Product Builders & Joy
⚠️ Food Allergy Alert: There will be peanut butter in the room.
Join like-minded tech people in some reciprocal mentorship, with sandwiches.
Ever feel like all the fun has gone out of tech?
Many of us got into this business for the joy of building something great with like-minded people.
But these days, that’s lost in a sea of metrics, growth, OKRs, quarterly planning, fundraising, and managing up. Those things aren’t always bad…but they’re no substitute for the fun of building together.
If that resonates, know you’re not alone—and join us.
Product Builders & Joy (PB&J…get it? Get it??) is a reciprocal-advice and support meetup for technologists—PMs, designers, founders, engineers, and others—who want to build great products with healthy teams, live satisfying lives, and have fun along the way.
We are brand new. What PB&J becomes…that’s up to you.
What you’ll bring:
A challenge you’re facing at work: with a project, an idea, your team, your career, whatever.
Your expertise in one or more domains, along with a desire to help others.
An open mind as you listen, give advice, and receive it.
We’re asking for #1 and #2 when you register, to ensure we have a good mix of topics and expertise in each discussion group.
What you’ll get:
A structured, facilitated session optimized for reciprocal advice & support.
New perspectives and lenses on your challenge.
A chance to help others, and maybe learn along the way.
The opportunity to meet like-minded people facing similar frustrations to your own.
Build-your-own peanut butter & jelly sandwiches and beer.
A plan to meet every 4-6 weeks if it goes well.
Organizers
Cate Czerwinski is a facilitator and Agile coach with over 15 years of experience. She helps teams overcome distance and isolation by designing workshops that build belonging and capacity for collaboration. Clients include Zalando, Siemens, and WeTransfer.
Dave Feldman is a people-first product leader with 25 years’ experience across Product, Design, and Engineering. He’s worked at giants like Google, tiny startups he co-founded, and everything in between.
Roland Butler is Head of Product for Content Solutions at Zalando. He’s a cross-functional leader with more than 20 years experience including JUST EAT, Bookatable, and VavaCars.