "business stuff" – like P&L, unit economics, financial modeling, etc. – change how you approach product decisions?
• Does MBA business strategy training help product managers think beyond features to market positioning?
• For someone already managing product teams, when does pursuing an MBA make sense versus other learning paths?
• What's your biggest surprise about how MBA education did (or didn't) change the way you approach the realities of product team leadership?

Links

• https://railsware.com/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-starun/

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