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There and Back Again: From PM to Founder and Back

Name: There and Back Again: From PM to Founder and Back
Start: 2026-05-27T07:30:00-04:00
End: 2026-05-27T09:00:00-04:00

May 27 @ 7:30 am - 9:00 am

Operator scars, founder lessons, and the perspective shift that changes how great product people lead.

What happens when product leaders cross into founder mode, step into the venture world, and come back with a different lens?

Join
– Hari Gopal, Director of Corporate Insights at Engage,
– Kent Keirsey, Director of Product Management at Adobe, and
– Steve Engdahl, Head of Product at Systech

for a candid conversation about what carries over, what breaks, and what changes when you move between product, startups, and investing.

Kent has lived the operator-to-founder-to-product-leader path, including building a company that was acquired by Adobe. Hari brings a PM-gone-VC perspective from the Atlanta startup scene. Steve has seen the product journey from just about every angle: venture-backed, public, privately held, and his own startup.

✅ What product work actually prepares you for founderhood
✅ What founders learn that can make them sharper, more decisive PMs
✅ What surprises both sides, and how those lessons show up back in the day-to-day work

This is not startup mythology or polished career advice. It’s a real conversation about the skills, tradeoffs, and perspective shifts that come with building from different seats. Join product people from around the world who care about building what matters.

Join us for our community networking coffee chat at 7:30 AM ET. The main program begins at 8:00 AM ET!

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This Product Coffee session is free to attend courtesy of our sponsor, Podium Studios.

Can’t make it live? Recordings are available exclusively to Product Coffee Insiders and Premium members—and that’s just one of many perks brewing inside Premium.

☕️ Weekly Product Coffee Virtual Meetups on Zoom ($40/mo value)

🧐 Weekly Coaching Office Hours ($300/mo value)

✨ Monthly Professional Development Workshops ($199/mo value)

📹 Full Session Archive + Workshop Materials

💬 Private Slack Community

🤖 Exclusive AI Tools for PMs

👕 Members-only Product Coffee Swag

Try Premium FREE for 7 days at productcoffee.com/premium.Then just $49/month, or $41.59/month with annual billing.

Total value? Over $900/month.

Your cost? About the price of one fancy coffee a week. ☕️

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Thanks to all of our sponsors! Please visit them, learn about them and thank them for supporting Product Coffee!