From a recent talk to Texas McCombs MBAs about what product management is, what skills product managers need, and how to get a job in product management.

1. Product Management 101
Rajesh Nerlikar
October 23, 2018

2. Syllabus
2
My Product Management Journey1
What is Product Management?2
Is Product Management for Me?3
Landing a Product Management Job4
Contact Information5

3. My Product
Management
Journey

4. 4
My Product Management Journey

5. What is Product
Management?

6. Webster’s Dictionary
defines product
management as...”
Michael Scott
6

7. 7
What is a Product?

8. The Product Manager’s job is to
ensure the success of the product.
8

9. 9
A Collaborative Role

10. Is Product
Management For
Me?

11. Product
Manager
11
Product Management Skills
Prioritization
Deciding what’s most
pressing
Collaboration
Working with lots of teams
towards a common goal
Listening
Going beyond the surface
to understand problems
Process Mindset
Sequencing work logically,
continuous improvement
Technology
Knowing how technology
works or wanting to learn
Problem Solving
Thinking of innovative
ways to help stakeholders

12. 12
General Skills
Industry Experience
Understanding market
trends, the regulatory
environment and the
competitive landscape
General Management
Knowing what it takes to
run a business (financials,
HR, operations, legal, etc.)
Curiosity
Learning from
cross-functional peers and
understanding customer
behavior
Communication
Making sure many
stakeholders, both internal
and external, are on the
same page

13. APM /
PM
Senior
PM
Director
VP
Product
CPO
Principal
PM
Experience 0-4 5-7 8-10 11-15 16+ 8+
Tech Delivery ◐ ◐ ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ ⚫
Data Analysis ◐ ◐ ◐ ⚫ ⚫ ⚫
Customer Discovery ◯ ◐ ◐ ◐ ⚫ ◐
Vision / Strategy ◯ ◐ ◐ ◐ ⚫ ⚫
People Manager ◯ ◯ ◐ ⚫ ⚫ ◯
13
The Product Management Career Path

14. Landing a Job in
Product
Management

15. 15
How to Build Product Management Skills
Volunteer
Network
Learn
Do
Business
Plan
Contests

16. 16
Online Communities Books Online Content Local Groups
● Mind the Product
● PM HQ
● Product Coalition
● LinkedIn PM Group
● Inspired by Marty Cagan
● Lean Product Playbook
by Dan Olsen
● The Hard Thing about
Hard Things by Ben
Horowitz
● The Product Manager
Interview
● My Twitter List of
Product Thought Leaders
● This is PM Podcast
● First Round Review
● Agile 101
● Austin Voice of Product
● Lewis Lin’s PM Jobs List
● PM Basics
● ProductTank Austin
Meetup
● ProductCamp Austin
● Kelleher Center Startup
Events and Competitions
Helpful Resources

17. Software
Development Cycle
(Agile vs Waterfall)
17
Technology 101
Key Areas to
Understand
How Web / Mobile
Apps Work
Blockchain
Artificial Intelligence
Machine Learning
DevOps / Site
Reliability
The Cloud Transition

18. 18
Application Tips
Research Companies
● Start in your industry.
● Branch out to demonstrable
areas of passion.
● Schedule informational
interviews.
Prepare Your Cover Letter
Update LinkedIn
● Have a PM-focused
headline
● Join relevant groups
Use a PM-Focused Resume
● Call out when you’ve used
PM skills in the past
● Focus on outcomes like
feature usage / validation
Looking For: I Have:
Responsibility 1 Relevant Experience A
Qualification 2 Relevant Experience B

19. 19
Know the Product Know Your Audience Ask Good Questions Follow Up
● Learn everything you can
from the company site.
● Read product reviews.
○ App Store / Google
Play for consumer
○ Capterra / G2Crowd
for enterprise
● Think about the
product’s strengths /
weaknesses.
● Research your interview
panel on LinkedIn / the
company site.
● Weave commonalities
like college, connections,
cities, career paths, and
companies into your
discussion.
● Think of 1-2 relevant
questions for each
interviewer.
● For product folks:
○ Where do you see the
product in 3-5 years
and why?
○ What one thing do
you not like about
being a PM here?
● Send thank you notes to
each interviewer if
possible (or at least
hiring manager).
● Include any natural
follow ups from your
conversation in your
note (ex. “here’s that app
I mentioned I worked on”
or “here’s that
competitor site I saw”)
Interview Tips

20. Contact
Information

21. Hit Me Up
21
@RajeshNerlikar
linkedin.com/in/rajeshnerlikar

22. Questions?