Author Archives: Rakesh Agrawal

About Rakesh Agrawal

Rakesh Agrawal is Senior Director of product at Amazon (Audible). Previously, he launched local and mobile products for Microsoft and AOL. He tweets at @rakeshlobster.

Lobsterclass – free classes on product management

Posted on May 24, 2020

Lobsterclass is a free video class series on product management. It encompasses things I’ve learned in my team at Amazon, Microsoft, Aol and various startups. It’s a highly compressed version of what I teach my PM teams. It’s suitable for … Continue reading →

Posted in lobsterclass

Getting down to numbers: quantitative research

Posted on May 22, 2020

Are you building the right product? It’s an important question whether you are a startup or a big company. Good research can help guide you. Doing it incorrectly and you’ll go down the wrong path. There are two basic types … Continue reading →

Posted in product management, research

Pricing the COVID-19 vaccine

Posted on May 6, 2020

It’s 2020’s Holy Grail: the coronavirus vaccine. Large parts of the country and the world are shut down in a deadly pandemic. Scientists around the world are racing for a vaccine to end the suffering and re-start the economy. Let’s … Continue reading →

Posted in pricing, strategy

Favorite things, day 1: podcasts

Posted on December 22, 2019

Podcasts make me smarter. It’s that simple. There is so much great information from so many smart people out there, on any topic you can think of. My favorite podcasts are from experts who know what they’re talking about. Even … Continue reading →

Posted in favorite things, Uncategorized | Tagged

Rakesh’s travel secrets for your holiday travels

Posted on December 21, 2019

Having flown more than two million miles, including more than 45,000 in the past month, Over the years, I’ve developed strategies for coping with the hassles of air travel. I hope you don’t need any of them on your holiday … Continue reading →

Posted in airlines, rocky's travel, travel, Uncategorized

Favorite things, day 2: credit cards

Posted on December 21, 2019

There are many reasons I love credit cards. As a payments nerd, I marvel that I can be on the far side of the world, tap a card and walk away with things I want. As a marketing nerd, I … Continue reading →

Posted in favorite things, travel

Favorite things, day 3: Hawaii

Posted on December 20, 2019

(All photos taken by me; message me for licensing.) Sun, sand, beach, surf, ancient cultures, outdoors — there’s so much to love about Hawaii. An archipelago of 8 primary islands, it offers a great break far away from most things. … Continue reading →

Posted in favorite things, travel, Uncategorized | Tagged

Favorite things, day 4: TiVo

Posted on December 19, 2019

For the days leading up to Christmas, I’m counting down a few of my favorite things. These are not in priority order. The closest thing there is to an order is least surprising to most surprising. TiVo has a special on their … Continue reading →

Posted in favorite things, television, tivo, Uncategorized, video

Favorite things, day 5: Alaska Airlines

Posted on December 18, 2019

What’s not to like about an airline that more or less runs like the good old days of air travel? Courteous staff, clean planes, great terminal facilities at San Francisco and Seattle, where I travel the most. Their social media … Continue reading →

Posted in favorite things, travel, Uncategorized

Favorite things, day 6: First Republic

Posted on December 16, 2019

I had somehow left my card in Hong Kong and was on my way to Zimbabwe. ATMs are common, but few businesses take credit cards. So I needed cash. I emailed by banker and she offered a couple of options. … Continue reading →

Posted in banks, favorite things, personal finance, Uncategorized