Student Spotlight: Answering the Questions that Every Product Manager Needs to Know
An innovator at heart, Rahul Goyal has used the skills he has learned in the MSSM program to excel into the entrepreneurial and product management world.
By Kaitlyn Stossel
Rahul Goyal (MSSM ‘23) wanted to find a program that merged the worlds of technology and business together. The 16 month Master of Science in Software Management program (MSSM) seemed like the perfect fit for an entrepreneur like Goyal.
Goyal graduated from Shiv Nadar University in 2020 with a Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science before applying to Carnegie Mellon University.
“Coming from a technical sales background, I possessed both of these skills [technology and business] but wanted a platform to show that to the outside world. The MSSM program looked like the best way to help me transition into the world of product management. The structure of the program also allowed me to test out my learnings during a summer internship, and shape future opportunities in the right manner,” said Goyal.
The MSSM program did, in fact, lead Goyal to an excellent summer opportunity. He is currently working as a Product Manager Intern at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), a business-focused organization which works in servers, storage, networking, consulting and support.
Goyal at Config, Figma's global annual conference in San Francisco.
Rahul Goyal (MSSM '23)
https://www.grahul.
Product Manager Intern at Hewlett Packard Enterprise
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Advice for MSSM Students
"Being active, vocal and opinionated is a must to be a product manager, and to be successful in the MSSM program, which entails a lot of hard work and a lot of fun. So, my advice to everyone would be to come up with a lot of passion and enthusiasm, and leverage the platform CMU provides. It is one of a kind, and they have world class connections that no other place can provide. Trust the process, take one step at a time, and as they say, 'just go with the flow.'”
At HPE, Goyal gets to apply the knowledge he has learned through the courses at MSSM. He is primarily working on conducting marketing research and building product vision, as well as managing multiple stakeholders. Goyal converts ideas and requests from said stakeholders into impactful solutions that enhance customer experience and generate positive business outcomes.
“All the courses which I have gone through at CMU have had some flavors of what I’m currently doing, hence making the corporate space feel less alien. Courses such as Product Definition & Validation (PDV) and Foundations of Software Management (FSM) have trained us in all the aspects of product management. At HPE, I have a stage to show off all those learnings.”
On top of a valuable internship experience, Goyal also co-founded a very successful podcast, Product Unfiltered, with fellow MSSM student Utkarsh Khandelwal in January of 2023.
A screengrab from the Product Unfiltered website.
The Product Unfiltered podcast aims to foster a culture of continuous learning and collaboration, and to inspire the next generation of product leaders to reach their full potential.
“When I came to the U.S. for my masters, there was so much hype around product management, but people were not actually aware about the core of product management. So, we thought of building a one-stop platform for aspiring product managers to find all the resources they need,” Goyal said.
The two co-hosts also bring in industry leaders to share their experiences and learnings. Some of their guests have included Radhika Dutt, author of Radical Product Thinking, and Raghav Gupta, Head of Product for Uber.
“We have learned so much about product management through Product Unfiltered,” said Goyal. “This is now our product, and we are the product managers who are solely responsible for the success of it. It is a good platform for us to build our product sense and a profile that shows the impact we want to create in the industry.”
“For me personally, the podcast is a way to improve the product community to whatever extent possible. If I’m able to help even 100 or 200 people through this initiative, then it’s a success for me.”
In the coming years, Goyal hopes to use his internship experience, course knowledge, and entrepreneurial spirit to find a job as a product manager, product marketing manager, or growth product manager.
“I am a builder by nature, and the entrepreneurial fire inside me always forces me to think of everything as a challenge and a product that needs to be built," Goyal said. "I think my skill sets and mindset combine to make me a great product manager in the coming days.”