MindManager is thrilled to introduce our new Head of Product, Blair Young. Please join me in welcoming him to the team, and to the mind mapping community!
We wanted to introduce Blair to you, the MindManager Blog readers, so you can understand why we’re so excited to have him on our team. So, I sat down with Blair to learn more about his background, and his vision for the future of MindManager and mind mapping in general.
Here’s what Blair had to say.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I am an outgoing technologist that loves to work with others to maximize the potential of technology in people’s lives. A naturally curious strategist who lives in the intersection of science, market and execution and strives for the right balance.
I have a varied background from a role and a marketspace perspective. Originally a software engineer creating expert systems for telephony systems, I have spent the majority of my career in product management, product marketing, and a variety of other roles including sales support and customer support. I have operated entire product businesses and led change management to maximize current and future product opportunities.
From a market perspective my background covers both enterprise and consumer plays in a variety of markets and offerings. These include cybersecurity, SaaS, business efficiency, big data, mobile, data visualization, AI, telephony and data communications.
Why is my background useful to the MindManager product? MindManager is a nearly perfect muse for crystalizing thoughts, strategies and action plans. It is effectively used in the consumer, the professional and the Enterprise world. It is used in Fortune 500 companies globally that span all market spaces. Delivering to such a wide variety of customer types introduces unique challenges. The broad experience I bring to the team amplifies our ability to deliver amazing solutions across our customer base.
What will your new role with MindManager entail?
As Head of Product for MindManager, my role is like that of a quarterback or an orchestra conductor. My main responsibility is to ensure the customer experience is top-notch both today and in the future. Internally, the product team is interacting with design, engineering, marketing, sales, finance and legal to ensure we have the right strategy, and everyone is aligned to deliver for the customer. Externally, we are constantly interacting with customers and partners to ensure we understand the needs of the market. My main role is to ensure this runs smoothly and provides a win-win for our users and their companies.
What about joining the Corel and MindManager teams are you most excited about?
Firstly, Corel has long been a pillar of technology in both the consumer and enterprise space. The executive team has a well thought through vision and the employees are bought into that vision. Nothing is more exciting than being part of a team that knows where they are going and doing their part to get there.
Secondly, the MindManager team has been very welcoming. They truly believe in the product and its ability to help organizations get more out of their day. This excitement and commitment are infectious and fun to be a part of.
What about MindManager as a product excites you the most?
Two things…
1) The MindManager product is nothing less than a powerful engine for visually streamlining thoughts, strategies and execution. I believe that we have just started to take advantage of what this engine can do. Helping to chart that path is a very exciting adventure to be on.
2) MindManager has a highly-engaged user community. They are passionate about visualization and they are passionate about our product. There are not many things better than having a user community that loves the product and wants to help to make it better.
What is your vision for MindManager’s future over the next few years?
MindManager will evolve to become more useful to more people in more market verticals. The age of really, really big data is upon us and it has become harder to sort through and strategize with it. The mind mapping and data visualization capabilities of MindManager will be instrumental in getting that chaos under control. We will release capabilities that will enable the MindManager engine to hit full throttle for our users and add more value with every release.
In addition, we will continue to develop and release Enterprise-ready capabilities, making it a critical solution for teams and entire organizations.
I am very excited about what lies ahead.
What is your central goal for the product under your leadership?
My goal is simple – I want MindManager used everywhere. I know that is a lofty goal, but our strategy is centered on usability and providing real solutions to actual professional and business problems. We have a very powerful product in the current MindManager offering and it will improve immensely as we augment it with new, unique capability sets.
If you haven’t tried MindManager yet, then I’d recommend that you take advantage of our free, 30-day trial.
