Product Leadership is Product Stewardship: Shripriya Mahesh, Founding Partner, Spero Ventures

​About this session: As product leaders, we all want people to love what we create. But people often use our products in ways we never could have predicted. Once we release something into the world, it belongs to the users — and sometimes they use our products in unexpected and negative ways. We can’t be held responsible for what they do with it… right?

​In her talk, Shripriya argues that it's time we take more ownership of the impact our products have on the world. The stakes are too high to claim ignorance — particularly in tech, where our products can reach billions of people. True product leadership extends beyond creation: True product leadership is product stewardship.

​About Shripriya Mahesh: Shripriya is a Founding Partner at Spero Ventures. Previously, Shripriya ran global emerging technology investing at Omidyar Network and helped launch First Look Media. Before that, Shripriya spent five years at eBay in multiple roles: VP and head of Global Product Management and Strategy; VP, US Product Marketing and Platform; and VP, Corporate Strategy. She also led product at fintech startup NextCard and worked in manufacturing in India. In the midst of her tech career, Shripriya took a hiatus to study film at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she made short films and a collaborative feature featuring James Franco and Jessica Chastain. Shripriya holds an MBA from Harvard; an MFA in Film from New York University; and a BA in Economics from Stella Maris College.