I collaborate with teams to launch, learn, and iterate.
About Me
Over my career, I’m fortunate to have worked at small startups and large organizations, experiencing both IC and management roles. As an experienced product manager, I’ve shipped hundreds of features that have moved the needle on key business & customer metrics.
Core Competencies
Being a good product manager requires me to wear multiple hats and have a wide range of skills. My specialties include launching products that drive revenue, boost engagement, and improve the user experience.
Here are some defining characteristics that make me different:
- I have a passion for solving problems and creating elegant experiences.
- I care about delivering high-quality products and have a bias for action.
- I take a hands-on approach and lead projects from idea to implementation.
- I communicate clearly and build trusting relationships with teams.
- I listen to business and customer needs, and understand the “why.”
- I make strategic prioritization decisions and ground my thinking in data.
Recommendations
Rishi is a true example of what it means to be a PM. He leads by example – he is thorough, organized, and delivers without concern. He creates value on everything that he touches – and I continue to be impressed by his level of proficiency, accountability, and leadership. Rishi has played a pivotal role in LiveControl’s success, and is a team player that the entire organization loves to work with!
Noah Johnson, Founder (and direct boss) @ LiveControl
I’ve worked with many PMs over the years and found Rishi to be one of the best. Working with him was easy and an absolute pleasure. He’s passionate, intelligent, dedicated to quality, and has a keen eye for high design. He is also enthusiastic and was always willing to lend a hand during all phases of the project, specifically when in the discovery and research phases. Moreover, he’s even quite capable within Figma and was happy to help carry the design load if the demands of the project called for it. I’d jump at the opportunity to work with Mr. Kumar again in the future. He is an asset!
Adam Ramerth, Lead Designer @ LiveControl
With an eye for detail and a strong sense of design coupled with the ability to connect with engineers on the technical level, Rishi is decidedly the best Product Manager that I’ve ever worked with.
Scott Sadler, Staff Engineer @ LiveControl
Rishi has such a knack for understanding what customers want and leading the design/creation of interfaces that customers love. I met with Rishi weekly to share customer feedback as he worked to develop our Customer Dashboard, web player, simulcasting platform, and many other useful features.
During onboarding calls, our low-tech customers would exclaim “wow this is so easy” and “I just love your platform” – not a small feat when bridging the gap between customers (some of whom have little experience with Zoom) and our deeply layered production and simulcasting backend. Rishi was an integral part of our quick upward trajectory and our success with customers.
Rishi was also a pleasure to work with directly. His listening ear, patience, and ability to translate difficult concepts into non-expert language made him a favorite amongst my team members. I knew I could come to Rishi with any problem and he’d have an answer or solution to me asap. Whoever gets to work with Rishi will get to experience the joy of true partnership and progress!
Alexandra Beckemeyer, Manager of Customer Success @ LiveControl
Rishi is easily the best product owner I’ve had the pleasure of working with. He’s eager to find the most effective ways to work with engineering to help ensure that the team is continually iterating on the product. He was very easy to work with on establishing a pattern of ticket creation that allowed developers to have enough information to accurately estimate tasks, as well as understand clearly what the definition of “done” would be. His participation in the process, not just his attendance in the ceremony, is what really stood out to me. I’d work with Rishi again in a heartbeat!
Chris Haffey, Manager of Engineering @ LiveControl
I worked with Rishi at LiveControl where he was the Lead Product Owner for our Engineering team. I recommend working with Rishi for a number of reasons, including his technical capabilities. He is a hands-on leader with great empathy for both the customer and the engineering team. In the face of challenge, he is calm and tenacious. On a personal level, he is a caring teammate who helps build a great team. Rishi is easily the best Product Owner I’ve worked with recently.
Danielle Tornow, Lead Software Engineer @ LiveControl
Rishi and I worked together for 10 months at LiveControl. He was the product manager on the product our team was responsible for.
Rishi amazed me with how he knew the product inside and out. Our customer success and sales teams went through a period of explosive growth while we worked together and Rishi fielded all kinds of questions about the minutia of how the product worked. He often knew the answer, but when he didn’t he knew how to test the product to find an answer or who to ask for the right perspective.
When questions or issues were purely technical in nature Rishi was unfazed. He was always able to distill complex situations into pointed questions which the engineering team could answer. And when the engineering team answered in a way that was maybe a little too technical, Rishi knew how to cut through the jargon and find a creative solution that worked from both an engineering perspective and from the perspective of the customer.
I would jump at the chance to work with Rishi again because I trust him to understand the customer and seek optimal solutions.
Jon Gaull, Senior Core Infrastructure Engineer @ LiveControl
For me, it’s Rishi’s level of dedication that has left the lasting impression. You will not find a more dedicated person. Here is a guy that earned his MBA while, at the same time, helped lead the entire product strategy of a company, and succeeded at both. He dedicates himself to every challenge he faces which is why every person he works with has the utmost respect for him. He balances complex project requirements with manageable milestones and takes everyone’s perspective into consideration because he is dedicated to creating the best solution on time and within budget.
Jeff Kimmel, Director of Engineering @ TEN
Rishi is awesome. He is patient, dedicated, resourceful, and timely. Rishi comes through every time with well thought-out product wire-frames communicating exactly what a designer needs to know in order to create a comprehensive, polished mock-up. He gives and receives criticism in constructive ways which ultimately ends up in a better product. What makes Rishi an exceptional asset is not just his dedication to high standards in the work he produces for team members, but the relationships he builds with them as well.
Peter Tracy, Creative Director @ TEN
Rishi is a man of many talents. Always working with a plan and still open to suggestions, Rish not only gets the job done, but makes it look easy. It is a rare person who can garner the respect of everyone he works with, and yet remain completely effective. He smoothly puts the pieces together to roll out product after product.
I worked with Rishi to ensure that advertising objectives were considered and met in each new iteration. Sometimes, that required negotiation on both our parts, but we always came to a mutually satisfactory solution. Should I find the opportunity to work with Rishi again in the future, I would jump at it! He’s a true professional whom I can wholeheartedly recommend.
Marja-Leena Aaltonen, Director of Ad Operations and Strategy @ GrindNetworks / TEN
Get Rishi. He’s thoughtful, careful, energetic and eager. He understands time to market and course corrections.
Probably his biggest positive is his ability to keep moving no matter the chaos, no matter the odds.
You can’t train that cheaply. Luckily he already learned it. Benefit from him before others do.
Russell Foltz-Smith, VP of Technology @ GrindNetworks / TEN