How can a PM transition from innovation to investing? In this episode of the Product to Venture series with Mighty Capital Managing Partner SC Moatti, Morgan Creek Digital General Partner and Co-Founder Xavier Segura speaks on his career journey from product manager to venture capitalist. He shares stories from his early career in startups working on mobile technology and big data. He also discusses his views on the continued “cloud revolution” and trends around vertical integration of AI models and data. The discussion provides insights into successfully transitioning careers and investing with a focus on diversity and inclusion.
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Show Notes
- Negotiation is an important skill for product managers when working with different stakeholders.
- QR codes were initially difficult to monetize but became more mainstream over time.
- New York City has been a hub of financial technology innovation.
- The scrum methodology improved on the waterfall approach for software development.
- Finding product-market fit is challenging, especially for products competing against free alternatives.
- Transitioning careers requires investing in yourself through further education or experience.
- Blockchain presented an opportunity to address data security and privacy challenges with third-party data sharing.
- The cloud revolution is ongoing as more companies move workloads off-prem.
- Vertical integration of proprietary AI models and data sets allows for differentiation and control.
- Retraining models requires injecting diversity of thoughts to avoid limited outcomes.
- Early AI systems struggled without sufficiently diverse training data.
- Diversity of perspectives on investment teams can help identify opportunities others may miss.
- User interface is vastly underrated in determining a great product.
- Great product managers are strong listeners and mediators.
- Product executives should acknowledge what they don’t know and bring in others to fill gaps.
- Books like The Lean Startup, Behind the Cloud, and Zero to One provide guidance for product careers.
- Podcasts are a good resource for staying up to date on trends.
- Transitioning between the technology and business sides provides a rounded perspective.
- 19. Seeing challenges as opportunities is important for transitioning from innovation to investing.
- Humility and continuous learning are keys to long-term success.
About the speaker
Mr. Segura is a General Partner and Co-Founder of Morgan Creek Digital, a venture firm that invests in the next evolution of internet companies. He previously founded Tessera Venture Partners, to invest in diverse and inclusive digital innovation companies. He has a background in AI, big data, and blockchain where he has refined growth techniques from over 12 years in the tech industry. Before his investment career, Xavier was a technology executive focused on leading teams in strategy, product, and business-development at Oracle, Verizon and AppNexus (acquired by Microsoft). He has managed over $100M in global P&L’s and has been driven over $10 billion worth of tech acquisitions by building technology stacks using artificial intelligence. Xavier was a member of the Stanford GSB Latino Entrepreneurship program, holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA from the University of Michigan.