About us
ProductTank Auckland is for anyone with an interest in product management. This could include product managers (at large organisations such as telcos or banks, at global software businesses based in Auckland or startups) those who want to get into it, or the generally curious. Product managers have to wear many hats but there are good practices that we can call on to do our jobs better, so let's get together to share war stories and take product management in NZ to the next level.
ProductTank is a global network of meetups and provides an opportunity for Product Managers to exchange ideas and experiences about Product Design, Development and Management, Business Modelling, Metrics, User Experience and all the other things that get us excited.
Events include talks from guest speakers on topics around product management, networking opportunities, and a good old-fashioned chin-wag over a beer or two.
We're open to companies big and small. We also welcome early-stage technology businesses looking to learn how to get their ideas off the ground.
ProductTank Auckland is brought to you by Product Aotearoa which brings together product people from across the country. You can connect with fellow Kiwi product people by joining our Slack channel here.
We also have a blog and encourage the community to get engaged by commenting on or writing new posts for http://www.mindtheproduct.com
Finally, check out our annual conferences in San Francisco and London: http://mtpcon.com
Upcoming events
1
The Product isn't the Product
·HybridAuror (Britomart), Britomart, Auckland, NZMost product thinking assumes you’re building a product. In a startup, you’re not—you’re building a business.
In the early days of a startup, there is no product team. The founder is the product team—while also juggling sales, hiring, fundraising, support, and everything in between. Product decisions don’t happen in isolation; they’re shaped by survival, speed, and the need to get something working in the real world.
In this talk, Kim Thibault shares her experience from BoardPro, reflecting on the transition from founder-led product to hiring the first product people. She’ll unpack what triggered that shift, what worked (and what didn’t), and the tension that comes with sharing product ownership between a founder and a product team.
Along the way, she’ll challenge a common assumption: in a startup, success doesn’t come from the product alone—it comes from how the whole business works around it.
This session will explore:
- What it really means to be a founder driving product
- Why great products don’t matter without a working go-to-market motion
- How product thinking changes across startup stages (-1→0, 0→1, 1+)
- The realities of hiring and working with your first product people
- The mindsets product managers need if they want to become founders—or work effectively with oneIf you’ve ever worked in (or are curious about) a founder-led environment, this will give you a clearer view of the trade-offs, tensions, and decisions behind the scenes.
About our speaker
Kim Thibault is a co-founder of BoardPro, a governance software platform used by boards and leadership teams across New Zealand, Australia, and beyond. She spent nearly a decade leading product as the company scaled, navigating the transition from founder-led product to building a product team.
Kim now works as a startup coach and startup director, supporting early-stage founders—particularly in B2B SaaS and product-led growth companies—to build effective products and businesses. She brings a practical, experience-driven perspective shaped by the realities of building and scaling a startup.Huge thanks to Auror for hosting and sponsoring this event!
You can join the livestream here: (Livestream URL coming soon!). As always the livestream will kick off from just before 6pm.
Note that the rules of our host venue means that we will send the exact location of the event to attendees on the day of the event - the venue is in the Britomart area. Those of you who have attended events at Auror before will know where it is!
54 attendees
Past events
121
