AMA: Headspace Health Senior Director of Product Management, Vasudha Mithal on Developing Your Product Management Career

For very role-specific hiring: "Knowing about the role, how does your experience and skillset fit the needs?" The best answer: Reflects the candidate really understands our company, has done research to know what might be top of mind and has taken the time with the recruiter to clarify the role, paid attention to what I explain about the role. Communicate clearly about their skills and have an elevator pitch for past experiences to create a cohesive story. Reflects a true passion for joining the ...Read More

This varies so much from company to company but my general lens while moving from PM to SPM: SPMs have had at least one meaningful product launch in their career. SPMs are able to cut across product lines, reach out to multiple PMs to identify dependencies, get buy-ins, and manage timelines for complex launches that touch various parts of a product ecosystem (vs. focusing on one siloed area). SPMs establish a relationship with various stakeholders (including non-R&D folks). SPMs can outline ...Read More

A few things: A very deep understanding of the problems they are looking to solve. This gets reflected in how they speak about past experiences (why did you choose to work on a specific problem, what exactly was the need?) as well as any case study (are they asking intelligent questions to understand the need). User-first approach: While solving the problem they identified, are they putting the user at the forefront? Are they clear about who the users are for the problem? Clear communication For ...Read More

You need to assess this based on the things that you care about. I have my few Ps: People: Do I love this team? Do I want to be at the table (in a zoom room?) with this group to solve problems? Purpose: What is the problem I'll be thinking about every day? Is that exciting/interesting? Paisa (Hindi for money): Do I understand all components and what is my risk appetite? Progress: Does this work help me progress - do I acquire a new way of thinking? Learn about a new area? Do I move ahead with my ...Read More

The most important thing to prioritizing a product roadmap is to deeply understand your company's strategy. How does your leadership think about 1) Goals for the year (revenue, profitability, user retention/satisfaction, ...) and 2) Balancing goals that might contradict each other (revenue growth that might reduce profitability)? You can ask your manager, read up any material that talks about strategy and join all-hands or other forums to bring such questions to the table. Another important elem ...Read More

In a startup, the R&R is faintly defined at its best. You naturally get pulled into 1000 different things - that is both fun and a challenge :) A few things that you might find helpful: In the beginning, it is good to get exposed to a variety of different topics. It can be overwhelming for sure. Once you understand the organization's needs, ask yourself "What can I do to make our company successful?" (and I hope your equity motivates you to ask this question each step of the way). The answer ...Read More

Generally, where I’ve seen people best succeed in transitioning 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 relationships, try to stick around product work (e.g. exploratory analysis to help product teams prioritize, understand usage, measure impact, etc.), and ask mentors to let you dri ...Read More

The first question I'd ask is - what element of being a CPO/GM are you looking to NOT do? Second question - What do you like about being a PM that you want to bring along as an executive for the company? Then find a role that can reduce #1 and get you to do #2! A few options that are interesting: Chief of Staff or work in the CEOs office for a variety of 'special projects' Chief Strategy Officer Lateral moves to COO or design leadership. Partner or integration management (fairly technical roles, ...Read More

Love the proactive thinking and the desire to excel :) Not sure if the learning curve is any steeper but there are a few things that can support career growth: Master the craft for what is required of you in the current seniority. Get exposure to delegating more work, creating leverage across different teams, and see if you are able to 'let go of the detailed tasks' but still bring a beautiful product to life with your team. Get exposure to market maps, strategy documents, start asking thoughtfu ...Read More

What do you value in your life right now? If it is career growth and you are not getting that, needless to say, it is time for a change. If you want to maximize your impact and you have the tools to deliver your best work/create the most impact, stay. If you are optimizing for pay and external opportunities won't give a decent raise, stay. If you are enjoying a work-life balance and don't want to go through the ramp-up of a new company, stay. What else? Most likely you'd want at least some if no ...Read More

No matter how many parents I saw before at work, I was nowhere close to realizing the true joys and challenges of working parents. A few things: As you are solving world problems and developing your team at work, you are also growing and nurturing the leaders of tomorrow at home. I now think of my long-term contributions to society vs. a narrow focus entirely hinged around work. Time is a privilege - I've learned more ruthless prioritization and now focus on how to maximize my impact. Develop mo ...Read More