ProductTank Oxford - July 2025 meetup

We're back at the King's Arms for our summer Product gathering, and are delighted to welcoming our guest speakers, Jason Knight and Emily Tate. Doors open at 6pm, with talks starting at 6:45. We will wrap up no later than 9pm, and networking and drinks can continue in the bar afterwards.

Why Product Management is not like the books

Drowning in a sea of frameworks, buzzwords and ‘Proper Ways To Do Things™️’? You’re not alone! In this talk, Jason Knight explores why the glossy advice in product books often doesn’t match the messy reality of the job - and why that’s not just OK, but inevitable. Whether you’re feeling overwhelmed, under qualified, or just fed up with chasing perfection, we’ll go into practical ways to embrace the chaos, trust your judgement, and build better products without needing to be a poster child for someone else’s playbook.

Jason Knight is a B2B product consultant, fractional product leader, product leadership coach, startup mentor, and host of the One Knight in Product podcast. He’s worked with companies from early-stage startups to Fortune 100 giants, helping them overcome growing pains and build high-performing product teams. Jason is passionate about helping teams level up their product chops step by step - focusing on what matters, avoiding getting bogged down trying to fix everything at once, and becoming true business partners.

When your product is not THE product

Let’s all admit it – when we tell people we work in tech, we hope they picture us building their favorite app. But the reality is, most of us are building products that on the surface, are less exciting than the latest consumer-facing brand. Even in those household names, there are tech organisations that spend more time automating finance processes than creating the coolest new feature for the customers.

So what does that mean for product people building internal products? Is our job easier than the consumer-facing teams? Is it less interesting? Not at all! In fact, the problems to solve and challenges you face are often meatier and more difficult when building the products that enable other parts of the organisation. In this talk, we’ll aim to understand:

• What it means to build an internal or enabling product in a non-tech organisation.
• The nuances and differences of the product practice in these products.
• How to tackle the biggest challenges in these organisation and build a product you can be proud of.

Emily Tate brings nearly 20 years of product management experience to her role as VP of Product at IVC Evidensia, the global leader in veterinary care. Prior to IVC Evidensia, Emily was Managing Director for Mind the Product, where she helped product managers around the world grow in their craft

While she has worked across a variety of industries, Emily will always have a soft spot for the travel industry where she spent most of her early career building software for airlines and developing a leading consumer travel app, TripCase.

Emily is passionate about the craft of product management and loves talking about new ways to make products people love.