Where are we going? And how did I get in this hand basket?

1. Where are we going? And
how did I get in this hand
basket?
Real advice for success in your first year as a product
manager
Gwen Bender
gwenb@pmcnw.org
@Gwendalyn.Bender

2. Welcome to Product Management!

3. Product Management
is…

4. In 6 months or
less you need to
Know your customer(s)
Know the value of your product
Know your market
Know your market position

5. Get Educated

6. Become BFF’s With…

7. Sales
If you have a sales team get to know
them. Become a resource for them
Ask them what their clients want &
what the current sales hurdles are
Listen in on sales calls. Ask them for
their most used materials
Don’t forget about the offsite folks!

8. Engineering
Ask about what technical debt is
hanging out there
What is the feature they’d most like
to develop? What do they hate
working on?
Give them some insight into what
clients want & where the market is
going
Integrate yourself into their process

9. But Make Sure You
Don’t….
ò Sales
ò Pay to much attention when
they say “the competition
has better features & the
prices are to high”
ò Make them dependent on
you
ò Don’t make process
exceptions unless you’re
ready for them to become
the rule
ò Do respect sales is hard but
call them on their bullshit
ò Engineering
ò Don’t get into the technical
weeds unless it actually
matters – your job is the
what & why, not the how.
You may have come from
engineering but that’s not
your job now
ò Become the go between
between engineering &
everyone else
ò Do find a balance between
new feature development &
servicing the backlog

10. Pay Attention to Your Environment

11. Growth And Transition Are
Opportunities

12. If You Don’t Ask
You Wont Get It…

13. …If You Ask
Poorly You Also
Wont Get It

14. Set Your
Boundaries Now

15. Fake it ‘til you make it!