How Profit and Loss Responsibility Motivates Product Managers - Ramsey Pryor

In Chapter 16 of 22 of his 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, international Internet product management executive Ramsey Pryor shares how profit and loss responsibility motivates performance in his field. Pryor details the importance of motivating managers financially, comparing East Coast and West Coast Internet business cultures. To Pryor, East Coast product management styles are more financially and numbers driven, imparting a business management feel. Pryor notes how West Coast style differs, as it takes a more developmental and technical specification focus, imparting a more technologist feel.

How Successful Product Managers Communicate Across Cultures - Ramsey Pryor

In Chapter 15 of 22 of his 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, international Internet product management executive Ramsey Pryor shares tips on effective team communication in multi-lingual and multi-cultural environments. Pryor references his own experiences working across teams in Europe and China and how focusing on message fidelity, or accuracy, across parties enabled success.

How to Use an MBA in a Product Management Career - Ramsey Pryor

In Chapter 14 of 22 of his 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, international Internet product management executive Ramsey Pryor how he has used his MBA to develop his career. Pryor applies general management skills - operations, accounting, finance, marketing, sales - in his product manager role working across company divisions. The diversified experiences provide Pryor general management training and experience that prepare him for future career advancement.  Pryor earned his MBA from the IESE Business School at the University of Navarra in Barcelona, Spain and his BA in Economics and Spanish from Northwestern University.

Why Broad Experience is Useful in a Product Management Role - Ramsey Pryor

In Chapter 13 of 22 of his 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, Ramsey Pryor explains why his broad experience has helped him develop an international product management career. Pryor resists specialization and focuses on learning a little about a lot. This "Jack-of-all-trades" approach helps Pryor manage the various relationships - programmers, legal, design, sales, etc. - fundamental to product management success.

How Design Skill Applies in Product Management Career - Ramsey Pryor

In Chapter 12 of 22 of his 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, international Internet product management executive Ramsey Pryor shares how his father's design background shaped his own expressive and creative interests in music, language, and communications. Ultimately, this results in Pryor applying his creative process to evolve the ways thinks look and behave in Internet product management.  Pryor earned an MBA at the University of Navarra IESE Business School in Barcelona,  Spain an a BA in Economics and Spanish from Northwestern University.

Why to Embrace Uncertainty When Developing an Internet Career - Ramsey Pryor

In Chapter 11 of 22 of his 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, international Internet product management executive Ramsey Pryor shares why the uncertainty associated with Internet careers is attractive, not off-putting. Not knowing what comes next motivates Pryor's innovation focused career pursuits. At a broader level, the uncertainty shifts priorities away from lifetime career, or cradle to grave, one company career options and toward one shaped by many possibilities provided by products and technologies not yet discovered or developed.  Pryor earned an MBA from IESE Business School at the University of Navarra in Barcelona, Spain and a BA in Economics and Spainish at Northwestern University.

How to Transition from Business Consulting to Product Marketing - Ramsey Pryor

In Chapter 10 of 22 of his 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, international Internet product management executive Ramsey Pryor details how he started his consulting career at Accenture after graduating Northwestern University and migrated to Silicon Valley to pursue work in Internet product marketing. While consulting, Pryor gains technology experience and training he then applies to a fast-paced Internet culture, beginning with a role at search engine Ask Jeeves. Pryor leaves behind a long-term consulting partner career track for the immediate responsibility Silicon Valley presents.

Why International Product Managers Must Be Good Listeners - Ramsey Pryor

In Chapter 9 of 22 of his 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, international Internet product management executive Ramsey Pryor shares why listening enables him to be successful in his work. Product managers are responsible for bringing an idea to market. They often lack direct reports across groups where commitment is essential to project success. As a result, Pryor notes the importance of both listening to individual group needs and using an open communication approach to secure commitment. As someone with experience working across North America, Asia, and Europe, Pryor also shares how effective communication becomes even more important working in multi-national and multi-cultural environments.

Why to Pursue International MBA at IESE Business School in Spain - Ramsey Pryor

In Chapter 8 of 22 of his 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, international Internet product management executive Ramsey Pryor shares why he chose University of Navarra's IESE Business School for his MBA Studies. Pryor notes the rigorous classroom component, including mandatory attendance, intense workload, case studies, and cold calling. He also notes the absolute curve and associated probationary periods. While more academically focused than North American peer schools, Pryor finds value in high percentage of international students and the related post-graduate international networking possibilities. Learn more about IESE at http://www.iese.edu/en/MBAPrograms/index.asp.

How International MBA Creates Global Business Network - Ramsey Pryor

In Chapter 7 of 22 of his 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, international Internet product management executive Ramsey Pryor shares why he decided to leave Silicon Valley to study business at the IESE MBA program in Barcelona, Spain. Pryor sets long term goals to live internationally and reasons that an internationally located MBA will help cultivate a global business network. This pushes Pryor to rank foreign options, including IESE, above domestic ones such as the Haas School of Business at UC-Berkeley.

How Living in Spain Directs Career Development - Ramsey Pryor

In Chapter 6 of 22 of his 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, international Internet product management executive Ramsey Pryor shares how Spain has influenced his development and life outlook. Beginning with abroad study at the Universidad de Sevilla, Pryor connects with the country's rich history, culture, language, and literature. Pryor returns regularly, including for his MBA at IESE in Barcelona, to experience the rich cultural traditions and lifestyle present in the country.

Why to Expose Children to International Travel Early in Life - Ramsey Pryor

In Chapter 5 of 22 of his 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, international Internet product management executive Ramsey Pryor shares why he and his wife prioritize exposing their children to foreign culture and travel early in life. Pryor, a fluent Spanish speaker, and his wife, a fluent Greek speaker, see foreign as something not to be questioned but to be embraced. The foreign culture exposure becomes a natural experience and counters any isolation that would occur without it.

What are the Benefits from Living, Studying, and Working Abroad - Ramsey Pryor

In Chapter 4 of 22 of his 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, international Internet product management executive Ramsey Pryor shares why living, studying, and working abroad challenges what one thinks is normal. Pryor travels and / or lives abroad during high school, college, graduate school and as a professional. He embraces the alternative perspectives that expose him to entirely new ways of doing things. He better understands his preferences and is then more informed when incorporating new approaches into his life.

How to Cultivate a Child's Interest in Foreign Language - Ramsey Pryor

In Chapter 3 of 22 of his 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, international Internet product management executive Ramsey Pryor shares how his mother identified and then cultivated his interest in foreign language. Learning language came naturally to young Pryor. Seeing this, his mother nurtures the interest by providing immersive learning experiences. She makes sure Pryor spends time around a native Spanish speaker and also encourages her son to take an abroad trip to Spain while in high school. Over time, Pryor finds learning language opens doors to culture and education. After winning high school awards in language contests, Pryor gets admitted to Northwestern University. While there he studies abroad in Spain, where he returns later to earn an MBA at IESE.

How Living in Foreign Cultures Stimulates Learning - Ramsey Pryor

In Chapter 2 of 22 of his 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, international Internet product management executive Ramsey Pryor shares what fascinates him most about living in foreign cultures. Pryor relishes new experiences, and moving to a new location provides him the license to build a new routine by exploring the people, language, and places in the new surroundings.

Why Living Up to Your Potential is the Best Definition of Success - Ramsey Pryor

In Chapter 1 of 22 of his 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, international Internet product management executive Ramsey Pryor shares why living to one's potential is the greatest and most difficult challenge, but also one worth aspiring to each day. Pryor finds fulfillment doing a little of a lot, gaining incremental perspective through his undertakings. He surrounds himself with social workers, doctors, and others pursuing different professional paths to learn from different approaches. These in turn help shape his ideas of fulfillment.

How to Teach Healthy Eating Habits and Promote Home Cooking - Sarah Simmons

In Chapter 16 of 16 of her 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, Food and Wine Magazine 2010 Home Cook Superstar, Bon Appetit contributor, and food entrepreneur Sarah Simmons shares how she teaches others to eat healthier. Concerned with an increasingly accepted and de facto quick serve restaurant (QSR) eating culture, Simmons promotes home cooking as the central means to create a healthier American food culture. Learn more about Sarah at http://sarahmcsimmons.com.

How Jamie Oliver TED Prize Inspires Fresh Food Advocacy Project - Sarah Simmons

In Chapter 15 of 16 of her 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, Food and Wine Magazine 2010 Home Cook Superstar, Bon Appetit contributor, and food entrepreneur Sarah Simmons shares how TED Prize winner chef Jamie Oliver inspired her to create a program to train home cooks and promote healthier eating. Simmons' program, "Me Times Three", overcomes the intimidation cooking poses by providing encouragement, information resources, and prizes to promote program adoption. Learn more about Sarah at http://sarahmcsimmons.com.