Startup Life: Unscripted is a TNG Media newsletter, as part of The Nudge Group, where we feature candid conversations with startup operators about their career journeys and experiences. If you received this email as a forward, you can read all our past interviews and subscribe right here.

Behind the Scenes with Majella Campbell: Steering Product Development at Fishburners

Welcome back to Startup Life: Unscripted! Today, we're thrilled to sit down with Majella Campbell, who serves as the Head of Product at Fishburners, Australia’s largest tech startup community.

Majella's journey, which began with a budding interest in tech during her school years, has since evolved into a prominent leadership role in one of the country's leading tech hubs.

In our conversation, Majella offers an inside look into her day-to-day at Fishburners, highlighting the nuances of product management in a startup environment. She also discusses the invaluable influence of Australia's vibrant tech startup community on her strategies and decision-making.

Key interview takeaways:

📚 Tech Beginnings: Majella reminisces about her early exposure to tech and how it set her on a path towards startups and innovation.

🌍 Navigating Fishburners: She gives us a window into her daily routine and the exciting yet demanding life as Head of Product.

🛠 Local Ecosystem Impact: Learn how Australia's vibrant startup community has been a guiding light in her product development journey.

🔮 Startup Wisdom: Majella shares her advice for budding entrepreneurs and those eager to step into the dynamic world of startups.

Hey Majella, great to have you with us. I'm curious, what was that defining moment or experience that really drew you into the world of tech and innovation? And how did this passion lead you to your role as Head of Product at Fishburners?

I’ve been super interested in the world of tech and innovation for a while now, but I definitely think I got my first taste for it while I was still at school. I was really lucky in that the school I went to in my senior years had an incredible Design and Tech program where the staff there really encouraged us to just dive in and build and try anything we wanted.

Looking back, that just definitely set me down the track of tech and startups, so much so that I wanted to get started straight away and I spent the next year building a product to aid people with complex communication needs by interpreting their brain activity (and converting it into audio and visual outputs).

It was during this project where I first got to experience the process of product development and I began to really understand the impact technology can make, particularly in its ability to improve lives. I think that’s really when the world of product, tech and startups began to materialise for me and I came to realise it was a real career prospect.

Startup life is known for its rapid pace and quick decision-making. As someone with a 'bias toward action,' how does this mindset play out in your daily life at Fishburners?

As someone who has come into this role at a younger age, I think I’ve really had to push toward action as I haven’t always been able to rely on past experience to guide decisions. But, I honestly feel that’s been a big contributor to our success so far because every decision that’s been made has been driven by the market and the results of our tests and frequent iterations.

For me, this mindset is really central to help identify emerging opportunities and help navigate uncertainty. I definitely realised over the years that no plan comes with a guarantee. So it’s far better just to get in, test early and iterate often.

Could you give us a snapshot of what a day looks like for you at Fishburners? How do you navigate the whirlwind of tasks and responsibilities that come with leading product in such a vibrant startup culture?

Honestly, every day is super different. As Head of Product, I get to work across multiple different products and projects at a time, which is super cool but definitely very hectic.

My day pretty much always starts on my commute into work where I clear out my inbox and Slack. I’m a big fan of the 2 minute rule, so anything that can be actioned gets done then and there so I have a clear head and empty inbox by the time I am in the office.

Once I’m in, I usually spend a bit of time reviewing Asana, time blocking the day around meetings and analysing any new customer insights that have come through overnight. I try to get these done first thing so I know exactly what needs to get done that day before heading in to our morning scrum.

After that, my day is usually spent syncing with our teams and stakeholders across our various products and projects. We build everything using no-code, so occasionally I find myself back on the tools although it’s not as common anymore.

A lot of people know Fishburners for its co-working space, but a big portion of our value is actually delivered via our Founders Hub products. That means we have to run a pretty tight ship when it comes to prioritising our product roadmap and juggling the demands across the ecosystem.

The juggling act is always hard but I keep a really strong focus on our OKRs and ruthlessly prioritise around those. Recently I’ve been trying to keep my head above the water and away from the day to day, I find this really helps keep everything on track and charting in the direction we need.

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Your career pathway from studying technology and innovation to now leading product development at Fishburners is fascinating. Are there any key moments or decisions that steered you in this direction?

Studying technology and innovation was certainly very different to the typical university experience. We only had about 15 people in our entire cohort, and there were no lectures or exams. The whole degree was pretty much spent working in-field so by the time I was finished, I had worked on about 16 different projects across a range of sectors in the ecosystem.

When I joined Fishburners, I started off in content development and actually had my mind set on jumping into innovation or management consulting at a Big Four company. At the time, I had just come out of a pharmaceutical programs role at a healthcare communications company and was hoping to get more of a dynamic experience working in and around startups before settling into something more ‘structured’ again.

Obviously that plan got thrown out the window pretty quickly haha. Once I started at Fishburners, I really resonated with the mission and wanted to play a role in scaling that impact. Looking back, I don’t know if one or two pivotal moments have led me to where I am. Instead, it’s been a process of trying things out, pursuing new opportunities and ultimately building pathways around that.

Working within Australia’s leading and largest tech startup community must have given you unique perspectives. How has being immersed in the local startup ecosystem shaped your views and the way you work?

The startup ecosystem is the centre of my world at Fishburners. It unequivocally impacts every single aspect of my job and the future of what we produce at Fishburners. Just like startups, we have to stay super agile and adjust to the changing forces of the ecosystem in the same manner.

One of the undeniable advantages of being a product manager at Fishburners is that you have a lot of your customers located in the same building, so the local community has a really big impact on what you produce and prioritise.

One of the more recent movements that have influenced our work is the rise in student entrepreneurship. We’ve had a fivefold increase in the number of student enquiries in the past 12 months and we expect that to increase a lot over the next few years as this generation of digital natives begin to pursue new opportunities in entrepreneurship right out of school or university.

As a result, we’ve recently introduced new Saas products to support universities to run entrepreneurial programs and connect their students directly into the ecosystem.

This is just one example, but I could honestly list fifty more. The community and wider ecosystem drives pretty much everything for us.

And before we wrap up, for those who are inspired by your path and are considering diving into startups, is there a piece of wisdom or perhaps something you wish someone had told you at the start of your career?

My number one advice to any aspiring entrepreneur or anyone wanting to break into startups is to attend lots of events and spend your time around the people you want to become. Your network is your most valuable asset, so fill it with interesting and inspiring people who can help you become the best version of yourself.

From the Startup Life team

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