Product Tank - August 2025 (CloudFlare)_redux.pptx

This presentation, titled "An Original Product Thinker: A Tribute to Neil McElroy," was delivered by André Marquet at Cloudflare Lisbon on 28 August 2025. It highlights the significant contributions of Neil McElroy to product management and innovation. The slides cover McElroy's famous "Brand Men" memo, which emphasized full responsibility for product success and the importance of firsthand customer interaction. It also traces historical milestones influenced by McElroy, including the founding of HP, the Agile Manifesto, and the creation of DARPA. McElroy's role in establishing DARPA, which led to groundbreaking innovations like ARPANET (the Internet), stealth technology, and AI, is a focal point. The presentation celebrates McElroy's legacy as a pioneer in product management and his impact on modern innovation. Additionally, it promotes the upcoming 10th edition of the Productized Conference, featuring talks on AI, product teams, and leadership.

1. An Original Product Thinker A Tribute to Neil McElroy André Marquet, 28 August 2025 Cloudflare Lisbon, Product Tank

2. Who’s André Marquet Co-founder of Beta-i and organizer of Productized, the product-thinking conference. Former Digital Experimentation Leader at Cofidis Portugal. Doing product for since 2008, first at Nokia, and Huawei. Still quite active in startup community, mentoring founders. Coordinator of the Digital Product Management course at Católica.

3. "Brand Men ” Memo In 1931, Neil McElroy wrote a 3 page memo to the marketing team , called ‘Brand Men ’ while at Procter & Gamble. He touched on several aspects of this new role. Neil McElroy Memo Facsmile ‘Full responsibility ’ means that PMs are responsible for the success of their product. ‘ Study things personally , first-hand ’ Interact with customers as a critical part of the product management role.

4. HP is founded Bill Hewlett e David Packard kickstart Silicon Valley 1939 1931 Brand Man Neil McElroy issues the Brand Man memo at PG. Licensing Model Microsoft pioneered software for PCs 1980 Japan Car Makers Lean Production and Kaizen continuous improvement 1960s The Vibes Era Less white guys, more vibes 2020s The Agile Manifesto Internet SaaS explosion and Agile software development 2001

5. This is the official history of product.

6. 4th October 1957

7. Neil McElroy gets a 📞 call from the President McElroy is invited to by US President Eisenhower's to become Secretary of Defense. Ike : " Your job to boost missile and R&D efforts rapidly .”

8. “harder, better, faster, stronger”

9. " to boldly go where no (hu)man has gone before,"

10. Do things differently. Create a spin-off. In 1958, ARPA was created by N. McElroy DoD Directive. To focus on space tech and missile defense and disruptive innovation McElroy appointed Roy Johnson, a vice-president of General Electric to be the first director. ( no bureaucrats )

11. DARPA as Mission-Led Unlike EU or NSF funding , DARPA sets the agenda , around capacity gaps! DARPA mandate was to explore defense R&D rapidly , “ less papers , more prototypes ” . To operate outside military bureaucracy means agile approach to innovation .

12. DARPA spurred the world we live in today! ARPANET (INTERNET) Stealth tech, and GPS AI (neural nets, to NLP)

13. Allow space for disruption McElroy championed decentralized product ownership to the “ engineers ” He could have solely focused on the “ missile gap” but he set a clear disruption path. He didn’t become a Czar, he built and then left , after 2 years .

14. Still, very much relevant today.

15. McElroy’s Legacy should be celebrated Neil McElroy shaped innovation in business and government He was the architect of DARPA and championed Cold War innovation McElroy is a father of modern product management and product thinking at large.

16. Transformation Check List 101 Who’s hiring you? Are you given full ownership of innovation and product? What’s your funding model? Can you set a clear mandate? Can you negotiate a 2 year time frame? Do you have the gravitas to put the money where your mouth is?