# Melissa Perri

> Melissa Perri is a product management authority, author, Harvard Business School lecturer, and founder of Produx Labs. Best known for 'Escaping the Build Trap' (O'Reilly, 2018), she has helped reshape how companies think about product strategy - moving organizations from output-obsessed feature factories to outcome-driven, customer-centric teams. Through her consultancy, online school, CPO Accelerator, and Product Thinking podcast, she has trained thousands of product leaders worldwide and advised companies from Fortune 500s to VC-backed scale-ups.

- **Role:** Founder & CEO at Produx Labs; Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School
- **Organizations:** Produx Labs, Product Institute, CPO Accelerator, Harvard Business School, Meister (Board Member), Labster (Advisor), Dragonboat (Advisor)
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.S. in Operations Research and Information Engineering, Cornell University, Accelerator Program, TechPeaks Accelerator
- **Known for:** Voted 'Best Product Person' by The Product Group (2017), Author of 'Escaping the Build Trap' - sold 75,000+ copies, translated into 8 languages, Author of 'Product Operations'

## Career timeline

- **early career** — Product Manager at Capital IQ
- **early career** — Product Manager at Barclays Capital
- **early career** — Product Manager at OpenSky
- **early career** — Product Manager at Conductor
- **early career** — UX Coach at Wayra
- **2013-2014** — Product Management Instructor at General Assembly; wrote their PM curriculum still used globally
- **2014** — Founded Produx Labs (CEO)
- **2015** — Launched Product Institute online PM school
- **2017** — Voted 'Best Product Person' by The Product Group
- **2018** — Published 'Escaping the Build Trap' with O'Reilly Media
- **2019** — Appointed Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School
- **2019** — Launched CPO training program with Insight Partners for 150+ portfolio companies
- **2021** — Launched Product Thinking Podcast
- **2023** — Board Member at Meister; Published 'Product Operations'
- **2024** — Keynote at Product at Heart conference; continued advisory work with a16z, Owl Ventures, GGV Capital

## Achievements

- Voted 'Best Product Person' by The Product Group (2017)
- Author of 'Escaping the Build Trap' - sold 75,000+ copies, translated into 8 languages
- Author of 'Product Operations'
- Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School teaching Product Management in the MBA program
- Wrote General Assembly's Part-Time PM course curriculum, still used worldwide
- Founded Produx Labs, Product Institute (3,500+ students), and CPO Accelerator
- Launched CPO training program with Insight Partners for 150+ portfolio companies
- Keynote speaker in 40+ countries
- Board Member at Meister; Advisor to Labster and Dragonboat
- Advisory work with a16z, Owl Ventures, and GGV Capital

## Latest updates

- **2024-09** — Published viral newsletter 'My Thoughts on Founder Mode... and Why It's Dangerous'
- **2024-07** — Published newsletter 'Building a Great Product Management Organization'
- **2024** — Keynote at Product at Heart 2024 on product transformation and infrastructure
- **2023-09** — Joined Meister as Board Member
- **2023** — Published second book 'Product Operations'

## Links

- Website: https://melissaperri.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissajeanperri
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/lissijean
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVdjTqnvqrsI8U-SUP4BqXb1tCHdbjvNS

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/melissa-perri
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-04-25