First Round
Product Program
A masterclass for rising star product managers in New York City
In Fall 2017, First Round will bring together a small cohort of exceptional product managers in New York for a quarter-long program of seminars, workshops and peer-to-peer learning. Inspired by associate product manager programs popular in Silicon Valley, we want to bring the same opportunities to the NYC community. Our instructors include some of the most impactful product builders working today.
An entirely new experience for rising star PMs in New York City who are looking to level up.
From September to December, we'll run bi-weekly sessions split into two halves. The first hour will be a seminar or workshop taught by visionaries in the field. Topics will include goal-setting, product prioritization, data-driven analytics, iteration, growth, and more.
The second hour of each session is designed as a unique peer-to-peer exchange of ideas, tactics and advice for solving the specific challenges participants face in their current roles. They'll be able to crowd-source wisdom customized to their work — and establish a network of colleagues who will define the industry for years to come.
Applications for the program are open now and close August 21st. All expenses are covered. The ideal candidate is a New York-based product manager with at least one year of experience who's looking to accelerate their skills and career.
The Program Guides
Melody Koh, Head of Product at Blue Apron and Partner in the Product Co-op
At Blue Apron, Melody leads a 30-person team across Product Management, Product Design, and Analytics. Melody joined Blue Apron in early 2014 as their first product hire when the company had just 20 HQ employees and has helped scale the business through hyper-growth. Prior to Blue Apron, Melody was a Product Manager at Fab.com and began her product journey with FirstCrush, a personalized wine subscription service she started in business school. Melody earned her MBA from Harvard Business School and her BS from the University of Virginia.
Anthony Schrauth, Chief Innovation Officer at Betterment
For eight years at Betterment, Anthony helped build the product and culture from the ground up. He led the product management, product design, and behavior finance and investing teams. Previously, he specialized in consumer strategies for online product offerings at Manhattan Consulting Group. Anthony earned dual degrees in strategic management and operations and information management from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Justin Chang, Head of Product at Classpass
Justin joined ClassPass early and helped scale the company as Head of Product and Engineering. Prior, he served as a product leader at electronics commerce company AHAlife and various startups. Justin began his career as a management consultant for Bain & Company and holds degrees in Finance and Management from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Mike Berkley, Senior Vice President Product Management at Viacom
Mike has developed new businesses for companies like Spotify, Comcast and numerous startups, including two he founded. Today, he's consulting with several companies to develop and implement digital transformation strategies. Prior, he was SVP Product at Viacom, responsible for all new products, mobile, video, monetization, data and content. He was also VP Product at Spotify, and executive director of product at Comcast. He graduated from Middlebury College with a degree in music composition.
Natalie Gibralter, Director of Product at Squarespace
Natalie was the first product manager at Squarespace and has spent the past five years developing the team. Beforehand, she founded and ran a non-profit in the Middle East focused on cross cultural communication, and was a very early employee at KIND snacks, where she worked on developing their social mission, started their field marketing organization, and worked on partnerships with brands like Starbucks. A native New Yorker, she has a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University.
Jay Goldklang, Founder of Great Jones and former VP of Product at 1stdibs
Jay is working on a new venture that delivers superior technology and service to residential property owners and their residents. Before founding the company, he served as VP of Product and helped build the business model at 1stdibs, the marketplace for high-end furniture, fine art, jewelry and fashion. Prior to that, he worked at Seamless, Bain & Company and Gold Standard Collectibles (which he also founded). He completed undergrad at Yale and has his MBA from Stanford.
Xiaodi Zhang, Chief Product Officer at 1stdibs
Xiaodi joined 1stdibs as the first product hire. Over the last five years, she led the transformation of the luxury marketplace, including its user experience, platform and business model. Along the way, she built a team of rockstar product managers and designers. Prior to 1stdibs, Xiaodi held product leadership positions at Gilt and eBay. While at eBay, she spent five invaluable years in Shanghai, learning the true definition of scale and competition. Her China experience still shapes how Xiaodi approaches product strategy today.
Sam Gimbel, Chief Product Officer & Co-Founder at Clark
Sam is co-founder and head of product at Clark, a seed-stage edtech startup, where he is building a platform for tutors to help them create and grow their own businesses. He was the first product hire at DigitalOcean, helped DramaFever grow its mobile and set-top VOD business towards an acquisition by Softbank in 2014, and he recently taught product management at General Assembly in New York City. His off-hours are spent running in Brooklyn's beautiful Prospect Park and actively practicing the art of homebrewing.
Chris Maliwat, Chief Product Officer at artnet
Chris Maliwat is the Chief Product Officer at artnet, the leading online resource for the international art market, and the destination to buy, sell, and research art online. Chris is the former Head of Product Management at Warby Parker, which was listed on Apple's 10 Best Apps of the Year for 2016. Previously, Chris lead commerce and retail partnerships for the Strategic Partnership Development group at Facebook. He also served as Vice President of Product Management for Gilt Groupe. Prior to moving to New York, Chris was Director of Product Management for Personalization at Netflix and was a Senior Global Product Manager for eBay.
Kristen Donnino, VP of Product at Adaptly
Kristen has over 11 years of experience in product management, strategy and marketing in both fintech and adtech. In her current role, she oversees all aspects of Adaptly's product lifecycle and works closely with its strategic partners, including Snapchat, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter. Over the past 4 years at the company, Kristen has been deeply involved in establishing the product vision and launching new integrations, products and features in-market.
Geoff Calkins, VP of Product at Flatiron Health
Geoff oversees product management, operations, clinical data abstraction and quantitative sciences — teams that work together to design and deliver research products and services to biopharmaceutical and academic partners. Previously, he was a data scientist and researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital, and worked in healthcare strategy for Bain & Company. Geoff received his undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering from Yale University.
Camille Hearst, Founder & CEO at Kit
Every day, Camille helps communities discover and discuss interesting, useful products. Prior to Kit, Camille worked as a product manager and product marketer at various tech companies, including Apple (on the iTunes team), YouTube, Google, and London-based startup Hailo. She holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from Stanford University’s programs in Science, Technology, & Society/Product Design and Management, Science, and Engineering.
Hannah Donovan, Product Leader
Hannah was the General Manager at Vine, led the team and product at Drip (a music start-up acquired by Kickstarter), was VP Design at Ripcord (a product incubator funded by MTV), co-founded the song-sharing service This Is My Jam which was incubated by The Echo Nest (now part of Spotify), and was part of the original leadership team at music service Last.fm (acquired by CBS) where she led design. She’s a classically trained cellist who loves hip-hop, as well as a classically trained graphic designer who loves too many patterns at once. She also loves tigers, but isn't classically trained to handle them. Yet.
Alexandria Stried, Chief Product Officer Ellevest
At Ellevest, Alexandria keeps the team moving and driven toward one goal: Making it easy and engaging for women to invest in their futures. Previously, she worked at Weight Watchers International, where she led the launch of a new business line called Personal Coaching, for which her team won a Webby Award. Alexandria received her MA from New York University, and BS from Bradley University. When she’s not thinking about how to make investing easier, she enjoys paddle-boarding on the Hudson River, traveling the world, and reading book club picks.
Keith Cowing, Director of Product Management at Flatiron Health
Keith is responsible for Flatiron's provider-facing products, particularly its OncoCloud software. Prior, he served as a product manager at both Twitter and LinkedIn, creating flagship advertising features. And before that, he was founder and CEO of Seamless Receipts, serving brick and mortar retailers like Oakley, Tumi and Burton, before it was acquired by Sailthru. Keith has his BS in electrical and computer engineering and MBA from Cornell.
Steve Jacobs, President, New Digital Ventures and Former CPO at HBC
Steve is responsible for starting new digital businesses inside HBC. Before, he was SVP Digital Technology & Product for HBC, managing products across brands. He joined the company when it acquired Gilt, where he ran digital marketing, product and technology. Previously, he headed the high performance computing group at Merrill Lynch and was CTO of ad-targeting company Poindexter Systems. He has his PhD in electrical engineering from Columbia, and is a venture partner at FirstMark Capital.
Applications are now closed.
