This document discusses how to effectively onboard and add value as a new product manager. It recommends that new PMs learn the domain by understanding users, the product landscape, and the existing product. PMs should build relationships across functions like engineering, UX, and marketing. When starting, PMs should get scrappy by prioritizing small, meaningful problems and developing useful skills like querying data and creating low-fidelity mocks. The overall message is that new PMs should focus on learning, relationships, and taking initiative to solve problems in order to successfully onboard and contribute on their new team.

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How to Onboard & Add Value to Your
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6. How to Onboard & Add
Value to Your Team
Karan Mathur
@karanmathur_

7. Hey, I’m Karan!
● Product Manager @YouTube | Search &
Discovery for Kids
● Previously PM @Intuit | Mobile Invoicing,
Conversation AI, Small-biz lending
● Grew up in St. Louis, MO ⇒ Stanford 17’
● Interests: NBA, comedy, eating new things

8. 100% of PMs
start on a new team / project at some point in their career

9. 3 main takeaways
1) Learn the Space : Have a growth mindset as you gain domain
expertise
2) Build Relationships : Success as a PM is defined by those
around you, invest in your PM & cross-functional relationships
3) Get Scrappy : As you start to discover meaningful problems,
roll up your sleeves and do what you can to solve them

10. Learn the Space

11. Building domain expertise
Know the User Know the Landscape Know the Product
PM is the voice of the
user
Spend time talking to
users, understanding their
pain-points, and see
them use the product
Leverage qual & quant
data to see how what
users say/do/think/feel
Do your research on
competitors and the industry
Determine your competitive
advantage for the product &
business model
Know how to pitch in <1 min
why your team is the best
equipped to succeed at
solving your user’s problems
Spend time in the product!
Do a product tear down
with fresh eyes, where are
you delighted?
Disappointed?
Build a habit of going in the
product to test changes,
and piece by piece see how
everything fits together

12. Ask questions to build context
● PMs work cross-functionally to define and approach problems from different
altitudes and heuristics
● Asking questions is the best way to learn and understand the complexities
across the various functions you’re working with
● Give yourself time to think as you absorb material, gathering info is half the
battle, understanding & organizing it key when forming your viewpoint
Asking questions helps you develop your opinion. Having a POV backed by your instinct &
data is critical in making decisions and developing durable principles

13. Build Relationships

14. PM
ENG
UX
DataMKT
Legal
Policy
Biz
Ops
PRTNS

15. PMs are generalists in a room of specialists
● The PM will never be the expert in the room in a specific discipline, but
should be able speak across disciplines to solve problems
● Set up 1:1 coffee chats with your cross-functional partners & learn about their
role, their style, and define your working relationship
● PMs often wear multiple hats, filling in the gaps based on what the team
needs to move forward ⇒ don’t be shy asking for advice on how!
PMs do not always own the decision. PMs can control the pace and quality of a decision. Lean
on your cross-functional partners to help you make the most informed decision

16. Building trust with your team
Humility Intention Reliability Empowerment
Lead with humility
and curiosity
You will mess
up--own it!
Servant-leadership
Meet your team where
they are
Respect boundaries
Empathize and show
interest in your
teammates as people,
not just coworkers
Be present when in
meetings
Follow through on
AIs and deadlines
Offer to help do the
things no one else
wants to
Make time for team
bonding
Evangelize the team
when things are
tough
Celebrate milestones
and achievements
Build a culture where
everyone has a voice
and contributes to
team dynamics &
direction

17. Get Scrappy

18. Develop a plan with your manager
● Your manager should have a clear understanding of your role within the team
and larger org
● Work with your manager to make SMART goals for your onboarding in
phases (30/60/90 day milestones)
● Leverage your manager to learn more about the org, raise any escalations,
and get feedback on your craft and impact on the team
Managing goes both ways. Be sure to express how you like to work with your manager, and
establish a communication & feedback cadence that works for both of you

19. Prioritize something small, yet meaningful
● As you are learning the space and building relationships, keep track of gaps
& issues you see in the product & on your team
● Prioritize these issues by impact, and size them up by complexity: what’s the
simplest, most-impactful thing I can do in [time-box]?
● Set a goal for the day / week to accomplish your task to measure progress
Before you run off chasing down a problem, make sure you’re getting feedback from your
manager or cross-functional partners to validate your thinking!

20. Take time to build useful skills early
● If you need data ⇒ ask where the data lives & where you can get access to
write your own queries
● If you have questions about users ⇒ leverage old research repositories,
search online for relevant articles and materials, form hypotheses that you
can test
● If you want to bring a new idea to life ⇒ build low-fidelity mocks yourself
with whiteboards, screenshots, and photoshop
It doesn’t matter if you have a technical / design background or not, being curious and willing
to learn is the most valuable asset

21. Thank You!

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