‘Seasoned Skillets’ is our series designed to showcase the Skilljar team behind the business. These folks (aka Skillets) are developing, designing, writing, calling, measuring, analyzing, and more to propel Skilljar forward as a market leader in the customer education industry. Next up, Aizat!
How did you hear about Skilljar?
My previous company was considering purchasing Skilljar to help lower our churn rate and scale our customer onboarding. I was really intrigued by both the problems Skilljar was solving, and the massive opportunity in the market for a specialized customer training platform.
What does your role here entail?
I work closely with the Engineering, Sales, and Marketing teams to understand what our customers need, define the features we need to develop, and then work with our engineers to build it.
What advice would you give someone getting into SaaS product management?
Learn how to learn and be comfortable asking questions. New product managers have to quickly become experts on the product, the industry, the customers, and so much more and it can feel very overwhelming. The most successful product managers have a system for learning the most important things to build that expertise, and that includes asking the right questions along the way.
What makes someone successful in product management at Skilljar?
Having deep customer empathy is critical because we start with the customer need and work our way backward to find a solution. To build products that people love, you have to have a strong understanding of who your customers are, how they think, what they are trying to accomplish.
Skilljar is a fast-paced, rapidly changing place. What’s your advice for navigating (and excelling) in the startup environment?
Offer to help others. In a startup environment, there is always a lot to do, so offering to help others might seem counterintuitive. However, there may be times when someone is struggling with something that comes easily to you. By taking the time to help them out, you actually help things get done faster and build great trust with your fellow coworkers. In a culture where everyone is helping each other out there’s great camaraderie and trust.
Favorite Skilljar perk?
Flexible time off!
How do you manage your work/life balance?
I try to avoid bringing work home from the office so that when I am at home, I can focus on family and friends. I am also an advocate of taking time off when I feel like I’m getting overwhelmed.
Favorite place to visit in Seattle?
Lake Coulon Park
If you were going to offer a course online, what would it be about?
How to ask the right questions to best understand a problem at hand.
Interested in joining Aizat at Skilljar? Click below to check out our available job opportunities.
