Story of My Book
Gangsta Vision is a book that challenges the idea that just hard work and managing metrics is enough. With supporting recipes and stories, I’ll teach you the tactics and tools you can use to shift into an ownership mindset that can catapult you into senior leadership.
My name is Dilip Ramachandran and I am the author of
Gangsta Vision. I wrote this book because it’s one I wish I had several years ago. Not only did I hit my own glass ceiling, but I started to convince myself that someone who looked like me couldn’t break into senior leadership. But somewhere inside I was unwilling to let go. I knew there was untapped potential so I resorted to a series of tools and tactics to catapult myself to where I am today - something I now call “Gangsta Vision.” I hope this book can help others out there, so they can go through the things I learnt the hard way and avoid the pitfalls and mistakes I had to make in order to find a less treacherous path to achieve career success.
My hope is that, in reading this book, you will discover your own Gangsta Vision. In this book, I hope to instill in you the same sort of passion and excitement that I have for helping people unleash themselves and meet their true potential. Ultimately, I want you to see this book as a tool to help you grow and see yourself of worthy of making a larger impact in this world.
In this book, you'll learn about breaking into senior leadership and the steps you need to get there, as well as all the mistakes I made, ready for you to learn from them. You'll hear stories such as...
- The time when I was called “stupidest PM ever”, and how I used that experience to learn to get out of my bubble and communicate like a boss.
- An unbelievable moment when I had to stand up and say “no” with utmost fear to find that “no” is just the beginning of a conversation, around understanding.
- And finally, a time earlier in my career where I completely obliterated all the trust my leaders had banked for me, in a matter of a few days because I was unwilling to take any personal risk... and having to spend the next 6 months rebuilding that trust brick by brick.
You will love this book if you have felt stuck, and your supervisor(s) haven’t really been able to provide you specific steps to grow in your career.
Gangsta Vision is a nonfiction book that speaks to experienced product managers and mid-career leaders who want to look at product management and finding personal purpose in a new way.
The Book - Gangsta Vision
The book is written in 3 parts.
Part 1 contains the introduction + the first two chapters. This part of the book is all about
preparation, and how you will hone your product craft and find flow. We’ll explore the glass ceiling and why many product managers face it by taking a walk down memory lane around the history of product management and how the field has changed and is going through a renaissance, as well as the odds around making it into senior leadership. There are many skills product managers need to be successful, and I’ll touch on the specific attributes that will prepare you for a transition to leadership.
Part 2 contains chapters 3-4. The second part of the book focuses on
presentation. Leadership is a very broad term, and we will spend time talking about the many ways managers and individual contributors can lead. Additionally, I take the time to define senior leadership and how it is different. In this chapter you’ll find out if senior leadership is for you, and if so, I’ll help you prepare by helping you leave your ego at the door and go through a mindset shift from mercenary to missionary, so you can act and think like an owner.
Part 3 contains chapters 5-6. The final part of this book is about
promotion. Everything you would have read would leave you at this critical point. Who are you? What is your personal and career purpose? Do you know it yet? We will discover this together with some tried-and-true tools that have helped inspire so many product managers. Through finding personal purpose and commitment, we will construct the catapult that will unleash you into senior leadership, and then as an exceptional leader, find, hire, coach and lift up the next generation of leaders.
What I Need & What You'll Get
This book will be published with New Degree Press. I set up the pre-order tiers to help cover the costs for publishing my book. Money raised will go towards the following:
- The Editor I will work with to revise and publish my manuscript in May, 2022.
- The Cover Design of my book. (The mockups you see currently are a placeholder!)
- The Layout Design for the interior of my book (physical copy, ebook formats).
- The Copyediting for my book to polish the grammar and spelling prior to publication.
- The Launch & Promotion Efforts for my book when I ultimately publish Spring 2022.
- I am also offering some exclusive rewards for people who pre-order my book now:
- You will receive a personally signed copy of my book when I publish and a handwritten thank-you note.
- Your name will appear in the Acknowledgments section of my book (“with Special Thanks to”).
- You will receive early access to the Introduction and some excerpts from my book, with the opportunity to review it and give me early feedback.
- You will have the opportunity to be involved in selecting my cover and title.
- You will be invited to join my Author Community and get behind-the-scenes sneak peeks into the publishing process.
- And much more!
Campaign Goals
Tier 1: Hit $6,500 and the ebook/softcover editions get published (this is the minimum needed)
Tier 2: Hit $7,500 and the book will get a hardcover edition
Tier 3: Hit $9,500 and we’ll get an audiobook edition.
About the Author
Dilip Ramachandran is an experienced product leader and entrepreneur with 15+ years of teams, shipping delightful and highly successful enterprise software products in MarTech and FinTech at companies like Walmart, Experian, Marqeta and Bond.
At Nimi, Dilip is Founder/CEO and Chief Product Therapist helping high-growth FinTech startups with product and payments advisory and matching them with highly reliable and skilled experts in Sri Lanka.
Dilip is currently writing Gangsta Vision, due to publish in May 2022, a book that's exploring the intersection of finding personal purpose and growing in your product management career. The book is the one he wished he had so many years ago and intends to provide #productherapy and the mindset shift required to help a future leader #unleashyourself and break into senior leadership.
Dilip has a Bachelor's in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and resides in Oakland, California with his partner Alla, daughter Ariadna and son Wiley (a papillon-sheltie rescue). The family occasionally travels to Colombo, Sri Lanka for his work with Nimi.
For more information you may email him at dilip@nimidev.com or connect with him on linkedin.com/in/dilipramachandran or twitter.com/@pulidili
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International Preorders
For international preorders, please do the following:
- Identify the perk that interests you, e.g. 1 or 2 paperbacks
- Select the pink "Back it" button to "Make a contribution" for the same amount (this choice bypasses the shipping address page)
- DM or email me your shipping address so that I can invoice you for shipping
Risks & Challenges
The biggest challenge with publishing a book is delivering the finished book to the backer, specifically my mailing of the book to you. I have eliminated this risk
by building into the campaign the mailing and shipping costs of your signed copies to you within each pre-order tier.
The risk of delivering the pre-sale copies of my book is contingent on the publisher we use. I will be working closely with New Degree Press to make sure we get the earliest possible ship date of the signed book copy to you. We will keep all pre-sale backers up-to-date as my book hits each key milestone and publishes. You will know when the copies are expected to ship.
Other Ways You Can Help
Not everyone can support, but that doesn't mean you can't get something out of it!
I will reward the
top 3 people who
refer the most backers at the end of the campaign (30 days). Here's how:
- At the top of the campaign page, you will see the "share" buttons. Click on the "chain" icon to get a custom link just for you. (Note: don't use the URL in the browser window as it won't work to track referrals and you won't get credit)
- Copy that link and paste it on your social media, email it to a friend, or text a fellow book lover.
- When someone clicks on that link and backs the book, you get 1 entry!
Please use #unleashyourself and tag me as well as my publisher, New Degree Press, so we can help amplify your efforts!
Tag: #unleashyourself #gangstapm #gangstavision
LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/dilipramachandran
Twitter -@pulidili / @NewDegreePress
Thank you so much for of all of your love and support!
Thanks again,
Dilip Ramachandran