15 Women in Product You Should Be Following
We’ll keep this pretty short: women in product and tech always need as much championing as possible if we’re going to continue to push toward greater equity – and inspire today’s girls to become tomorrow’s industry leaders. The work on that front is never done.
In fact, recent research shows that only one in four product leadership roles are currently occupied by women.
The good news? Things are looking pretty rosy. Right now the product world boasts a huge amount of talent in the double-X-chromosome department, all of whom are doing incredible work in every aspect of the industry – from founding and investing to designing and developing.
The top 15 women in product you should be following
Here’s a not-so-exhaustive list of just some of the influential women who ought to be on your radar and in your feeds.
- Melissa Perri
- Teresa Torres
- Janna Bastow
- Erin Teague
- Reshma Saujani
- Aileen Lee
- Julia Grace
- Amanda Ralph
- Julie Zhuo
- Rashmi Sinha
- Michele Hansen
- Sallie Krawcheck
- JJ Rorie
- Melanie Perkins
- Laura Klein
For even more, be sure to keep a beady eye on our webinars.
1. Melissa Perri
Melissa’s bag is all about helping to build great leaders in the space. She runs a couple of great online schools on the subject: Product Institute and The CPO Accelerator, which both aim to create a new generation of Chief Product Officers that can solve product issues in scientific terms.
She’s also the author of “Escaping the Build Trap”, a book that dives into why product managers are the key to ensuring product value. In the Product Thinking podcast, meanwhile, Melissa connects “with industry-leading experts in the product management space, and answers your most pressing questions about everything product.”
Watch Melissa and Janna Bastow, our CEO and Co-Founder, talk about product operations in our free-to-stream webinar here.
Where to find her: Twitter | LinkedIn | Blog | Podcast
2. Teresa Torres
Teresa knows the importance of continuous discovery in the product world. Her book, Continuous Discovery Habits, digs deep into how and why you can make your product infinitely better the more you uncover about its place in the world, and she’s got a range of classes and resources on hand to boot.
As she puts it, her focus is on how to “Better understand your users or customers so that you can deliver an irresistible product, integrate experiments into your product development process so that you can be confident that every line of code matters, and make data-informed product decisions that drive both business and customer success.”
We’ve been lucky enough to have Terresa join us for a webinar on continuous product discovery, you can stream it here.
Where to find her: Twitter | LinkedIn | Blog | Watch
3. Janna Bastow
Hold up… how did our co-founder and CEO sneak into this completely unbiased list?! Janna’s a meticulously-focussed problem solver who puts a pragmatic focus on getting right to the heart of any given product-related issue. Oh, and she’s a champion of the Now-Next-Later approach to roadmapping.
Janna’s written oodles of blogs right here on ProdPad.com, and organizes ProductTank events around the world, and is one of the co-founders of Mind The Product, a global community of product managers. How could Janna not be on this list?
Where to find her: Twitter | LinkedIn | Blog | Watch
4. Erin Teague
Erin is currently the Director of Product Management at YouTube, focusing on sports, shows, and movies alongside Racial Justice, Equity, and Product Inclusion product team. Erin’s a huge advocate around issues to do with equality and diversity in the space – as her Twitter bio puts it, she’s “working hard to make my ancestors smile!”
Before working at Google, Erin made moves at both Twitter and Yahoo!, and sits on multiple tech advisory boards. She cut her teeth designing trading algorithms at Morgan Stanley, and now routinely ranks in lists (just like this one) about the tech world’s most influential women. Oh, and in 2019, Erin won the 2019 B.E.T. Her Tech Maven Award. She’s a pretty big deal.
Where to find her: Twitter | LinkedIn | Watch
5. Reshma Saujani
As the founder of both Girls Who Code and Moms First, it should come as no surprise that Reshma’s insanely focused on helping women break into – and flourish in – the tech space. She’s a bestselling author, a renowned public speaker, and the CEO of an organization that has “taught 300,000 girls through direct in-person computer science education programming.”
If you’re looking for some lunchtime viewing, Reshma’s iconic TED Talk about how to help young girls feel empowered has racked up some six million views across various channels. She’s also a keen investor – with a portfolio built around unique companies and underrepresented business founders.
Where to find her: Twitter | LinkedIn | Blog | Watch
6. Aileen Lee
Aileen is the founder and managing partner of Cowboy Ventures, a VC funding group that specializes in consumer-led tech. But she’s also the founder of All Raise, a nonprofit that focuses specifically on improving funding prospects for female founders.
Fun fact: Aileen was the person who first coined the term ‘unicorn’ when referring to businesses that hit $1 billion without being listed on the stock market.
Where to find her: Twitter | LinkedIn | Podcast
7. Julia Grace
Julia is the VP of Product Engineering at Netflix, which would be impressive enough by itself. But Julia was also the Engineering Director at Apple and a Senior Director of Engineering at Slack. So it’s safe to say she knows a thing or two about growing products.
The talk linked above, from the 2019 NYC Lead Developer Conference, is a great watch for any product managers looking to navigate the tricky waters of scaling rapidly. In it, she discusses taking Slack from 100 to 500 team members.
Where to find her: Twitter | LinkedIn | Watch
8. Amanda Ralph
Aus-based Amanda is a thought leader in the product space with a string of speaking and podcast appearances to her name alongside the hugely successful blog, That Product Chick. If you’re unfamiliar, it’s well worth digging into that site as it’s an absolute goldmine of industry knowledge – on everything from diversity in the field to how to put OKRs to work.
Amanda also founded the thousands-strong Product Women Meetup community to “provide support and mentorship for women who are looking to meet other women in Product Management.”
Where to find her: Twitter | LinkedIn | Blog | Listen
9. Julie Zhuo
Julie was the vice president of product design at Facebook for 13 years, helping take the platform from 8 million users to over 2 billion. She now co-runs Inspirit, a tech-based advisory and consultancy firm.
Moreover, Julie’s the author of The Making of a Manager, a best-selling field guide that aims to build incredible product managers out of newbies who might feel out of their depth. As well as writing for the likes of the New York Times and Fast Company, Jule’s Year of the Looking Glass blog is a great look behind the curtain at product design (and life in general).
Where to find her: Twitter | LinkedIn | Blog | Watch
10. Rashmi Sinha
Even though Rashmi’s LinkedIn profile quite brilliantly describes her as an ‘Entrepreneur at large”, she actually says that she “did not set out to be an entrepreneur. It’s just the easiest way to make an idea come alive.”
The idea you’ve probably interacted with is SlideShare, which she co-founded with her husband and brother. But Rashmi’s also a scientist; her SJIA Foundation is currently researching cutes for Systemic JIA, Adult Onset Still’s Disease, and MAS.
Where to find her: Twitter | LinkedIn | Listen
11. Michele Hansen
Michele is a SaaS founder (Geocodio), speaker, and author. Her book, Deploy Empathy: A Practical Guide to Interviewing Customers, is all about her key passion: uncovering your product’s value from the best source possible: the people who use it.
Michele is also the co-host of the Software Social podcast, a great show in which she sits down with friend and fellow SaaS founder, Colleen Schnettler, for an informal chat about all things product.
Where to find her: Twitter | LinkedIn | Blog | Watch
12. Sallie Krawcheck
Sallie’s a finance and investment powerhouse who’s been described in the past as “the most powerful woman on Wall Street.” Right now she’s the founder and CEO of Ellevest, a financial advisory company aimed at helping women secure investment, but she’s been all over the finance sector, including CitiGroup and Bank of America.
If you work in product and you’re wondering how best to speak to investors and secure funding, then Sallie’s blogs, books, and talks should definitely be on your list.
Where to find her: Twitter | LinkedIn | Blog | Watch
13. JJ Rorie
JJ’s a product management guru whose book, Immutable, is a one-stop shop for mastering the techniques you’ll need to become a truly well-rounded PM. Also on the slate is the Product Voices podcast, in which JJ talks to voices from around the product space about today’s biggest SaaS subjects.
Her experience comes from more than 15 years of product management at brands like FedEx, Verizon, T-Mobile, the American Hospital Association, and RBC.
Where to find her: Twitter | LinkedIn | Blog | Listen
14. Melanie Perkins
Ever used Canva to make a presentation? That was Melanie’s baby – and it made her one of the youngest women ever to garner a $1b net worth (money she plans to give away).
Melanie’s Twitter, Medium page, and even Insta account aren’t the most active in the world, but she has a wealth of knowledge on the subjects of developing a product and getting funding, so it’s worth setting up a Google alert for any interviews with her; she’s done a decent number of podcast interviews over the years.
Where to find her: Twitter | LinkedIn | Blog | Listen
15. Laura Klein
Laura’s the absolute boss when it comes to all things UX. Her books, Build Better Products and UX for Lean Startups run through everything product teams could ever want to know about how to integrate purposeful UX design that solves real customer needs.
As well as writing and making numerous conference appearances, Laura’s also involved in a couple of podcasts: What is Wrong with UX, and What is Wrong with Hiring. Oh, and she’s also appeared on a ProdPad webinar all about the nuances of UX needs…
Where to find her: Twitter | LinkedIn | Blog | Watch
Join the ‘Women in Product’ Slack group
Women in Product is a collective that was founded in 2015 to create a supportive space for women in product to talk about their work, get advice, and celebrate their successes.
What makes this Slack group so special is its ability to really help lift you (and your career) up. Whether you need help negotiating new contracts or pay raises – or just want to find out more about female-friendly companies – this community should be your go-to. Fill in this form to join.