SHORT BIO

Melissa Perri is a strategic advisor, author, and board member who works with leaders at Fortune 500 companies and SaaS scale-ups to enable growth by building impactful product strategies and organizations. In 2018 she wrote the industry-acclaimed book Escaping the Build Trap. Currently, Melissa is the CEO and founder of Product Institute, which helps companies design modern product operating models and deploy them across their organizations through executive advisory, diagnostics, and e-learning. She is a former board member for Meister, Labster, Dragonboat, and Forsta (acquired by Press Ganey in 2022). In 2019, Melissa was appointed to the faculty of Harvard Business School to teach Product Management in the MBA program. She has consulted with dozens of companies to transform their product organizations, including Insight Partners, Capital One, Vanguard, and Walmart/Sam's Club. In her free time, you can find her at the restaurant she opened with her sister, Greenhouse in Bluffton, SC.

As a strategic advisor to innovators, CEOs, and board members, Melissa Perri enables rapid and sustainable growth for ground-breaking companies. Leveraging her extensive experience in product strategy, corporate education, and Fortune 500 consulting, she helps companies design modern product operating models and deploy them across their organizations. She is a former board member for Meister, Labster, Dragonboat, and Forsta (acquired by Press Ganey in 2022). She has worked with investment partners such as a16z, Owl Ventures, GGV Capital, EQT, Verdane Capital, and Insight Partners.

Currently, Melissa is the CEO and founder of Product Institute, a company she built from the ground up. Through Product Institute, she helps companies design modern product operating models and deploy them across their organizations through executive advisory, diagnostics, and e-learning. Melissa has also consulted for clients such as Insight Partners, Capital One, Vanguard, Walmart/Sam's Club, and JP Morgan Chase.

Melissa is a widely recognized thought leader in the product management space. She is the author of the industry-acclaimed book Escaping the Build Trap: How Effective Product Management Creates Real Value. In 2019, Melissa was appointed to the faculty of Harvard Business School, where she taught product management in the MBA program. She is frequently invited to keynote product management conferences around the world.

A collaborative leader, Melissa is always focused on building partnerships that pave the way to company success. In 2018, she spearheaded a joint initiative between Insight Partners and Product Institute to create a product management center of excellence. This center served as a resource to a wide range of innovators and business leaders affiliated with Insight Partners' portfolio of venture-funded startups.

Melissa excels at transforming product organizations into disruptive forces for positive change. At Forsta, she worked with the CEO and her fellow board members to redefine the product vision and accelerate exit strategy. Melissa's strategic and collaborative leadership resulted in Forsta's acquisition by Press Ganey for a valuation that exceeded board expectations.

Formerly, Melissa served as a user experience coach at Wayra and a product management instructor at General Assembly. She worked as a product manager at Barclays Capital and OpenSky. Melissa also served as an interim CPO / Head of Product for Wood Mackenzie, CentralReach, and Plated.

Melissa graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Operations Research and Information Engineering. She is an alumna of the TechPeaks accelerator program for upcoming product leaders. In 2017, Melissa was voted the "Best Product Person" by The Product Group.

Away from the office, you can find Melissa at the restaurant she opened with her sister, Greenhouse in Bluffton, SC.

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