Product Management

What advice would you give to someone starting their career in product management?

Product management: a role centered around decisions

Product management by nature is a job centered around making decisions. Making decisions is something that is incredibly hard at times. As an early in your career product manager, it's important to understand which decisions need to take time to understand and which decisions you should just make quickly, learn from, and then iterate on. Velocity of decision making is one of the things that helps businesses and product managers grow the fastest. But it's important to understand when to slow down with those decisions. One of the best ways to figure that out is to ask a lot of questions. Questions of your business stakeholders, of your peers and other product managers, of your development team, of your customers, etc. The more that you understand about what each of these parties needs and what each of them wants and what their requirements are, etc., what they care about, the better off you are. In determining when and how to make those types of decisions.

As an early in your career product manager, it's important to understand which decisions need to take time to understand and which decisions you should just make quickly, learn from, and then iterate on. Asking a lot of questions of your stakeholders, peers, development team, and customers can help you determine when and how to make those decisions.

For someone starting their career in product management, my advice would be to embrace the art of decision-making. Product management involves making numerous decisions, and it can be challenging at times. As an early-career product manager, it's crucial to differentiate between decisions that require thorough understanding and those that can be made quickly, learned from, and iterated upon. The velocity of decision-making is key to the growth of businesses and product managers, but it's equally important to recognize when to slow down and deliberate.

To navigate this balance, ask a lot of questions. Seek input from various stakeholders, including business partners, peers, other product managers, development teams, and customers. The more you understand their needs, wants, requirements, and priorities, the better equipped you'll be to make informed decisions.

By continuously gathering insights and perspectives, you can determine when and how to make decisions that align with the needs of your stakeholders and the success of your product. Remember, decision-making is a skill that develops over time, so embrace the learning process and be open to iterating on your decisions as you grow in your product management career.

How did you first become interested in product management as a career?

The challenging but rewarding path to becoming an associate PM

I've known that I've wanted to start my own business for a really long time, and so I spent the early part of my career trying to basically do a MBA by doing, is kind of how I thought about it. And so I spent a lot of time figuring out what are the skills that I need to learn in order to be successful when I go and start my own business, and started out in sales and then ultimately worked my way into analytics. And then while I was at Wayfair working in analytics is when I actually discovered what product management was. And I realized, you know, that's the, they're the key function that is actually figuring out what needs to be built and then partnering with the developers to be able to build it. And so I looked at that and said, you know, that's the thing that I need to go and learn how to do in order to be able to build my own product, which is ultimately something I would need to be able to do to start my own business. And so spent the next three years spending a lot of time trying to figure out how do I actually go and get this type of job. And so spent a lot of time networking, a lot of time reading, a lot of time listening to podcasts, a lot, a ton of books and articles, you know, talking to different people in the industry, applying to different jobs, et cetera. And through that process, I actually was fortunate enough to be introduced to you, Ryan, and got a great resource from you that talked about all the different things that you recommended for how to break into product management and really just spent, you know, a three-year window trying everything I could to actually end up breaking into the field. And thankfully, eventually ended up getting a, getting, getting really lucky and finding a job that was a good fit, both in terms of interest and role. And I got my foot in the door as an associate product manager. At the time, it was probably a little bit frustrating because I was going from a team lead position down to a associate PM position and it felt like I was downgrading. But it was the, it was the parallel move into the right industry for me. And so even though it was really challenging from a pride perspective, it was 100% the right thing. And the skills that I built in the earlier part of my career, both at Wayfair and with my time in sales, et cetera, helped me grow in the role of product manager significantly more quickly than I would have otherwise. So even though it was a temporary step back and ended up being a rocket launch forward afterwards, and I consider myself very fortunate the way that everything kind of shook up.

I spent the early part of my career working in sales and analytics, then discovered product management and dedicated time to networking, reading, listening to podcasts, and talking to people in the industry to learn how to break into the field. Through this process, I was able to find a job as an associate product manager and eventually build the skills needed to start my own business.

I've always had a strong desire to start my own business, so I approached my career with the mindset of gaining practical knowledge and skills to prepare for that goal. I started in sales and then transitioned into analytics while working at Wayfair. It was during my time in analytics that I discovered product management and realized its crucial role in determining what needs to be built and collaborating with developers to bring those ideas to life.

Recognizing that product management was the key function I needed to learn in order to build my own product and start my own business, I spent the next three years actively seeking opportunities to break into the field. I networked, read books and articles, listened to podcasts, and sought advice from industry professionals. Through this process, I was fortunate to receive valuable guidance from someone like you, Ryan, who provided resources on how to break into product management.

I persisted in my efforts and eventually landed a role as an associate product manager. While it initially felt like a downgrade from my previous team lead position, I recognized that it was the right move for me in terms of industry and interest. The skills I had developed in my earlier career experiences, particularly in analytics and sales, helped me grow quickly in my role as a product manager.

Although it may have seemed like a temporary setback, it turned out to be a significant leap forward in my career. I consider myself fortunate for the opportunities that came my way and the way everything fell into place.

What's the most important quality for a product manager?

Key Quality for Product Managers: User Centricity

The most important quality for a product manager is user centricity. It's a product manager's job to be able to understand what are user problems, even when the user themselves aren't able to clearly articulate it, and know what to build that will actually solve those problems, rather than just building a set of features that a user may ask for. It's the product manager's job to basically take all of these inputs and their understanding of the user problems and the user experience to prioritize a solution and actually bring it to life.

The most important quality for a product manager is user centricity - the ability to understand user problems and prioritize solutions that solve them.

The most important quality for a product manager is user centricity. A product manager needs to have the ability to understand user problems, even when users may not be able to clearly articulate them. Instead of simply building features based on user requests, a product manager should focus on building solutions that address those underlying problems. They must gather inputs, understand the user experience, and prioritize solutions that truly meet user needs.

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Ben Katz