Product Management Career Path
The Biological Computing Company VP Products and Strategic Partnerships • 1mo
PMs who are in AI are not making any career mistakes. It is PMs who are not in AI who are making career mistakes. The first is, not doing any AI work. The second is, not ...
382 Views
The Biological Computing Company VP Products and Strategic Partnerships • 1mo
This is a very subjective question to answer, because the implication is obviously to compare what an "AI PM" does vs a regular PM. The answer also depends on whether you...
389 Views
The Biological Computing Company VP Products and Strategic Partnerships • 1mo
Recruiters will make their assessment based on your resume or LinkedIn. Remember to communicate, demonstrate, and show recommendations for your AI work and projects. Feat...
362 Views
The Biological Computing Company VP Products and Strategic Partnerships • 1mo
See my response to the question "How would AI Agents+Humans team be managed in future?" -- Product Management is going to have to restructure to handle the reality of AI ...
382 Views
The Biological Computing Company VP Products and Strategic Partnerships • 1mo
In the workplace of the future, the purpose of Humans should be to enable AI Agents to operate at full speed without causing harm (to the product, to customers, to financ...
362 Views
Upcoming AMAs
The Biological Computing Company VP Products and Strategic Partnerships • 1mo
This is an answer you are not expecting -- and that is, do not let anyone "box" you into a stereotype and dissuade you from working in AI. For e.g. I interviewed with a p...
369 Views
The Biological Computing Company VP Products and Strategic Partnerships • 1mo
Generative AI is now an extremely broad field - so you need to learn about its applications as much as the core generative AI technologyComputer Vision is relevant to fie...
380 Views
The Biological Computing Company VP Products and Strategic Partnerships • 1mo
I'll answer the question "How do you think about the balance between being a domain expert (e.g., biotech, fintech) vs. being an AI generalist" as I think that's relevant...
367 Views
The Biological Computing Company VP Products and Strategic Partnerships • 1mo
PMs are entering AI product management after being Engineers, Researchers, or PMs (traditional software, not AI), but I really have not seen very unconventional backgroun...
403 Views
The Biological Computing Company VP Products and Strategic Partnerships • 1mo
Exactly how Anthropic has been thinking about ethics, safety, and responsibility in the use of its AI technology–with courage and clarity.Safety: Ask how your AI could re...
367 Views
The Biological Computing Company VP Products and Strategic Partnerships • 1mo
AI Depth: Communicates expertise in a specific area of AI (refer to my other answer that talks about the "5-layer AI cake") and contrasts it to non-AI work on their resum...
369 Views
The Biological Computing Company VP Products and Strategic Partnerships • 1mo
Yes, it is a strong requirement to have a science and engineering background for AI or deep experience in the field. Look at the areas that power AI applications below, t...
388 Views
The Biological Computing Company VP Products and Strategic Partnerships • 1mo
A growth and communicative mindset, i.e. someone who approaches every day is a learning experience for themselves, but also one who broadcasts that learning to the team, ...
922 Views
Nextiva Head of Product, Developer Ecosystem | Formerly VP Product at Localytics, Crayon, Redox, CoreStory • 1mo
I think about this across three dimensions that evolve as you grow:Start with the outcome, not the metric. Before picking KPIs, I ask: "If we were wildly successful this ...
214 Views
JetBrains Head of Product | Formerly GitLab, Jit.io, Cellebrite, Anima • 1y
I have never worked for a company that didn't have product managers. However, if I were in a position where I needed to convey the importance of product management to eng...
1495 Views
Atlassian Group Product Manager, Trello Enterprise • 1y
Let me assume you are staying within your software (or hardware) realm, as switching from software to hardware product management (or vice versa) could be way steeper hil...
3693 Views
ASG VP of Product • 2mo
The most important skill for PMs to learn is how to leverage AI. The most desired product managers will be the ones who are agent managers. These are people who can creat...
171 Views
Zendesk Director of Product Management • 1y
Focus on how you drove engagement/retention for your B2B product, and how it ultimately lead to improving renewals and/or increasing upsells to higher tiers, if you made ...
2784 Views
Atlassian Head of Product, Enterprise Strategy and Planning • 3y
Your path to landing a product role will depend on being able to show how your skills from the current role translate to the new world, and proving that you can bring val...
1884 Views
GitLab Group Manager, Product Management • 3y
TL;DR - Be clear about what you want to learn and then ask for help. You'll find most people are eager to help others grow.
Before finding a mentor, it's critical to thi...
1294 Views
Salesforce Senior Director of Product Management • 2mo
You don't need to be a data wizard to break into Product Ops. You just need to be curious and scrappy.To get in the door just start doing it. Nobody needs to give you the...
473 Views
Atlassian Head of Product, Enterprise Strategy and Planning • 4y
In short, you have to go from being a thinker to being a doer. The biggest mindset change is about learning when to stop with the analysis and transition into acting on t...
1200 Views
Salesforce Senior Director of Product Management • 2mo
The products I admire most are the ones that don't just solve a problem — they fundamentally redefine how you work and make you question why you ever did it the old way. ...
694 Views
Would you advise non-technical PM’s joining a coding bootcamp?
I’m currently looking for new opportunities and I find that when it comes to the final stages of the recruiting process, PMs with more technical skills get the role.
strongDM Sr. Director, Product Management • 6mo
Great question! It is a common myth that engineers turned PMs are most successful. In my opinion, non-technical PMs don't need to have a developer background or join a co...
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163 Views
PayPal VP, Product | Formerly Apple, Automattic, Deloitte • 1y
Coming from a Marketing background, you’ve probably got customer focus and communications down pat – those are very important parts of the Product Management "package". D...
714 Views
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.
Care Solace Chief Product Officer | Formerly Headspace, Ginger, LinkedIn • 2y
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 seni...
429 Views
What would be your advice or go to resources for a PM to build one critical thinking skills?
What would be your advice or go-to resources for a PM to build critical thinking skills?
Former BILL Director, Product Management - Payments • 1y
One can build critical thinking on the job by analyzing data, balancing customer and business needs, and seeking feedback on your work. You should also complement this wi...
2145 Views
Atlassian Head of Product, DevOps • 1y
API are generally well documented and so if there are specific APIs you need to work with, review the documentation of how that API works to learn more about it. Seek out...
1206 Views
Matterport VP of Product • 2y
If you are already in a Product role, there are common skills that apply across SaaS or non-SaaS products. These include strategic thinking, problem solving, customer and...
429 Views
How to make a career change to PM?
Any tips, strategy, success stories?
Atlassian Director of Product Management (Confluence) | Formerly PayPal, eBay, Intel, Verizon • 3y
It can be challenging to break into PM space but here are a few tips:
1. Switch roles to PM within your current organization: this is the best path as you already have a ...
1235 Views
HubSpot Director of Product Strategy | Marketing Hub, Content Hub • 7mo
Love this question! Early career PMs often ask, “how do I actually learn the stuff that will get me promoted?” The trick is to treat PM skills like muscles: you build the...
1513 Views
Atlassian Head of Product, Enterprise Strategy and Planning • 3y
Let's take a look at common milestones of a product management career, and which skills you need the most on each level. This not an exhaustive list, but you can see the ...
3878 Views
Boxford Capital Managing Partner | Formerly Barracuda, SilverSky, Digital Guardian, OpenPages, Cybertrust • 1y
I do mentor and coach a number of folks from different backgrounds and at different stages of their career. I typically prefer to mentor folks who are product managers ve...
1072 Views
Chainguard Senior Director of Product Management • 1y
Congratulations -- you are already a PM, so you're starting from a position of strength. Regardless of whether you are an internal PM, platform PM, B2B PM, B2C PM, etc. t...
533 Views
Figma Product, AI • 4y
One common misconception about b2b product teams is that they should spend most of their time thinking about the buyer (e.g. an executive, IT decision maker) rather than...
1808 Views
Barracuda Sr. Director, Product Management • 2y
In a product management interview, my favorite question came up: "What is the best product you have ever used, and why?" I took a creative approach and presented myself a...
831 Views
Hex Head of Product | Formerly Fivetran • 1y
Product management is different at every organization and there are many organizations where it is more of a project management function. If your manager is assigning pro...
905 Views
How can a lead systems analyst in supply chain technologies can become a sr technical product manager for supply chain products ?
One who wants to transfer from traditional functional analyst role to technical product management for supply chain technologies?
Asesso Health Chief Product Officer • 1y
Focus on understanding the customer, more than the technology. Increase your customer engagement, and spend more time in understanding how the product will be used than h...
1224 Views
Cisco Director of Product Management • 1y
While this is not meant to be an exhaustive list, here are some aspects of experience and skillset that fall between table stakes and highly desired category:Good present...
1106 Views
JetBrains Head of Product | Formerly GitLab, Jit.io, Cellebrite, Anima • 2y
In the past year, while searching to recruit for product management roles at Jit.io, a DevSecOps platform focused on simplifying continuous security for cloud applicatio...
520 Views
Do you think it makes sense to grow PM competence within the organization or hire people from the broader market to succeed faster?
i.e. how much should we focus on and invest in the teammates who could switch/transfer in their roles vs pay for the new PMs coming from other organizations as new hires?
Cisco Director of Product Management • 1y
In my mind, it's not an either-or. By growing existing talent, you retain organizational knowledge and build a shared culture, while bringing in external hires inject fre...
2365 Views
Cisco Director of Product Management • 1y
Collaborating with Product Marketing is a key part of any product's success. In smaller teams/companies, that role can fall on to the Product Manager directly, whereas at...
4618 Views
Noname Security Director of Product Management • 3y
As a manager for a team of PMs', splitting your attention between contributing individually and coaching your product managers can be a challenging task. However, it is i...
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Former BILL Director, Product Management - Payments • 1y
I stay organized by setting half-yearly goals aligned with my manager. I like to break them down into monthly goals prioritized by impact, and track weekly progress, plan...
692 Views
Cisco Director of Product Management • 1y
This one is fairly easy, add value. We as Product Managers need to ensure that we are adding value for our organization by understanding the market (and our customers) an...
3129 Views
HubSpot Director of Product • 1y
This can vary from organization to organization, so take the specific examples with a little bit of a grain of salt. However, the rough frame is how I might think about i...
1320 Views
How do you manage the 1000 questions and tasks that are shot at you when you are a PM in an early stage startup?
I'm the first PM in a startup that used to be sales led. I'm trying to set up the proper discovery processes, prioritization tactics and strategy, but I find that extremely hard to do as I'm getting carried away in the day-to-day tasks around requests, issues reported and project management.
Chainguard Senior Director of Product Management • 3y
I've definitely been there! As you correctly intuit, your first order of business is to buy yourself some time to develop a strategic point of view and a roadmap that sup...
474 Views
Cisco Director of Product Management • 1y
A super common question! Traditionally the term "product manager" can often mean different things depending on the size of the company, the product's stage, and sometimes...
4630 Views
Atlassian Group Product Manager, Trello Enterprise • 1y
Okay, you are not happy with your recent track record - good opportunity to flex your analysis, story telling and “marketer” muscle.
Goals. These features didn’t seem to...
2822 Views
What are some ways you've seen product teams increase their velocity?
Other than more experience how can I help my team have more impact faster?
Atlassian Head of Product, Enterprise Strategy and Planning • 3y
A common pitfall that slows teams down is inability to make good decisions quickly, especially if these decisions involve many stakeholders. One of the best-kept team vel...
3443 Views