AMA: Faire Head of Product - Retailers, Luca Beltrami on SMB Product Management

When you are the first PM, you are straddling several priorities: Finding product market fit Scaling the team Scaling the product The biggest failure mode is trying to do 2 and 3 before you do 1: As the first PM, your foremost priority should be to establish product market fit. Distibuting that effort across more people dilutes the effectiveness because information gets lost along the way. Once you enter scaling, things become more complicated. Here the biggest failure mode is becoming your own ...Read More

Let me start from the commonalities: You are building something that solves a user problem and creates customer value that also generates business value in the process. The line between enterprise and SMB is fluid, though in the case of companies like Faire (and I also observed this at Airbnb and Travelnuts to some degree), SMBs often act more like consumers. Two key differences are: Where you get your insights: The research process tends to be more consumer-esque for SMBs, where you rely on use ...Read More

The most important criterion for a promotion is:  Are you consistently performing at a level that would allow you to meet all expectations of your next level. This requires three things: A clear articluation of what it means to perform at the next level: Typically this includes a framework with levels, skill categories (strategy, vision, execution, etc) and a description of what is expected at each level for each dimension. A role with an opportunity to perform at the next level: Often this will ...Read More

I typically suggest to try to pivot into product management by changing a few variables but not too many - so you have a few strengths to rely on. When you start a new PM role, you are exposing yourself to potential changes on multiple dimensions (in order of likelihood): Function/ craft: This one is non negotiable Manager: You will be reporting to someone else with new expectations and unknown working styles Team: Potentially joining a new set of teammates Domain: You may need to learn a new do ...Read More

The most important thing for a PM is to bring at least some of the skills of the PM role into their first PM experience so they can lean on some of their strengths to add value immediately while they learn the rest of the craft. As mentioned above, too many new things to learn simultaneously don't set up PM for success. What this means depends on the type of company and the requirements of the role. The smaller the company, the more specific the skills that will be useful in providing immediate ...Read More

Evaluate in this order: Company: This is by far the biggest predictor of how much you will benefit. Fast growing companies create the best economic outcomes, and the best learning and career opportunities for their employees. Often it's better to join a company post product market fit to catch the right sweet spot between risk and residual growth. Wealthfront has a great list of career-launching companies. Be sure to evaluate the company not only for success but also for culture. Ask how they ma ...Read More