This blog is a culmination of writing for the last 3 years and thinking for the last 15 years. Before we go into details of what, why and how, I'll answer the pressing question on your mind - Who?

I am Rameez Kakodker. A product management person by trade. A jack of all trades, master of some.

What is product management you might ask? Well, some describe it as being CEOs of the products they own - I personally don't fancy that level of authority. Others say it's the middle of the venn diagram that has 'business', 'design' and 'tech'.

In all honesty, even after 12 years of doing this, I'm still trying figure out what it is I really do... I might be envious of the software engineer or the designer that can point to a part of the final product and say, I made that - but I cannot point at the finished product and say, I made that.

In some sense, I'm a co-ordinator - a role with all the responsibilities, but no glory. Why do I this? I'd have to be mental, right? Well, yes and no.

Ever since I could remember, I have been fascinated with technology - to the point that I made my motto in life to build technology and tools to make human life simple. And as I grew from a tiny child to a college going student, I learnt a lot about technology - going as far as to write in multiple languages (code, of course, I can't speak more than 4 languages).

What I realized is that technology is as good as the requirements that are written for it. You can add two numbers in a number of ways - how you do it is determined by a lot of factors! And that's where the fascination lies - I product manage, not because I can't code, design or do business. I product manage because the joy I experience in triumphing over the uncertainty of every area of building product. Mad, wouldn't you say?

Nonetheless, here is the kicker - while most folks go vertical in their pursuit of product management, I've lingered around going horizontal - learning to code, design and even run a business. This is not to one-up the fantastic folks who I work with (or have worked with), but to better empathize with them... you see, in the face of uncertainty, the one who can get the entire team rallied to the main mission, succeeds.

And in this ongoing journey, I've built some thoughts and experiences - which I'm more than happy to share with you. Hence this blog.

No. It's a character from the Halo games franchise. You can read more about Mendicant Bias here.

Two quotes that stand out to me, that inspired the name:

"Mendicant Bias... Beggar after knowledge. That is the name I gave you after we last met."
— Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting, spoken through by the Didact's memories.

and

"And so here at the end of my life, I do once again betray a former master. The path ahead is fraught with peril. But I will do all I can to keep it stable - keep you safe. I'm not so foolish to think this will absolve me of my sins. One life hardly balances billions."— Mendicant Bias to John-117 in its final terminal transmission.

These are strict references to the source material and those of you who wish to dive into the mind-bending frenzy that is Halo, can do so through playing the games and reading the books.

I personally like the parts - "Beggar after knowledge" and "path ahead is fraught with peril. But I will do all I can to keep it stable - keep you safe".

The entire blog is my attempt to help those who'll come after me in their journey through life (and product management). May my lessons, my learning keep you aware of the expanding possibilities.

As is tradition with all my personal projects, this is a work in progress. I'm coding all of this from the ground up (with helpful inputs from the Stack overflow community - none of us can do this alone). As time progresses, things will become better. Fortunately, you can find the entire codebase on github (open the astro folder for the roadmap) - where the progress and failures are made abundantly clear. I will do a write up on the technology used to build this blog and the advantages, but as a side note, checkout the page load times.

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Anyway, I really do hope you enjoy your time here. Hope these words have given you some boost - remember if they did you have an obligation to write your own words and pass on the learning. I didn't become a good product manager on my own - neither will you. It is imperative that you spread your knowledge to the next one in live.

Eventually, technology will truly make peoples lives easier and better. Till then, we'll slog to keep the complexities hidden behind 20 page requirement documents and daily scrums.

Thank you.