Priyanka Naik, Fintech Consultant – Tech Story

January 20, 2021 Vanesh 5 min read

Let’s meet Priyanka Naik, Fintech consultant, public speaker, influencer. I can say she is a multi-talented personality. She also mentors the startups to find their Product/Market fit and devise appropriate growth hacking strategies for them based on their business goals. Let’s meet her and get some important tips from her regarding fintech, product management career, and many more.

Interview with Priyanka Naik, Fintech consultant, Startup Mentor, Speaker and Influencer

Tell us about yourself and your education/experience.

I would describe myself as a Fintech product specialist, public speaker, and an influencer – who has a penchant for solving real-world problems with technology solutions.

I graduated from the University of Mumbai with a degree in Computer Science. Since then I have gone on to hold several roles in the Fintech domain – starting out as a developer to being a Product Manager currently. You can learn more about me here

How will you introduce yourself in three words?

Ambitious, Hardworking, Idealist

Tell us a little more about how you have started your career and how you have turned to product management from Coding/Development?

My journey into product management started from educating myself on what product management was all about. To excel at anything, one needs some sort of education and my strive was to get as much education as I could.

I also shadowed some of the product managers in my previous companies which accelerated my growth and understanding of the role. Last but not least, I dressed for the job I wanted and not the one I had. I made my aspirations known to people around me who supported and guided me through.

What does a product manager at fintech do? Tell us more about this role and responsibilities.

A product manager is responsible for running the entire show – right from product idea conceptualization to seeing through its completion, and everything in between. A PM is responsible for liaising with different departments and bringing structure to what could otherwise have been a chaotic synergy of the different verticals. A Fintech PM’s job is no different from what I mentioned earlier, albeit he/she might need a better grasp of the domain, and more importantly the regulations surrounding it!

What are your suggestions for someone who wants to shift their career from Programmer/Developer to Product Manager?

Aspiring PMs should consider three primary factors when evaluating a role: core competencies, emotional intelligence (EQ), and company fit.

The best PMs I know have mastered the core competencies, have a high EQ, and work for the right company for them. Beyond shipping new features on a regular cadence and keeping the peace between the engineering and the design team, the best PMs create products with strong user adoption that have exponential revenue growth and perhaps even disrupt an industry.

These skills are often learned through experience and online courses might not substitute for them. Since product management is a generalist role, it helps to get experience across domains like engineering, marketing, business development, and customer service.

What fintech trends are you seeing that are especially hot in 2021?

Sustainable finance is my personal favourite and it’s getting it’s due attention from all quarters. I am excited to see how private players are playing an active role in redefining business as usual and helping to support the transition from exploiting nature to restoring nature.

What is some advice to climb the corporate ladder quickly in this world?

One of the most important lessons that I’ve learned through my journey is – In this age of hyper-competition, growing linearly in your company or field of work may be a very slow and ineffective process. You need to target high growth opportunities and out-of-turn promotions to truly stand out and be a notch ahead of the competition

There are several ways to achieve the above, like

Getting an Ivy-league degree which may land you roles one or two levels above what you’d have gotten otherwise.
Starting your career with startups vis-a-vis MNCs, which will give you ample room for growth and pose less systematic barriers.
Being known as an expert in your field (not just in your company but in your industry in general). This can be done by consulting for companies, mentoring and coaching people, etc.
Building a strong personal brand and leveraging social media to promote it
Building strong relationships with people you’ve worked with within the past as well people you’d like to work within the future. Getting mentors and brand ambassadors who will root for you.
Always be on the lookout (or at least be open to) considering better opportunities outside your company. The best of opportunities strike when you least expect them to! So always have an open mind.

These are some of the strategies that have worked well for me over the years and I hope they help my readers too.

What are your thoughts about the TechnoVans.com platform?

Technovans has a very good curation of startup news and trivia.
I especially like the interviews section – wherein I can get into the minds of some of the most successful people across industries.
It’s inspiring to say the least!