Product Builders & Joy III: Revenge of the Sandwich

Join like-minded tech people (again!) in some reciprocal mentorship, with sandwiches.
Ever feel like all the fun has gone out of tech?
Many of us got into this business for the joy of building something great with like-minded people.
But these days, that’s lost in a sea of metrics, growth, OKRs, quarterly planning, fundraising, and managing up. Those things aren’t always bad…but they’re no substitute for the fun of building together.
If that resonates, know you’re not alone—and join us.
Product Builders & Joy (PB&J…get it? Get it??) is a reciprocal-advice and support workshop for technologists—PMs, designers, founders, engineers, and others—who want to build great products with healthy teams, live satisfying lives, and have fun along the way.
This will be our third event, and we hope to see both old and new faces.
What you’ll bring:
A challenge you’re facing at work: with a project, an idea, your team, your career, whatever.
Your expertise in one or more domains, along with a desire to help others.
An open mind as you listen, give advice, and receive it.
The ability to arrive on time: it's a facilitated event and difficult to add people mid-stream.
We’re asking for #1 and #2 when you register, to ensure we have a good mix of topics and expertise in each discussion group.
What you’ll get:
A structured, facilitated session optimized for reciprocal advice & support.
New perspectives and lenses on your challenge.
A chance to help others, and maybe learn along the way.
The opportunity to meet like-minded people facing similar frustrations to your own.
Peanut butter & jelly sandwiches plus alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks.
Organizers
Cate Czerwinski is a facilitator and Agile coach with over 15 years of experience. She helps teams overcome distance and isolation by designing workshops that build belonging and capacity for collaboration. Clients include Zalando, Siemens, and WeTransfer.
Dave Feldman is a people-first product leader with 25 years’ experience across Product, Design, and Engineering. He’s worked at giants like Google and Meta, tiny startups he co-founded, and everything in between.
Roland Butler is Head of Product for Content Solutions at Zalando. He’s a cross-functional leader with more than 20 years experience including JUST EAT, Bookatable, and VavaCars.