Episode 113: Data Applications, Real-Time Analytics, and Cloud Product Management with Shruti Bhat

Show Notes(01:49) Shruti shared her upbringing in India - where she studied Engineering and Computer Science in the early 2000s.(03:11) Shruti reflected on her early career as a software engineer at Hewlett-Packard and IBM.(07:29) Shruti recalled the early days of cloud computing.(09:01) Shruti reflected on her time pursuing an MBA at UCLA Anderson School of Management.(11:55) Shruti explained her shift from software engineering to product management.(14:19) Shruti revisited her years at VMware as a product line manager for cloud infrastructure - owning all aspects of go-to-market strategy and execution for VMware's entire software-defined storage portfolio.(18:30) Shruti talked about her time as the VP of Marketing at Ravello Systems - growing the business from zero customers to a successful multi-million dollar acquisition by Oracle.(23:07) Shruti went over her time as a senior director of product management for Oracle's cloud portfolio.(27:20) Shruti recalled the founding story of Rockset - where she is a co-founder and Chief Product Officer.(30:40) Shruti explained the concepts of real-time analytics and data applications for the uninitiated.(37:31) Shruti unpacked the high-level design of Rockset architecture - which brings together cloud-native architecture, schemaless ingestion, converged indexing, and full-featured SQL.(40:23) Shruti elaborated on the concept of converged indexing.(42:43) Shruti dissected the technology requirements and the key layers of "the modern real-time data stack."(46:17) Shruti talked about the role of partnerships in Rockset's product strategy.(51:29) Shruti highlighted some of Rockset's customer use cases.(56:06) Shruti shared valuable hiring lessons to attract high-integrity and diverse people for Rockset.(58:51) Shruti shared her take on interviewing on strengths over weaknesses.(01:01:32) Shruti shared the strategy Rockset used to find design partners in the early days.(01:05:12) Shruti shared the tactics to combine the power of product-led adoption with sales-driven growth for rapidly scaling Rockset's business.(01:08:45) Shruti shared fundraising advice to founders who are seeking the right investors for their startups.(01:10:27) Shruti described the evolution of enterprise marketing and GTM strategy in the past decade.(01:12:59) Closing segment.Shruti's Contact InfoLinkedInTwitterForbesRockset's ResourcesWebsite | Twitter | LinkedIn | FacebookDocs | Blog | CommunityProduct | Architecture | CustomersReal-Time Analytics ExplainedWhat Is A Data Application?Mentioned ContentArticles"Building Data Applications Powered by Real-Time Analytics" (May 2021)"How startups can create a culture where women can win" (May 2021)"Streaming Data and the Modern Real-Time Data Stack" (Nov 2021)PeopleBarr Moses (Monte Carlo Data)Jay Kreps (Confluent)Alex DeBrie (DynamoDB Expert)BookCompeting Against Luck (by Clayton Christensen)Notes

My conversation with Shruti was recorded back in June 2022. Since then, a lot has happened. I recommend looking at the resources below:

Datacast features long-form, in-depth conversations with practitioners and researchers in the data community to walk through their professional journeys and unpack the lessons learned along the way. I invite guests coming from a wide range of career paths — from scientists and analysts to founders and investors — to analyze the case for using data in the real world and extract their mental models (“the WHY and the HOW”) behind their pursuits. Hopefully, these conversations can serve as valuable tools for early-stage data professionals as they navigate their own careers in the exciting data universe.

Datacast is produced and edited by James Le. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

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Datacast features long-form, in-depth conversations with practitioners and researchers in the data community to walk through their professional journeys and unpack the lessons learned along the way. I invite guests coming from a wide range of career paths — from scientists and analysts to founders and investors — to analyze the case for using data in the real world and extract their mental models (“the WHY and the HOW”) behind their pursuits. Hopefully, these conversations can serve as valuable tools for early-stage data professionals as they navigate their own careers in the exciting data universe.

Datacast is produced and edited by James Le. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [email protected].

Subscribe by searching for Datacast wherever you get podcasts, or click one of the links below:

If you’re new, see the podcast homepage for the most recent episodes to listen to, or browse the full guest list.