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Ken Norton

Executive Coach to Product Leaders at Bring the Donuts, LLC

Executive CoachingProduct StrategyLeadership DevelopmentProduct Management10x ThinkingEmotional Intelligence
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About

I'm Ken Norton, an Executive Coach to Product Leaders at Bring the Donuts. My journey in tech spans nearly three decades, from the early days of CNET and Yahoo to spending fourteen years at Google, where I led product teams for tools like Docs, Calendar, and Maps that serve billions of people. Today, I’ve shifted my focus from building products to building the people who build products. I’m deeply passionate about conscious leadership—helping leaders move out of 'autopilot' and fear-based reactivity into a state of presence and curiosity. Whether I'm working with AI startups on product-market fit or coaching senior executives, I believe that self-awareness is the ultimate foundation for scaling. I love connecting with senior product leaders and founders who are interested in 10x thinking and the human-centric future of product management.

Networking

What I can offer

  • ›Executive coaching for product leaders
  • ›Leadership workshops (Character Foundations)
  • ›Product design sprints
  • ›Strategic advice for AI startups

Looking for

  • ›expanding my professional network
  • ›exploring mutual opportunities in senior product and technology leadership

Best fit for

Senior product leadersTechnology executivesStartup foundersEarly-stage AI teams

Current Interests

Conscious LeadershipAI Startup Product-Market FitInternal Family Systems (IFS)Critical AI studiesOrganizational Efficiency

Background

Career

From founding software engineer at CNET to CTO of NBCi, then VP of Product at JotSpot (acquired by Google). Spent 14 years at Google as Director of Product Management before transitioning to executive coaching.

Education

MS in Engineering Management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; BA in Political Science and Philosophy from Boston University (cum laude).

Achievements

  • ›Led product for Google Docs, Calendar, and Maps for 3B+ users
  • ›Author of the seminal essay 'How to Hire a Product Manager'
  • ›Recipient of the Google OC Award for innovation (2010)
  • ›Co-founded Grand Central Communications, an early cloud pioneer

Opinions

  • Leadership isn’t just doing, it’s also being.
  • Advice is often autobiographical and biased; asking the right questions is better.
  • AI is a multiplier that widens the gap between exceptional and average talent.
  • The 'human stuff' like empathy is the least likely part of PM to be automated.