Roshni Jain

The jump from IC PM into product leadership whether as a Group PM or a Director of Product is one of the most challenging progressions in a product career. At this step a Consumer PM's career, the skills and behaviors that have helped them excel as an IC PM - excellent execution, strong PRDs, great squad management are not the exact ones required at the Director level. To earn this role, it's important to really think about the responsibilities about the Director - the main criteria of success a ...Read More

This is linked to the other question, so I'll be brief here. The vast majority of fundamental PM skills are transferable regardless of B2B, B2C or platform focused work. By fundamental skills I mean  Leadership and communication - the ability to lead through influence, work with engineers, designers and many other functions and very strong verbal and written communication. PMs are the spokesperson for their product and they must have excellent communication to build the credibility they'll need ...Read More

There is no right answer, but here are a few lenses I've used when providing counsel to others and in considering the companies I've worked with: Is this a product that I'm personally excited about? I don't have to be the ideal customer, but is there something about the product that excites me - it could be that it's a problem I'm passionate about solving, an approach that is truly innovative or differentiated, a customer that's a lot of fun to work with, or a business model that creates strong ...Read More

Part of what drew me to Consumer Product and why I love it so much is that as individuals, we are all consumers. I studied Consumer Marketing and Consumer Psychology as an undergrad and I've always been fascinated by why people make the decisions they do with their time, money and attention. So, as a consumer yourself in many cases as a PM it can be easier to more deeply understand your customer, even if you are not the target user for your product. In B2B, PMs also deeply understand their users ...Read More

PM to engineer ratios can range wildly from 1 PM to every 2-3 engineers to something 1 PM to 15 engineers. This largely depends on the size of the company and the type of product. In a more entertainment context, like a gaming start-up, you might have leaner engineering teams with more PMs to develop the ideas and concepts for all of the experiences. In a scaled big tech company you might require many engineers and teams to work across all the platforms involved, so the ratio of a PM and product ...Read More

There are only particular instances when, in my experience, it can make sense to have multiple product managers within a team. If your engineering structure is a squad/pod model where there is a dedicated set of engineers along on a core mission with clear ownership, I would most typically have 1 dedicated PM to this team. Instances where you could consider adding a second PM include: Wanting to train another person in a specific area so there is an opportunity for future transition. The additio ...Read More

That's a great question, and I'm glad you're thinking about it from a Product Manager's perspective. A team's velocity is influenced by many factors and is largely within the team's control. When I've seen teams dramatically increase their velocity, they usually follow a pattern like this: Recognizing the Need for Change: A catalyst emerges that prompts the team to focus on velocity. This could be frustration over a project that lacked impact or dragged on too long, or organizational pressure to ...Read More

While Product Manager (PM) roles vary based on team dynamics and business context, certain fundamental skills are essential for any successful PM: Excellent communication skills Analytical thinking Leadership and collaboration abilities Beyond these core competencies, the environment in which a PM operates significantly shapes their experience and skill development. In an entrepreneurial setting, a PM often: Owns a larger product scope: Taking responsibility for multiple facets of the product wi ...Read More

The great news is that you don't typically need to make this decision early in your career; you can gradually explore both paths to determine which suits you best. The split between an Individual Contributor (IC) Product Manager and a People Leader PM usually occurs at the Product Lead or Group PM level. As a high-performing Senior PM, you might have the opportunity to take on a slightly larger scope related to your area, which could include managing one or two direct reports. Many companies fac ...Read More

I would recommend slightly different objectives based on whom you are meeting and building a relationship with, here's the big categories I'd consider with the objectives: Product, Design, Engineering, Data but not in your direct team - the goal here is to build a great collaborative relationship. Whether they are more senior/ junior, or working a different part of the organization. You want to focus on building trust, understanding and an open line of communication. Additionally, you want to ge ...Read More