“Gain a deep understanding of the products or industries you wish to pursue, and identify how your strengths can support your path. If you encounter gaps in your knowledge or experience, seek out experts to mentor you or ask for assistance from your network.”
Natee Pretikul (MBA ’13) is a Principal Product Management Lead at Microsoft. He graduated from Kasetsart University in 2008 with a Bachelor’s degree in Food Science, majoring in Product Development. Natee’s journey with Microsoft began when he joined the company’s undergraduate rotational program in Thailand after completing his studies. During his three years and eight months there, he played a critical role in supporting multiple product launches, including Office 365, Windows Phone, and Windows 7. In May 2013, Natee graduated with his Ross MBA and joined the Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, WA as a Business Program Manager. Over the past decade, he has held various roles in business, marketing, and product management. Currently, Natee has been leading product management for Microsoft Security’s product partnerships for almost five years now.
1 What was your career plan in college?
Growing up, it was expected that I would take over my father’s chicken business in Thailand. However, during my food sciences internship, I realized that factory-style work was not aligned with my passion. Although I received job offers from various food companies, I came across a poster from Microsoft advertising a one-year management trainee program for new graduates. I was thrilled and spent a lot of time crafting an essay to demonstrate why I was the ideal candidate for the position. The hiring process was tough, and I was humbled to learn that out of thousands of applicants, only 10 were selected, with just two being offered a job at Microsoft after a year. It was a surreal experience, and I felt incredibly fortunate to be one of the chosen few. Through this program, I gained invaluable insights into the tech industry and developed my technical and business skills. Joining Microsoft was a significant turning point in my career, and I remain grateful for taking that leap of faith. Although my parents had hoped I would take over the family business, my father is now supportive of my career path and even offers to fund my future startup ideas.
2 What were the reasons you came to Ross to pursue your MBA even if you enjoyed the position at Microsoft Thailand?
My initial roles at Microsoft focused on product marketing and business development, which required close collaboration with headquarters teams. During my time at Microsoft Thailand, for example, I was responsible for launching a Windows Phone operating system without Thai language support. Given the importance of the Thai language to consumers in Thailand, I had to take on technical responsibilities in addition to my marketing role, such as connecting customer feedback to the engineering team. To overcome the challenge of selling products without local language support, I worked with the team in Redmond to prioritize Thai language support while also partnering with one of the local mobile operators to position the new phone for expats. This experience taught me the importance of working closely with engineering to ensure customer success, even in a marketing role. Because of my experience, I recognized that being in the US would allow me to have a greater impact on product development than being in Thailand. As a result, I decided to pursue an MBA at Ross. I believe that a business degree is crucial for anyone looking to lead their own business someday.
3 How did your MBA prepare you for your journey in Microsoft, US?
While I knew I wanted a career in tech, I was uncertain about the critical skill sets required to accelerate my career in the industry. My goal was to become a well-rounded business leader with a deep understanding of finance, leadership, and driving change across tech firms. Pursuing an MBA seemed like the obvious choice for me, given the diverse coursework, tech-related clubs, expansive alumni network, and invaluable internship opportunities it offered.
Following the completion of my MBA, I joined Microsoft’s business team and was assigned to the Microsoft Partner Network. Given that partners contribute to around 95% of product support and Microsoft needed to transition to a cloud-based business model, I took the initiative to revamp our Internal-Use Rights (IUR) program. This involved shifting its focus towards the cloud and away from on-premises software, allowing partners to test our latest cloud-based software releases in advance and giving them a competitive edge in adopting new technologies. My first project involved creating a partner download portal, and my primary responsibility was to draft detailed product specification documentation.
As we transitioned to the cloud, I recommended discontinuing our DVD shipment business and reallocating resources to enhance our partner download portal and provide additional cloud benefits to our top-tier partners. My MBA coursework in strategy, finance, and legal studies proved invaluable as I collaborated with cross-functional teams in legal, operations, marketing, and finance to develop a comprehensive plan. By leveraging my understanding of key business concepts through MBA, I collaborated effectively with the various internal teams to present our recommendations to management, ultimately advancing our idea.
As my time with the Microsoft Partner Network team drew to a close, I realized that being a generalist might not be the best path for my long-term career goals. I wanted to specialize in a specific field to make a more significant impact. After considering future demand, I chose to focus on Security, which I saw as a crucial area for the next 20 to 30 years.
4 Can you share some challenging moments in your first few years at Microsoft, US? How did you overcome them?
I’ve got two moments that really stand out.
The first was when I realized that being a generic cloud business program manager wasn’t going to cut it for me. I reached out to some product leaders I knew to get their advice on which areas were growing and most interesting, and while a couple suggested cloud voice and cybersecurity, I had a gut feeling that security was the way to go.
Transitioning from building a download portal to security product marketing was a challenge, as I lacked some of the necessary skills to prove myself as a strong candidate. However, I had an in-depth understanding of the partner ecosystem, and I leveraged that knowledge to demonstrate how I could help grow Microsoft’s security product over time. Thankfully, the team recognized the value of my contributions and chose me to assist with their strategies. This experience taught me that hiring managers value candidates who have a genuine interest in the role and a clear understanding of what they can bring to the table, as well as areas where they may need to grow and develop initially.
The second moment that stands out to me was when I transitioned from marketing to join the Microsoft Identity and Network Access engineering team. Initially, I believed that identity topics would be straightforward, but I quickly realized that I was mistaken. I recall being in a room full of enterprise customers who had come to ask our product leaders about our product roadmap. The conversation was very informative, but as a new member of the team, I struggled to keep up with all the questions and requests.
I wanted to become a better product manager for our identity solutions, so I decided to focus on one area and learn as much as I could. I started with passwordless authentication. I talked to experts in the field to understand how Microsoft could improve and our technology partners to learn about their passwordless problems. I was fortunate to secure a great mentor who helped me validate my thinking and product plan. By the end of my first year, I had developed a launch plan for our passwordless experience for Microsoft Entra ID, utilizing FIDO2 (Fast IDentity Online) Security Keys. I was really proud of what I had accomplished. I firmly believe that anyone can achieve their aspirations if they have a genuine desire to learn and pursue their dreams.
5 What is your advice for people who want to transition to PM?
My advice for people who have backgrounds similar to mine is to first believe in yourself that anything is possible. Next, gain a deep understanding of the products or industries you wish to pursue, and identify how your strengths can support your path. If you encounter gaps in your knowledge or experience, seek out experts to mentor you or ask for assistance from your network. The University of Michigan has a vast alumni network, so take advantage of it.
6 Tell us something that is not on your LinkedIn/resume.
I’m a big foodie, but I also care about my health. That’s why I started doing Crossfit in January 2023, and it’s been great for me physically. I was also part of Yelp Elite Review Squad during 2019 to 2022 by providing high-quality reviews!
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