Syrup Culture

Welcoming VP of Product Fion Lam to Syrup

Greg Babel
Greg Babel
Jul 19, 2024
5 minutes to read

We’re excited to introduce Fion Lam as our new VP of Product! Get to know Fion a bit more in this Q&A.

Greg (Digital + Content Marketing Manager): Hi! Tell us a bit about yourself. Who is Fion?

Fion (VP of Product): Hi Greg! Alright, I’m currently based in San Francisco — where I was born and raised — living in sunny and foggy Pac Heights. I love being active, so you’ll find me out and about all weekend playing a lot of pickleball, skiing, running, and hiking. My 7-year-old pup Mango brings a lot of joy to my life — he’s the best!

Greg: You spent time at Faire and Block (formerly Square) overseeing product. What lessons are you bringing from those pedigreed companies to the Product team at Syrup?

Fion: Being a part of the product teams at these two iconic companies has shaped a lot of my product philosophies and leadership style. I’ll share two examples.

The first is really about distilling the essence of product management. What is a PM really responsible for? And I think it can be summarized by this one simple phrase: customer value = business value.

Product is ultimately the marriage of deeply identifying customer needs in the market and shaping a product that meets those needs in a way that then generates value for the business.

The second lesson is on the importance of design craft in solving customer problems. Both Block and Faire took very gnarly, complex, antiquated flows (accepting payment, facilitating a clunky wholesale order) and simplified the workflow using design thinking.

Greg: You’ve had some interesting stints outside of product: some time at Accel doing venture scouting, leading sales at Faire, and a couple of operational roles (including here at Syrup). How do these experiences help you in your product work? I imagine that being incredibly well organized is part of the secret sauce.

Fion: I firmly believe that product acts as connective tissue between the customer, internal teams, and the product — so to the extent that I can build more empathy for how other teams or an organization as a whole operates, it directly translates to me doing my job more effectively.

Honestly, leading a sales org for a brief time at Faire is one of the most shaping experiences for my product management career — I learned to be a better manager, I better understood customer objections and how product can help, and I built a deep appreciation for how strong partnerships between sales and product can have a massive impact.

Greg: One of our core product beliefs is that merchandising challenges are ultimately a big data problem — and that AI is the ideal tool to provide a solution. Can you explain what that means? What impact does that belief have on how we design and build our product?

Fion: Well, the problem with merchandising today is twofold: the data is (1) fragmented and complex and (2) ever-changing given how trend-driven categories like apparel and footwear are. These two problems make it very difficult to accurately predict what customers will want season to season.

AI as a broad technology category is helpful because it enables us to process this complex data, fill in the gaps in our understanding with smart inferences, and put together a recommendation that captures internal and external nuances.

As it relates to our product: it means we strive to cut through the data noise, uncovering insights that allow our customers to make smarter decisions. And we set the bar very high on how we design the experience to ensure we’re bringing our customers along for the journey.

Greg: Take a second to pull out your crystal ball and look forward 5 years. What is one thing that currently frustrates or bogs down apparel and footwear brands that will be a thing of the past?

Fion: Retail waste! With Syrup, I really believe we can make the supply chain so much more efficient to the point where everything that gets produced is sold.

Greg: Ok Fion, thanks for your time! To close, we always ask the same question: what’s your favorite way to enjoy maple syrup?

Fion: Going with a classic answer here: on top of fresh, fluffy pancakes with a thick side of butter and fresh berries. YUM!

Join our Team

Interested in working with Fion and the rest of our amazing team? Apply now!

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