Few teams within a company touch as many parts of the business daily as product marketing. Sitting at the intersection of marketing, product, and sales, product marketing managers (or PMMs, for short) need to stay steeped in the product while translating nuanced technical information into stories that resonate with the broader market.
At NinjaOne, that’s no small task. Our unified IT operations platform spans everything from RMM and endpoint management to autonomous patch management, remote access, backup, vulnerability management, MDM, and more. As our platform grows and evolves, our PMMs play a critical role in connecting the dots for customers and bringing the value behind our innovations to life.
To give us a closer look at product marketing at NinjaOne, we sat down with our longtime marketing ninja Nick DeStefano. As our AI product marketing lead, he shares what his day-to-day looks like, what sets NinjaOne apart in its approach to AI innovation, and some of the biggest lessons he’s learned from customers over the years.
Let’s get to know Nick!
Tell us about yourself. What do you do at NinjaOne?
Hey! I’m Nick DeStefano. I am a senior product marketing manager here at NinjaOne covering endpoint management and endpoint-related products. I’ve been here for four and a half years! My day is spent working with a ton of teams, writing and ideating on product messaging, strategizing for the future, and helping whoever I can with whatever they need that day.
If someone shadowed you for a day, what would surprise them most about your job?
How much context switching I do in a day. Managing several products, all at various stages of a product lifecycle, requires switching from minor messaging tweaks and asset updates to brand new core messaging creation and strategic planning.
There’s no shortage of AI innovation happening in our product these days. What do you appreciate about how NinjaOne is approaching AI differently?
I appreciate how deliberate we’ve been with our approach to AI. Rather than rushing to the market to just get something out there and capitalize on the “AI craze,” we’ve thoughtfully worked on making AI-focused enhancements to our core product that meets market demand and supports technicians where they need it most.
As someone who collaborates closely across product, sales, and marketing, what’s the key to balancing different perspectives and making cross-functional collaboration successful?
Listening and understanding the core goals of each individual team. With the right context in mind, it’s a lot easier to create messaging, assets, etc. that fit the specific needs of each team. It also helps enhance my own knowledge, and challenges me to more effectively mold and convey the key points I’m trying to get across in a language that resonates with each team.
What’s something our customers have taught you that changed the way you think?
I would say the number one thing I’ve realized in working with our customers is that although statistics and quantitative research are powerful, sometimes it’s the qualitative feedback, the feeling, and the pure joy a product can deliver that’s way more meaningful for them. Our customers are some of the smartest individuals in the tech space and although “ROI and hours saved” are important metrics, sometimes “this helped me save my business” or “it just works when I need it to” has a much greater impact on their daily lives.
What is the most important thing you’ve learned at NinjaOne so far?
That supporting, listening to, and being there for your customers will go farther than anything else in business. We show up for our customers every day. When they talk and we listen, they are beyond appreciative. When companies lose sight of the people that got them there, it’s a recipe for disaster.
What are you passionate about outside of your career?
Football and traveling. Football is my number one passion (go Pats!), I coach flag football and even have my grandpa’s favorite play he used back when he coached tattooed on my leg (he’s the one who got me into football in the first place). I also love planning trips whenever I get the chance, whether that’s locally or around the world. Right now, Spain, Greece, and Hawaii are my top three locations I’m looking to plan trips for.
That’s all for this edition of Patch Notes: People Edition! Want to meet more of the people behind NinjaOne or see where you could make a difference? Head over to the NinjaOne careers page to learn more about our growing team and explore open roles: www.ninjaone.com/careers.
