# Ken Norton

> Ken Norton is a veteran Silicon Valley product leader turned executive coach. After co-founding Grand Central Communications (acquired by Google as Google Voice), spending 14 years at Google and GV shaping products used by over three billion people, he pivoted to running Bring the Donuts - a coaching practice for CPOs, VPs of Product, and Founder/CEOs. His 2005 essay 'How to Hire a Product Manager' is still considered the canonical PM career bible two decades on.

- **Role:** Executive Coach at Bring the Donuts, LLC
- **Organizations:** Bring the Donuts LLC, Google, GV (Google Ventures), Yahoo!, JotSpot, Grand Central Communications, Snap / NBC Internet, CNET
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.A., Boston University, M.S., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC), Co-Active Training Institute
- **Known for:** Named #1 product leadership coach in the world by Outpace, Reforge, On Deck, and Products By Women, Products led at Google collectively reached over three billion users worldwide, Co-founded Grand Central Communications, later acquired by Google and relaunched as Google Voice

## Career timeline

- **pre-1996** — Director of Software Engineering at CNET (early employee)
- **1998** — Founding CTO at Snap / NBC Internet, a CNET spinoff
- **2000** — Co-founded Grand Central Communications, which later became Google Voice after Google acquisition
- **2002** — Senior Director of Product Management at Yahoo!
- **2005** — VP of Products at JotSpot; published seminal essay 'How to Hire a Product Manager'
- **2006** — Joined Google via JotSpot acquisition; led product for Google Docs, Google Calendar, Google Maps for Android, Google+
- **2014** — Became Senior Operating Partner / Product Partner at GV (Google Ventures); helped run Startup Lab and data science team
- **2020** — Left Google/GV to launch Bring the Donuts full-time as executive coach for product leaders
- **2022** — Featured on Lenny's Podcast discussing product leadership skills
- **2025** — Published 20-year retrospective on 'How to Hire a Product Manager'

## Achievements

- Named #1 product leadership coach in the world by Outpace, Reforge, On Deck, and Products By Women
- Products led at Google collectively reached over three billion users worldwide
- Co-founded Grand Central Communications, later acquired by Google and relaunched as Google Voice
- Listed inventor on 40+ issued U.S. patents
- 2005 essay 'How to Hire a Product Manager' is considered the defining canonical text for the PM profession
- Published 20-year retrospective on the essay in 2025
- Contributor to TechCrunch, The Next Web
- Authored foreword to the book 'Product Leadership'
- Regular keynote speaker at Mind the Product conferences globally

## Latest updates

- **2025-01** — Published 20-year retrospective on 'How to Hire a Product Manager', one of the most-read PM essays of all time
- **2024-01** — Continues active executive coaching practice via bringthedonuts.com, working with CPOs, VPs of Product, and Founder/CEOs
- **2022-07** — Featured on Lenny's Podcast episode 'How to Unlock Your Product Leadership Skills'

## Links

- Website: https://www.bringthedonuts.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennethnorton/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/kennethn

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/ken-norton
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-04-26