How did you get into product management? Was it something you planned, part of what you studied, or a happy accident?

My background is in computer science, but I was always more interested in the bigger picture—curious about how new technologies could be used and what they might make possible. That curiosity led me to a master’s in cognitive science in Barcelona. It was a super interdisciplinary program, with people from philosophy, psychology, the arts, and engineering. That’s when I realized how much I love working in cross-functional teams.

I honestly don’t remember exactly how I came across product management—probably just through some late-night Googling. I was living in Barcelona and started checking out the startup scene. That’s how I found TravelPerk, which back then was a small team of around 20 people. Somehow, I convinced them to take me on as a product intern. That’s where it all started. I’m really grateful I got to be part of that ride.

Looking at your journey from TravelPerk to Zalando and now Shopify, what are the main differences in how these companies approach product?

Very differently. Part of that comes down to the companies themselves, but a lot of it is how the industry has evolved.

At TravelPerk, everything changed every six months. We were growing like crazy, so we had to adapt constantly. New leaders would come in and reshape the product culture each time. It was all about fast execution and ruthless prioritization—very much building the plane while flying it.

Zalando was a completely different world. It’s a public company, so structure and process are necessary. Still, I was working on something that felt more like a startup within it—tools for brick-and-mortar retailers to sell and ship on Zalando. The product culture borrowed a lot from Amazon, especially the emphasis on writing. We used the PR/FAQ format—a document that clearly lays out the problem, opportunity, and solution. Before meetings, we’d spend 5–10 minutes in silence reading and commenting on the doc, then dive into discussion. I loved that—it pushed us to think clearly and deeply.

But I wouldn’t use that model in an early-stage startup. By the time you've finished writing the doc, the context might have already changed. Especially now with LLMs, the new PRD is a working prototype vibe coded in Cursor. Taste plays a special role in how software is built at Shopify—being able to show a working prototype is the fastest way to gauge the details, interactions, and qualities you want the product to have.

How was that transition for you personally? Was it something you were looking for when you switched to Zalando in Finland?

I joined Zalando in Finland because I wanted to see how a larger product company operated—and I was curious about what it would be like to live in a Nordic country. About half my colleagues were Finnish, the other half international, many from Germany. The cultural shift was real. But I went in with curiosity. I didn’t expect it to feel the same—I wanted to experience something different. That mindset made it much easier to adapt.

Are there different ways of approaching product management in Northern versus Southern Europe that you've noticed or embraced?

Definitely. A big part of product work is communication. You're not coding or designing; you're enabling. So how you talk to people—how you listen— and the words you choose to communicate shape your product..

In the Nordics, I learned to respect silence. In Finland, silence is part of the conversation. It gives space for reflection. That was new to me. In Southern Europe, conversations are louder, more passionate. Each has its pros and cons, but I’ve learned to appreciate both.

I also found a strong focus on inclusiveness in the Nordic design culture. I worked with a Finnish designer who deeply considered accessibility. The Nordics have excellent literature around human-computer interaction, and it shows. That mindset really impressed me.

Now that you're back in Spain working for a Canadian company, what have you brought with you from these experiences? What's changed in how you approach product?

One thing I’ve carried with me is the practice of listening. In cultures or environments where you’re the outsider, you have to listen better. You can’t rely on assumptions or shortcuts. That taught me to listen more actively—to customers, engineers, designers, sales, marketing. That deeper listening helps build better empathy and better products.

Is there something specific you bring to product management from your previous experiences that helps you understand users or engineers better?

I always say empathy is my superpower. It’s something I keep close.

That comes partly from my cognitive science background, which gave me a way to understand how humans work. But also from my childhood—I grew up in a small town and worked in my parents’ traditional shop. From an early age, I had to talk to customers, listen to them, and solve their problems. That shaped how I work now: it’s about connecting with people and helping them.

How do you approach product discovery? Has your process evolved through different companies?

In the early days at TravelPerk, I was hungry for frameworks. I didn’t know much, so I leaned on structure to guide me. That gave me confidence—I felt like I was doing things “right.”

But like with any craft, you eventually realize that frameworks are just tools, not answers. You start asking deeper questions. These days, I work more from first principles.

For me, the most useful framework is: be curious. Act like an ethnographer. Observe, listen, and try to deeply understand the problem space. The best products come from going beyond the surface—those small details that surprise and delight.

That means lots of qualitative interviews, starting with a clear hypothesis about who to talk to. Analytics helps you choose who to reach out to. But then it’s about direct conversations, reading comments, checking what people say in public spaces. Discovery is everywhere, not just in scheduled interviews.

How do you manage chaos and uncertainty in product management? Do you rely on frameworks, intuition, or something else?

Two answers. One is intuition—that TravelPerk mode. When there’s too much ambiguity to rationalize clearly, and you’ve done your homework (talked to people, summarized insights, checked with stakeholders), you just feel your way through. That’s your gut speaking.

But that only works if you’ve built up reliable intuition. In new spaces, you might not have it yet. That’s when I look for people who do—colleagues in sales, support, engineering. Anyone close to the problem who’s been there longer. That helps you “borrow” intuition until you develop your own.

Is there something you used to believe about product management that you've changed your mind about?

"I think I used to see product management much more as a science, and now I start to see it much more as an art."

What advice would you give to someone who wants to work in product?

"Stay curious, stay hungry, and just... 'F* around,' as they say in Silicon Valley. Don't put too many labels on things, because these are labels at the end of the day. Our job title is a label, which helps give us language - I know more or less what product management is. But don't make that your cage, because it can become a cage.

Keep an open mind to say, 'Hey, these are my skills. I like to talk to people, I'm good at understanding them,' or 'I'm good at building, I have intuition with coding.' That's a good hint. If you have both things, you can be valuable in a tech company in what we call product management. But stay open and stay curious."

If you were to apply your product skills to something completely different, what would that be?

I think about this often. I’m very curious by nature, so I can’t help imagining other paths.

As a kid, I wanted to be an architect. I used to build treehouses in the garden and invite my friends over to hang out. We’d spend entire days gathering wood, old tents—whatever we could find—and just piece something together. The whole goal was to have a space where we could chill. We usually built it on a tree next to a mandarin tree, so we could grab mandarins while sitting up there—that was the killer feature.

In product management, especially in software, it’s easy to forget about the surroundings of your product. We focus so much on what’s on the screen that we often ignore the actual environment it’s going to live in—the people using it, the context it shows up in, the little details that make it feel right. I was in Lanzarote recently and got super inspired by César Manrique. His “product” was the island itself. He didn’t just build on top of it—he designed it to be a lived experience, something beautiful and intentional.

So yeah, in another life, I could totally see myself as an architect.

Thank you Luca! 💙