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Christiana Rattazzi

VP, Industries & Platform Product Marketing, Okta

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When moving from a Sr PMM role to ‘lead’, what are those attributes that person should embody?

Christiana Rattazzi

Okta VP, Industries & Platform Product Marketing • November 2

A Lead should be able to drive a strategic, cross-functional effort and solve issues without any defined structure. Some things I might look for: * Messaging - can independently define product (and cross-product) positioning and secure the right buy-in from cross-functional stakeholders to ......Read More

1231 Views

What separates a great from a good product marketer at the IC level?

Christiana Rattazzi

Okta VP, Industries & Platform Product Marketing • November 2

The best IC PMMs I've seen do two things amazingly well: 1. They are masters of positioning - keeping it concise, relevant and void of fluff. They get to the heart of why it matters for that audience. 2. They cross the finish line - reliably delivering their projects on-time and with high-qua......Read More

1163 Views

What would you say are the top 3 - 5 areas a Product Marketing Manager should always be focused on that can make the biggest impact at a growing start-up?

Christiana Rattazzi

Okta VP, Industries & Platform Product Marketing • November 2

Totally agree with this comment. The response varies a little based on the stage of the business and GTM motion (e.g. self-serve vs sales-lead). That said, I think the top areas would be (in no particular order) 1. Messaging and positioning 2. New product introduction (launches) 3. A core ......Read More

914 Views

How does industry solutions look different that product marketing? How does this role work with product marketing?

Christiana Rattazzi

Okta VP, Industries & Platform Product Marketing • November 2

I love this question, as I've spent time across these related organizations in my career (Product Marketing, Solutions Marketing and Industry Marketing). Typically, Industry and Solutions Marketing consider the audience and business outcomes related to the combination of multiple products (and ......Read More

873 Views

I am actively interviewing for PMM opportunities and in at least 4 out of 5 scenarios hiring managers went ahead with internal candidates. What can I do to improve my interview performance?

Christiana Rattazzi

Okta VP, Industries & Platform Product Marketing • November 2

Ah, that's tough. When you're competing with an internal candidate, you're up against someone who has considerable product, market and organizational intel. They won't take a long time to ramp, and they have minimal cultural risk too. So - to counteract this, you have to come prepared - and I'm......Read More

814 Views

What comes after head of PMM, e.g. if you want to move to VP of a marketing team, how to do that? And how to ensure that you're getting knowledge of other marketing functions (e.g. paid) so that you are equipped to lead an entire marketing team (vs. just a PMM discipline)?

Christiana Rattazzi

Okta VP, Industries & Platform Product Marketing • November 2

First of all - I don't think you HAVE to become a VP of Marketing from Head of PMM. You can choose to take on bigger PMM roles at bigger companies. That said, I've made the move to be a VP of Marketing at an earlier-stage company. I personally believe that PMM leaders make great VPMs for certai......Read More

803 Views

How do you drive alignment across the exec team on messaging

Christiana Rattazzi

Okta VP, Industries & Platform Product Marketing • November 2

Every executive team is different, so I would encourage you to think through the culture (and sometimes - quirks!) of the members of that team as you craft your own approach. That said, I've found a couple things particularly effective in my experience. * Bring along key lieutenants for the ri......Read More

775 Views

How do you perform extensive competitive product research?

Christiana Rattazzi

Okta VP, Industries & Platform Product Marketing • November 2

The best competitive research I've seen goes beyond the competitor's website, press releases and YouTube videos. They might include competitor customer interviews and tailored sales demos. I've personally worked with great small businesses and consultants who are experts in doing this analysis an......Read More

597 Views

What do you look for when promoting a Product Marketer from individual contributor to people manager?

Christiana Rattazzi

Okta VP, Industries & Platform Product Marketing • November 2

I touch on this a little in another question. That said, a Manager should have a solid grasp of major PMM skills alongside leadership abilities. Some attributes I look for are: * Evangelism - whether promoting core value proposition or the work of the PMM team, this person should be skilled ......Read More

533 Views

If your product marketing team is only or two people responsible for covering multiple products with complex features, how would you recommend dividing the workload in the short-term so as best to support long-term growth and expansion of the team?

Christiana Rattazzi

Okta VP, Industries & Platform Product Marketing • November 2

I think there are a couple ways I'd think about it - and it would depend on what the PM organization looks like and the individual skills of the folks on the PMM team (if already in-seat). Approach 1 - Make one of the PMMs Product-facing (handling predominantly new product/feature introductions......Read More

506 Views

Credentials & Highlights

VP, Industries & Platform Product Marketing at Okta