LitPM: Breaking into Product Management

Join us on this episode of LitPM for an insightful chat with our homie Ben! He went from the first Risk hire at Gusto to a Product Manager, and he's sharing his journey with us. Learn how he navigated the transition, talked to his boss, and identified the perfect company for career growth. We'll also delve into the highs and lows of product management and how Ben's now using his experience to start his own company. If you're aiming for a career shift, this episode is a must-listen. Hit play and enjoy!

Timestamps:

• (2:56) - Introduction and background

• (7:47) - Thinking about breaking into product

• (13:14) - Identifying a company that will allow growth into a product role

• (18:32) - Finessing the internal transition into Product

• (33:50) - Biggest fallacies in product and learning gaps

• (37:15) - Leaving product and how to explore early ideas as a Founder

Our guest today is Sam, a product manager who shares her two-year odyssey, navigating from her background in electrical engineering to the unfamiliar terrain of product management. We journey alongside Sam as she deliberates between traditional education routes like an MBA and more specialized options like product bootcamps. Discover why she ultimately chose the immersive environment of a product bootcamp, specifically the renowned Co.Lab program, which offers students a simulated work experience mirroring real-life product management scenarios.

For those considering a career pivot into tech without prior industry experience, Sam’s insights are invaluable. Tune in as she reveals the pivotal moments of her journey, from education decisions to landing that first job post-bootcamp.Whether you're a non-technical professional eyeing a transition into the tech world or simply seeking inspiration from real success stories, this episode is tailored for you. Join us as we unravel the secrets to breaking into product management, one story at a time.

Timestamps:

(2:42) - Introduction and background

(5:13) - Exploring a career switch into Product

(10:56) - Evaluating Product Bootcamps

(15:46) - The Co.Lab product program

(30:02) - Getting that first job post Bootcamp

This is part 2 on Dara, the chief product office at HiveStack, an adTech company based in Montreal with over 150 employees. Dara is an incredible hustler and grinded his way from Associate Product Manager to VP of Product within three years. In this episode we talk about:

• The importance of questioning the why before jumping into execution

• Why it’s important to build a strong relationship with engineers, and how to do so

• The #1 important thing to focus on as a successful product manager

• Trade-offs on staying at a product large org vs. jumping to a smaller org as the first product hire

• The transition from individual contributor to product leadership

• What product strategy means

• How every PM can accelerate their product careers

(Episode Part 1/2)

In this episode, we're joined by Dara, Chief Product Officer at HiveStack.

Dara's story is an inspiration – starting from a customer support role, he made his way up to becoming the Chief Product Officer of a 100+ employee company in just 5 years. Today's discussion is split into two parts

1. We'll delve into Dara's unconventional strategies for breaking into the tech industry and transitioning into product management. 🚀

2. In our next episode, we'll uncover how he accelerated from an Associate Product Manager to a Chief Product Officer in just 4 years.

Whether you're an aspiring product manager or simply someone who appreciates a good success story, this episode is packed with valuable insights and lessons on hustling to get what you want. Join us as we learn how to navigate the tech landscape and achieve our goals, one step at a time.

Nora is a product manager at Microsoft. Nora has an undergraduate degree in Chemistry. 

In this episode we talk about:

• How she went from Chemistry to breaking into product at Microsoft
• Why she rejected her offer from dental school to follow her intuition
• How her interest in product started
• Her approach to being more effective at networking events
• Crafting a product resume for someone without product experience
• Preparing for the Microsoft interview
• What it's like being a new product manager at a big organization

Quincy is a senior product manager at Shopify. Previously, Quincy worked as a product manager at SSENSE and eventually switched over to become the head of personal styling, managing a team of +30 people. In this episode we talk about:

• Entering product from a consulting background
• The benefits of switching teams as a product manager and being a generalist
• Exiting the product role into a completely new domain
• How to learn when constantly context switching
• Being a generalist vs. specialist PM

Andrew was a senior product manager intern at Amazon, and currently a second-year MBA student at Harvard Business School. In this episode, Andrew and I focus on the product recruitment process. Topics range from the approach to applications, effective sources of prep content, a breakdown of the different types of interviews, the struggles of the process, and dealing with rejection from interviews. This is a critical podcast for you if you’re thinking about or are currently recruiting for a product manager position.

Andrew is a senior product manager intern at Amazon, and currently an MBA student at Harvard Business School. Previously, Andrew worked in Business Operations at Airbnb and as a management consultant at McKinsey. In this episode, Andrew and I talk about his journey into product management from his days in college, why he ultimately used an MBA as a transition into Product, his thoughts on recruiting into product from business school, and how to overcome the technical barrier when recruiting as a non-technical candidate.

Jesar is a product manager at Whatsapp. Previously Jesar worked as a product manager at Codecademy and was part of the inaugural twitter APM class. Jesar and I talk through: her journey into product management, her experiences with the Twitter APM program, her thoughts on the product interview process, the challenges that she faces as she reflects on her career as a PM, and her approach to these challenges.

Paul is the first product manager at Kepler, a tech company with the mission of bringing the internet to space. In this episode, Paul and I chat about the responsibilities of a satellite operations engineer, breaking into product internally, working with and inspiring engineers, our opinions on product management courses, and leveling up as a product manager.

Kiki is a senior product manager at Rent the Runway, a fashion tech company based in New York City. Kiki was previously a product manager at Microsoft and has spent half her career as a PM in big tech and half at a scale-up / startup. In this episode Kiki and I chat about the differences between working in big tech vs. at a startup as a product manager. We cover the interview process, culture, the scope of work, personal fulfillment, and other random fun topics. Kiki shares her advice on how to be successful as a PM in both types of organizations and talks about the next steps in her career.

Adam is the head of product at Flinks, a fintech company based in Canada. In this episode Adam and I chat about his path into product management, how he quickly made his way into a product leadership role, how he was able to accelerate and grow his career as a PM, what it means to be a product leader, and his thoughts on hiring great PMs.

Steffi is an engineering manager at a leading music streaming tech company. Steffi speaks to the role of the engineering manager and how she typically collaborates with product managers. Steffi talks about the different areas in which she coaches product managers and the qualities of a good PM from an engineering lens. We spend extensive time talking about tech debt, which I believe is important for every lit PM to understand.

Ryan is a senior product manager at Disney Streaming. Ryan shares his experiences of being laid off from a product role at Zola during the global pandemic and how he bounced back to land a senior product role with Disney within 4 weeks. The has been extremely difficult for people across the world and we hope that this episode will be helpful to anyone looking for a new role during this period.

Episode Transcription

2:15 - Background information leading up to layoffs

8:51 - Urgency to getting a new job

11:25 - Actions after  lay off

14:42 - Networking + Mock interviews

21:40 - Dealing with interview fatigue + stress

23:27 - Dealing with rejections

27:00 - Disney interview process

32:09 - Learnings from recruiting during the pandemic

Anand, a technical product manager at Amazon, walks us through his experiences interviewing for product roles.

Episode Transcription

0:35 - Approach to applying to product roles for the first time

3:18 - What are the different types of PM interviews?

5:40 - What base knowledge does it take to answer PM interview questions?

7:27 - Did the Masters degree helped with product interviews?

9:39 - Thoughts on using product interview frameworks

16:19 - Are you happy now that you're a PM?

(Part 1 of 2) Anand is a Technical Product Manager at Amazon. Anand comes from a non-tech background in chemical engineering and went to work as a management consultant out of undergrad. Anand talks about how he ultimately used a technical masters degree to help him springboard into product management. He discusses some of his experiences as a management consultant as well as the trade offs between an MBA and a technical masters.

(Part 2, coming soon) Anand speaks to his experiences interviewing at different tech companies and provides detailed advice on how to approach the product management interview.

Eric is a Product Manager at SSENSE, where he works on the mobile shopping experience.

Eric has been interested in the role of product management without knowing about the role itself for many years before he became a product manager. He talks about how his experience through high school and college led him to learn about the product management role, and how he pivoted from his consulting role to become a product manager. 

Eric also touches on his experiences interviewing at big tech companies like Google and Facebook, and how he eventually ended up at SSENSE.