Emptying the Dishwasher

About Ben

Hi, I’m Ben Gaines. I (re)started this blog on the last day of 2023 to give me a place to practice long(er)-form writing after years of mostly tweeting. I love to write and hope to get back into it on here.

Some things to know about me:

  • By day, I lead a team of product managers at Adobe working on Customer Journey Analytics and Product Analytics. I love the people I work with and consider many of them among my closest friends. The quality of humans surrounding me—both at my company and in the industry I’m a part of—is a big reason I have been at Adobe (via Omniture) since 2006, except for a brief stop at ESPN.
  • The best way I can describe how I hope I’m approacing management and leadership is that my top five CliftonStrengths are (in order): harmony, empathy, consistency, adaptability, and communication. I also strongly value curiosity in product managers. Another personality test listed humor as my #1 trait. (I do like to keep things light if I can.)
  • In 2018 Blair Reeves and I published the industry’s first book written specifically for B2B SaaS product management. There are better books and blogs on the fundamentals of PM, but I hope to use this space to follow and expand upon several of the themes we covered. I’ve learned a lot since we wrote the book—and a lot has changed!
  • This blog will also cover personal topics. I was born and raised in the Boston area, and that part of the US remains a huge part of my identity. I moved to the Salt Lake City metro for college. I met my wife shortly after graduating, and we ended up sticking around to raise our four kids.
  • When I’m not working or doing family stuff, I play basketball and I run. I completed my first half-marathon in 2021 and my first two full marathons in 2023 (Utah Valley in June and St. George in October). I don’t really love the process, but I do love the feeling of achievement after most workouts.
  • Other likes/passions: watching sports (Utah Jazz, Liverpool FC, Boston Red Sox, BYU Cougars, New England Patriots), traveling both for work and leisure, sushi, cooking/baking, piano, and reading/watching science-fiction. (FWIW: Trek, not Wars.)
  • Dislikes: cheese, rodeos, and abandonment.