1.
How to Become a
Product Manager
Isaac Souweine
Head of Product Management @ Frank & Oak
Presented to Real Fellowship
June 20, 2014

2.
I. what is a product
manager?

3.
product managers
partner with devs,
design and
business to bring
products to market
that drive business
value
http://www.mindtheproduct.com/2011/10/what-exactly-is-a-product-manager/

4.
product managers thrive in specialized
organizations (=not early stage startups)
PM
Design
Eng.
MktngBD
PMO
UX
VPs
Customers
Sales

5.
and that diagram is a massive
understatement
PM
design
Eng.
MktngBD
PMO
UX
VPs
Customers
Sales
BI INF
Cust
svc
Ops
HR FIN LAW M&A Strat

6.
PM
design
Eng.
MktngBD
PMO
UX
VPs
Customers
Sales
the context is appropriate considering who
invented product management

7.
and who practices it at scale today
PM
design
Eng.
MktngBD
PMO
UX
VPs
Customers
Sales

8.
II. what makes a good
product manager?

9.
1. communication
● via email
● via slide decks
● in meetings
● in hallways
● rationally and emotionally

10.
2. analysis
● logical thinking (occam’s razor)
● versatile number crunching
● problem/solution mindset
● strategic mindset
● pattern recognition
● simplification

11.
3. grind
● keep the wheel moving
● Marissa Mayer style
● do whatever it takes

12.
A 1% PM grinds it out. They do whatever is
necessary to ship. They recognize no specific
bounds to the scope of their role. As necessary,
they recruit, they produce buttons, they do
bizdev, they escalate, they tussle with internal
counsel, they *
http://www.quora.com/Product-Management/What-distinguishes-the-Top-1-of-Product-Managers-from-the-Top-10]
a definition of grinding

13.
4. precision
● meeting agendas
● note taking
● specifications
● test plans
● bug reports
● god of small things

14.
5. versatility
● business
● design
● marketing
● technology

15.
6. curiosity
● technical curiosity
● vendor curiosity
● industry curiosity
● customer curiosity
● pure passion

16.
7. empathy
● customer empathy
● stakeholder empathy

17.
8. leadership
● lead by consensus (not fiat)
● lead by example
● shape a direction
● guide people

18.
“how to hire a PM”
1. Hire all the smart people
2. Strong technical background
3. "Spidey-sense" product instincts
4. Leadership that's earned
5. Ability to channel multiple points-of-view
6. Give me someone who's shipped
https://www.kennethnorton.com/essays/productmanager.html

19.
III. how to become a
product manager?

20.
1. be an engineer
● e.g. at Google
● e.g. Nima @ F&O
● tech as primary frame of reference
● for gregarious coders

21.
2. be a designer
● e.g. Dave Morin
● design/UX as primary frame of reference
● for products where look/feel are
paramount

22.
3. be a marketer
● e.g. at FMCG
● e.g. at Yahoo
● e.g. Jeff @ F&O
● customer or business as primary frame
of reference
● often includes b-school

23.
4. be a domain expert
● e.g. Dom @ F&O
● specific domain as frame
● often a B2B context

24.
5. be a CEO
● e.g. Nick D’Aloisio (Summly/Yahoo)
● e.g. Satya Witoelar (Koprol/Yahoo)
● product acquired path
● acqui-hire path

25.
THANK YOU!
@sonofsarah
isouweine.com