“There’s a time to thrive and a time to survive, and you should always know which state you are in as a team, as a person, and as a company.”
We are thrilled to welcome Shyam Sheth, a veteran product manager at Google and startup founder, as our newest Inovia Executive in Residence.
Though Shyam originally aspired to be a history professor, his journey into product management was a blend of happy coincidences and influential encounters. While building software at Canadian telecom company Redknee in the early 2000s, he discovered product management—a field not widely known then—and quickly fell in love with its unique blend of business strategy, technology, and human interaction.
After leaving Toronto to set up Redknee’s R&D center in India, he returned to join Google as its first product manager in Canada, helping launch Gmail for mobile and Gmail’s first offline experience. Drawn to entrepreneurship, he co-created a mobile startup focused on protecting sensitive data from cyber espionage when roaming on foreign networks. He later returned to Google’s product management team, where one of his projects was safe proofing billions of Google ads from spreading malware or phishing attacks.
His wealth of experience at one of the world’s biggest tech companies and first-hand knowledge of startups’ challenges make Shyam an ideal go-to resource for founders looking to elevate their product teams and evaluate potential acquisitions. We sat with him to discuss what he learned from burnout, why non-technology approaches can lead to better solutions and what energizes him.
TELL US SOMETHING MOST PEOPLE MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT YOU
As an engineer, I found early on that my strength wasn’t in coding but in thinking beyond technology to solve problems. When you’re in a room full of technologists, the first instinct is often to use tech for every solution. My approach has always been: Are there human approaches? It has helped me see the world through a slightly different lens, which has often led to creative outcomes.
CAN YOU SHARE ONE OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES OR FAILURES THAT YOU LEARNED FROM?
Most of my career growth has come from learning through failure, and for me, the biggest failure was not taking care of my health while building a startup, leading to bad burnout. I was there for my colleagues, I was there for my family, I was delivering on projects, but I wasn’t taking care of myself.
When that happens, you not only hurt yourself, but you also impact your family and are not a positive role model for the team. So, one of the key things I’ve taken with me is ensuring my team and I stay healthy.
WHAT’S THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE YOU RECEIVED IN YOUR CAREER?
There’s a time to thrive, and a time to survive, and you should always know which state you are in, as a team, as a person, and as a company. If the world is changing and the period is rough, your definition of success is keeping your head above water. There will be opportunities to thrive, but you need to get through the hard part.
WHAT’S A QUESTION YOU WISH PEOPLE ASKED YOU MORE OFTEN?
I love when people ask how to think about a decision rather than expecting a quick solution. It’s not just about the immediate answer to a particular feature, product, or situation, but about the approach. I find it more valuable to guide someone through the process of defining the problem, exploring alternatives, and setting evaluation criteria. I’m here to help people think strategically, which leads to better outcomes in the long run.
WHAT ENERGIZES YOU? HOW DO YOU TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF?
What energizes me professionally is when you take a half-baked, impossible idea and you work with people around you that have a “yes and” mentality, and help you turn that impossible idea into reality.
In terms of health, I have a daily practice of daily mindfulness meditation, at least 30 minutes of exercise, healthy eating throughout the day, making sure I have one social connection per week, and then journaling at nighttime. The goal is not to be perfect, but the goal is to hit at least three of those five things on a weekly basis.
When you practice mindfulness, you become intentional, and you choose the projects and the teams where you will be energized.
IN YOUR ROLE AT INOVIA, WHAT QUESTIONS SHOULD FOUNDERS ASK YOU?
How do you build and manage great product teams? How do you make good decisions, especially complex ones that touch upon product engineering, legal, or regulatory policy? I can help with these areas, along with product strategy and design. Product management is such a broad area. Reach out, let’s have a conversation!