If I don't want to be a CPO or GM, what future executive role should I be shooting for as a PM?

Answer

6 Answers

Product Management Career Path

Natalia Baryshnikova

Atlassian Head of Product, Enterprise Strategy and Planning • 4y

I see a lot of PMs succeeding in startegy and operaitons roles. I have been tapped a few times for COO / Strategy & BizOps / Chief of Staff types roles because of the product background. Your ability to understand and connect the dots across business and customers, as well as manage stakeholders, is super valuable in all of those roles.

1,395 Views
Tom Alterman

Notable Head of Product • 4y

We often say that growth at Asana is more like a climbing wall than a ladder—you can choose different paths, get stronger with each foothold, and truly enjoy your journey along the way. That is doubly true for product roles. You get exposure to so many parts of the business that you may realize you want to go explore next. It is also great training for anyone who aspires to be an entrepreneur or CEO of a large company. Andew Anagnost, CEO of Autodesk, advises all aspiring executives at his compa ...Read More

1,641 Views
Louisa Henry

Gusto Head of Product for Mid-Market Businesses • 4y

PM is one of those unique roles that gives you so much exposure to many sides of the business. You could aim to move into almost any executive role with enough experience. For example, if you're interested in sales, revenue, and marketing, you could align yourself to growth related products. You'll learn more about the business levers and operating dynamics. Start learning more about the teams, skillset, type of work. Learn more about the leaders, their priorities, their challenges. Volunteer to ...Read More

1,397 Views
Mike Flouton

Boxford Capital Managing Partner | Formerly Barracuda, SilverSky, Digital Guardian, OpenPages, Cybertrust • 1y

This is an interesting question. I would ask, if you're not interested in leading a product management organization, what is it about product management that has you more interested in doing it as an individual contributor? My experience is that as you get more senior, move into more senior executive positions, more and more of your time is on people management and departmental and organizational strategy. That's going to be true in any executive job that you shoot for - it's not unique to CPO. ...Read More

834 Views
Vasudha Mithal

Care Solace Chief Product Officer | Formerly Headspace, Ginger, LinkedIn • 3y

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

439 Views
Anton Kravchenko

Carta Sr. Director of Product Management | Formerly Salesforce, MuleSoft, Apple • 4y

If you enjoy Product, a typical path is either to become a people manager, remain IC, or quit to start your own thing. In big companies like Salesforce, there are plenty of Director level individual contributors (ICs), so if you don't want to manage other PMs, you are better off in a bigger company where you can focus on one specific product.

1,069 Views