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Vasudha Mithal

AMA: Care Solace CPO, ex-Headspace Senior Director, Vasudha Mithal on Product Management Career Path

December 5 @ 10:00AM PST
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Care Solace CPO, ex-Headspace Senior Director, Vasudha Mithal on Product Management Career Path
Top Questions
What has been the most surprising thing about being a Director that you only realized after you were promoted?
Vasudha Mithal
Vasudha Mithal
Care Solace Chief Product Officer • December 5
The work keeps getting more and more ambiguous the more senior you become. You have to take initiative to stay connected across the company, keep a pulse of the market/news to ensure you are able to guide the work of your teams. It becomes less about working on a specific project but more about e......Read More
384 Views
1 request
How do you think about staying within a company versus looking for opportunities outside? When do you know it's time to leave?
Vasudha Mithal
Vasudha Mithal
Care Solace Chief Product Officer • December 5
As a general rule of thumb - always be on the lookout. Dedicate whatever time works for you: 1hr/week or 1 hr every other week in making connections outside, thinking about a new problem to see if that area is exciting to you, talking to new recruiters to see how your skills are being perceived i......Read More
361 Views
1 request
How do you decide if you should follow the IC PM path or the people leader PM path?
Vasudha Mithal
Vasudha Mithal
Care Solace Chief Product Officer • December 5
* Understand if your skills and interest align with the path: * IC: Become a topic expert, typically going deep in more technical topics e.g. you really love doing SEOs or healthcare billing. You like to work more independently, actively driving implementation, staying much clos......Read More
380 Views
1 request
How do early career PM's proactively learn about skills that take them to the next level. How do they develop them.
Vasudha Mithal
Vasudha Mithal
Care Solace Chief Product Officer • December 5
* Learning on the job - you already have broken into a product role. Work will give you the most time and mind space to acquire skills for growth. * Observe the work being done by senior folks at your company - ask if you can shadow them for any important sessions (e.g. strategy r......Read More
369 Views
2 requests
What metrics do you use to justify a pay raise?
Vasudha Mithal
Vasudha Mithal
Care Solace Chief Product Officer • December 5
Unfortunately, there is no set formula for this. Here are some ideas for quantitative research: * Look into salary benchmarking data. Levels.fyi is a great resource for researching. * Understand internal pay policies (e.g. if the company is targeting 50th percentile among your specific ......Read More
365 Views
1 request
As a non-it professional how does one start in PM career? What are transferable skill sets required for a middle management PM role?
Vasudha Mithal
Vasudha Mithal
Care Solace Chief Product Officer • December 5
Generally, a good way to transition is when you change one dimension at a time. So, either change your company, role or industry. Trying to move across several things is hard (not impossible). In that context, the best shot is at trying for a product role within your existing company. Build relat......Read More
665 Views
1 request
How do you get into a saas based company if you have no experience working in one and what are some of the core competencies you need when you are starting out?
Vasudha Mithal
Vasudha Mithal
Care Solace Chief Product Officer • December 5
* Understand how commercial teams are setup, how products are priced, what's a typical sales cycle and even more top of the funnel - how is marketing run, target customers and the value props. * Build a basic empathy for a B2B buyers journey - which platforms are potential buyers alre......Read More
398 Views
1 request
How do you overcome domain hiring bias while looking for product roles?
Vasudha Mithal
Vasudha Mithal
Care Solace Chief Product Officer • December 5
Innovation is best achieved by diversity of ideas. Diversity can be achieved by many ways - one of which is including views from multiple industries and domains. While hiring for a generalist role, it is important to leverage interview questions that are going after the skill vs. domain knowledge......Read More
408 Views
1 request
What's the career path for a 5yr experienced Product Manager to become a leader? What are the steps to prepare oneself for the next step, i.e., becoming a Sr./Director/VP of Product or CEO?
I have worked as Product Manager for the last 5 years collaborating closely with Eng, Design, and Business in both startup and corporate environments.
Vasudha Mithal
Vasudha Mithal
Care Solace Chief Product Officer • December 5
As you continue growing, both the number of years and the kind of work, impact matters. Here could be some important steps to consider: * Observe the work being done by senior folks at your company - ask if you can shadow them for any important sessions (e.g. strategy reviews). Find oppor......Read More
363 Views
1 request
How can I navigate a situation where I am frequently assigned project management tasks rather than product management responsibilities, and where there seems to be a lack of emphasis on product vision and impact-based product building?
Vasudha Mithal
Vasudha Mithal
Care Solace Chief Product Officer • December 5
It is important to understand the product culture of a company. PM work is very often confused with project management (as you are experiencing). Your manager is the biggest lever in this scenario - define your goals clearly with your manager (typically companies follow an OKR based process for ......Read More
713 Views
1 request