PRODUCT MANAGEMENT / B2B & B2G

Karsten
Schwarzkopf.

Senior Product Manager for
B2B & public-sector software.

I connect product strategy, customer discovery, and technical execution at Unite. As an AI Ambassador and certified OKR Coach, I also help connect new ways of working with clear goals. Independently, I design, build, and publish iOS apps through EGOHEAD WORKS.

Leipzig, Germany · German & English · eProcurement · AI adoption

CONNECT ON LINKEDIN MY EXPERIENCE SELECTED WORK MY WRITING

PRODUCT / APPS / SOUND

01 / PRODUCT & EXPERIENCE

Product experience.
Technical roots.

I bring hands-on experience in frontend development, agile delivery, product ownership, and product leadership. I understand how software gets built—and how to turn a customer problem into a clear direction.

CURRENT / UNITE · LEIPZIG

Senior Product
Manager

JAN 2020–PRESENT · UNITE

Product strategy and roadmaps for B2B and B2G procurement platforms. Discovery with customers and sales, requirements engineering, and alignment across teams.

eProcurementPublic-sector platformsAI AmbassadorOKR Coach

FULL PROFILE ON LINKEDIN

SELECTED CAREER STEPS

SEP 2018–DEC 2019
Product Owner CSPO
Product ownership, value prioritization, agile product development, user experience, and prototyping.
JAN 2018–JAN 2019
Scrum Master CSM
Experience as a certified Scrum Master, connecting team collaboration, agile delivery, and product ownership.
MAY 2015–SEP 2018
Frontend Developer
Reusable UI components, frontend optimization, and the full software lifecycle—from design to release.

CREATIVE & RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

SCOREBUFFET / MUSIC & ENTREPRENEURSHIP

CEO · Royalty-free music

A platform for premium royalty-free music, scores, and sound logos for video, websites, and games.

FGM MARKET INSIGHTS / RESEARCH

Project Manager · Research

B2B and B2C research projects, project reporting, and a modular framework for responsive online surveys.

REFX NEXUS / SOUND DESIGN

Sound design & synth presets

Created Minimal House and Minimal House 2 expansions for reFX NEXUS under Egohead. Another way of turning ideas into something people can use.

Explore sound design

02 / SKILLS & APPROACH

Strategy meets
hands-on craft.

A product perspective grounded in technical practice, market understanding, and clear decisions.

Product direction

Turn customer problems and business priorities into a direction teams can act on.

Product strategy & roadmaps
Customer discovery & UX research
Requirements engineering
Prioritization & stakeholder alignment

Platform thinking

Procurement software for businesses and the public sector, with a background in research.

B2B & B2G SaaS
eProcurement
Public-sector platforms
Market research

AI in practice

As an AI Ambassador at Unite, I support adoption in products and in how teams work.

Spec-driven development & BDD
Context engineering
Multi-agent workflows & MCP
n8n workflow automation

Teams & delivery

Connect strategy, goals, and execution with experience on both sides of the product conversation.

Certified OKR coaching
Agile product development
Scrum & product ownership
Prototyping & frontend development

A FRAMEWORK OF MY OWN

POWR: clarity for
the hard trade-offs.

I developed POWR to look at prioritization through strategic pay-off, stakeholder consensus, and the real cost of work, overhead, and difficulty. I explore this approach in my writing as The Sovereign PM.

EXPLORE MY PRODUCT THINKING

FOUNDATIONS / HTWK LEIPZIG

Engineering.
Media. Management.

M.Eng. · Media Management
B.Eng. · Multimedia Technology
OKR Coach · OPEX: Certified

German · Native / English · Fluent

03 / SELECTED WORK

From product idea
to shipped app.

3 examples of my work across product definition, design, development, and release. I built all 3 apps independently through EGOHEAD WORKS; all 3 are on the App Store.

DAILY REFLECTION / iOS

Klarjahr

A moment for yourself. Daily affirmations, small exercises, and personal reflection, at your own pace.

Product challenge: Make a daily reflection practice approachable and easy to return to.
My contribution: I defined the product, designed the experience, developed the app, and published it through EGOHEAD WORKS.
Shipped product: A published iOS app combining daily affirmations, small exercises, and personal reflection.

Read the product case study →

Explore Klarjahr

ZEST PUZZLE’s culinary puzzle screen with its graphite and cream app design

CULINARY PUZZLES / iOS

ZEST: Daily Food Puzzles

Play with your food. Solve culinary puzzles, discover recipes, and explore cooking one challenge at a time.

Product challenge: Turn real recipes into a playful way to discover dishes and ingredients.
My contribution: I shaped the puzzle concept, designed the experience, developed the app, and published it through EGOHEAD WORKS.
Shipped product: A published iOS puzzle app with culinary challenges, recipe discovery, and a personal cookbook.

Read the product case study →

Explore ZEST PUZZLE

DRIVING JOURNAL / iPHONE + iPAD

Drive Moments

Record the road and your route together. Bring your videos to life with analog or digital instruments, then relive the whole drive in a private journal.

Product challenge: Keep GPS routes, cockpit videos and stories of a drive together in one private place.
My contribution: I defined the product, designed the experience, and developed the app for iPhone and iPad.
Status: On the App Store since October 2026, published through EGOHEAD WORKS.

Read the product case study →

Explore Drive Moments

04 / THE SOVEREIGN PM

Find the signal.

I also write as The Sovereign PM — exploring product strategy, AI, and the human side of leadership.

READ THE SOVEREIGN PM

Quiet the Noise cover: an illustrated man with a blue megaphone

FOCUS / PRODUCT THINKINGAUG 06, 2025

The Product Manager's Survival Guide to a World of Noise

On protecting attention and making product decisions with intention.

READ THE ARTICLE

Deconstruct AI Strategy Playbook cover with an illustrated circuit-board brain

AI / STRATEGYJUL 29, 2025

The Twin Engines of AI Strategy: Deconstructing the CEO Playbook from Duolingo to Shopify

2 AI strategy lenses: simplifying today and expanding tomorrow.

READ THE ARTICLE

The Charisma Code cover with an illustrated portrait

LEADERSHIP / PSYCHOLOGYAUG 04, 2025

The Charisma Code: 5 Principles for Product Managers Who Need to Lead Without Authority

Leading with purpose, presence, and empathy — even without formal authority.

READ THE ARTICLE

Explore 6 more articles on product, AI & leadership

TEAMS / HIRINGSep 01, 2025

Why Your PM Hires Keep Failing (and How to Fix It)

Why product management hires fail—and how to make better hiring decisions.

READ THE ARTICLE

CAREER / RESILIENCEAug 18, 2025

The Product Manager's Burnout Paradox: A Guide to Thriving in an Age of Chronic Stress

Replace toxic resilience with recovery, clearer boundaries, and sustainable product work.

READ THE ARTICLE

STRATEGY / CHANGEAug 13, 2025

Your Roadmap is a Threat: A Product Manager's Guide to the Biology of Change

Understand resistance to change and lead beyond a perfectly planned roadmap.

READ THE ARTICLE

LEADERSHIP / OWNERSHIPAug 12, 2025

The Anti-Victim PM: A Playbook for Radical Ownership

Move beyond blame and take responsibility for the decisions you can influence.

READ THE ARTICLE

AI / DISCOVERYJul 31, 2025

The End of Search as We Know It: A Product Leader's Strategic Guide to the AI-Driven Discovery Era

How AI-driven discovery changes product visibility, trust, and strategic positioning.

READ THE ARTICLE

LEADERSHIP / COACHINGJul 25, 2025

Taming the Advice Monster: The Product Leader's Guide to Asking Better Questions

Lead with better questions and give your team room to solve its own problems.

READ THE ARTICLE

05 / EARLIER CREATIVE WORK

MUSIC & SOUND DESIGN

The music
came first.

Before product management and apps, I made records and sounds for other producers. That creative practice is still part of how I approach building something people can use.