Matt Gonzales🇺🇸

About Matt Gonzales

Director of Product at Vectara

I love technology, startups, and product management. I’m a lifelong learner and empathic contributor to my communities. I enjoy helping people, whether in their careers or by shipping product, and building a career worth looking back on in a positive light.

Expertise

Sessions with Matt Gonzales

• Discovery Session (30 min): A discovery call to help us get to know each other and figure out the best mentorship structure for you. I provide coaching and mentoring for a wide variety of PM topics for individual contributors and people managers. ICs: Topics range from user research and problem/solution validation to strategic thinking, stakeholder management, and career development. People Managers: Topics include building and managing a team, setting goals and expectations, building a career development framework, managing people managers, and developing as a people manager. This is a good fit for mid-level and above PMs trying to hone their sills as an individual contributor or people managers looking to grow in their role as a leader.
• Mentorship: IC Challenges (45 min): A focused conversation to get perspective on your work and growth. You choose the topic. I share patterns, examples, and practical next steps. How it works 1. 45 minute conversation 2. Pick 1 to 2 topics 3. Short recap with actions and resources Topic menu - Stakeholder management - Product discovery and research - Prioritization and roadmap - Writing and communicating clearly - Metrics and experiment design - Working with engineering and design - Remote and async habits - Promotion prep and interview practice
• Mentorship: Product Leader Challenges (60 min): A focused conversation for product leaders. You choose the topic. I share patterns, pitfalls, and examples from Seed to pre-IPO. How it works 1. 60 minutes 2. Pick 1 to 2 topics 3. You get next steps and resources Topics (not exhaustive): - Strategy and portfolio - Pricing and packaging - Enterprise motion - Metrics and reviews - Org and leadership - GTM alignment - Governance and compliance - Career and communication This session is a great fit for PMs in leadership roles, not ICs.

What mentees say

“Matt is an in the trenches professional with insights into exactly what i needed. I will definitely be reaching out again and i would highly recommend him for a mentoring session.”

“Matt was insightful, supportive, and realistic when it came to product management career advice. He helped me navigate performance challenges I experienced after transitioning from engineering to product and shared a key insight: you can be a capable PM and still be seen as underperforming in a manager's eyes if your manager holds unreasonable performance expectations.”

“Matt gave me a great overview of a PM's "core functions" and how to focus on the success of each area. He was able to give me actionable feedback on my LinkedIn. I'll definitely be scheduling another call to go deeper into PM scenarios and learning more from Matt!”